Wisdom over Knowledge
Banyan Trees have a sacred role in human history, religion, and commerce. The clearings under Banyan Trees were used as traditional meeting places including the first recorded commerce in Southern China. Siddhartha attained Enlightenment sitting under a Banyan (Bodhi) Tree, and one adorns Thomas Edison's estate in Fort Meyers, Florida.
My first enterprise sales job was at Oracle, where I worked in the nascent CRM industry years before Benioff started Salesforce. To this day, I am convinced that a healthy sales pipeline is the lifeblood of every organization both
large and small.
I was there when the first search engines appeared and Inktomi provided more than 90% of all worldwide internet searches for MSN, Yahoo, and AOL in the late 90s. Google obliterated us. All of us. I learned that dominant market share can be fleeting if a driven and focused group of engineers build a better mousetrap. My MBA program wasn't teaching real world scenarios.
I made my first investment in Venture Capital a few years before the dot-com collapse when companies literally went to zero. I witnessed firsthand what happens when valuations run way ahead of cashflows, and learned the importance of prudence and having a steady strategy with money in the bank during the difficult years. As Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face".
I started BlueBanyan because I wanted to help technical founders navigate the difficult path to achieve the significant first milestone of raising a Series A in Silicon Valley. I enjoy rolling up my sleeves and working alongside founders to help them raise capital and gain 'traction'. I have been lucky enough to see founders develop their ideas into 1000+ person companies; realistic enough to know that it wasn't the norm.
I have been fortunate to travel a bit and see the world. I also lived in Spain, Mexico, and Chile where I witnessed the technology sector develop over the last 25 years. I was in Santiago a decade before StartUp Chile began. I realized that an accent is not a true indicator of intelligence, education, or training. After all I have a strong accent in Spanish. I will always be grateful to Endeavor , where I have been a mentor for more than a decade, for opening my eyes to entrepreneurship beyond our continent.
This experience led to the creation of PuenteLabs, and the opportunity to work with many talented and passionate investors and entrepreneurs who continue to inspire me.
I heard about Bitcoin in 2012, through a group of Argentine and Latin American Entrepreneurs as they were trying to solve real problems with their countries' fiat currency. It took me 3 years to realize the significance of the blockchain. The talented young team at Unbounded Capital continues to push the boundaries with scalable blockchains.
Talented Entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, which is why I look beyond Silicon Valley and invest in founders from outside the United States. I value technical skill and sheer will over degrees and pedigree.
Crypto, Cloud and SaaS businesses are a core part of building this future, and I hope to be able to meet talented founders creating enterprise businesses in these areas.
If you are still here, there's more: LinkedIn
My first enterprise sales job was at Oracle, where I worked in the nascent CRM industry years before Benioff started Salesforce. To this day, I am convinced that a healthy sales pipeline is the lifeblood of every organization both
large and small.
I was there when the first search engines appeared and Inktomi provided more than 90% of all worldwide internet searches for MSN, Yahoo, and AOL in the late 90s. Google obliterated us. All of us. I learned that dominant market share can be fleeting if a driven and focused group of engineers build a better mousetrap. My MBA program wasn't teaching real world scenarios.
I made my first investment in Venture Capital a few years before the dot-com collapse when companies literally went to zero. I witnessed firsthand what happens when valuations run way ahead of cashflows, and learned the importance of prudence and having a steady strategy with money in the bank during the difficult years. As Mike Tyson famously said, "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face".
I started BlueBanyan because I wanted to help technical founders navigate the difficult path to achieve the significant first milestone of raising a Series A in Silicon Valley. I enjoy rolling up my sleeves and working alongside founders to help them raise capital and gain 'traction'. I have been lucky enough to see founders develop their ideas into 1000+ person companies; realistic enough to know that it wasn't the norm.
I have been fortunate to travel a bit and see the world. I also lived in Spain, Mexico, and Chile where I witnessed the technology sector develop over the last 25 years. I was in Santiago a decade before StartUp Chile began. I realized that an accent is not a true indicator of intelligence, education, or training. After all I have a strong accent in Spanish. I will always be grateful to Endeavor , where I have been a mentor for more than a decade, for opening my eyes to entrepreneurship beyond our continent.
This experience led to the creation of PuenteLabs, and the opportunity to work with many talented and passionate investors and entrepreneurs who continue to inspire me.
I heard about Bitcoin in 2012, through a group of Argentine and Latin American Entrepreneurs as they were trying to solve real problems with their countries' fiat currency. It took me 3 years to realize the significance of the blockchain. The talented young team at Unbounded Capital continues to push the boundaries with scalable blockchains.
Talented Entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, which is why I look beyond Silicon Valley and invest in founders from outside the United States. I value technical skill and sheer will over degrees and pedigree.
Crypto, Cloud and SaaS businesses are a core part of building this future, and I hope to be able to meet talented founders creating enterprise businesses in these areas.
If you are still here, there's more: LinkedIn