The American Dream – an ideology that drives many of us to take risks, aspire big, and work hard. Why is it so hard to actually achieve? That’s what Elias Torres (co-founder, advisor, Henry Crown Fellow) explores on the American Dream podcast. Join Elias every other Tuesday as he talks with entrepreneurs who know what it feels like to be the only “other” in the room. Hear them share their stories, learn from their mistakes, and leave with the information you need to pave your way to your own American dream.
https://americandreampodcast.drift.com/public/13/The-American-Dream-cdc1e4b3
Gesamtlänge aller Episoden: 1 day 12 hours 3 minutes
episode 27: 6 Lessons Elias Torres Learned (The Hard Way) When Building Drift
"Pivots are very important because it shows that you're learning. It shows that you're validating, or invalidating, a hypothesis."
This is just one of the many lessons Elias learned as he and his co-founder, David Cancel, built Drift from the ground up.
Drift now has over 600 employees and has reached unicorn status, but that doesn't mean it's always been (or is) easy...
episode 26: From Immigrant To Middle Class Wealth In Just One Generation (With Mendoza Venture's Adrian Mendoza)
"In this world outside of the Latino community, to the white world, everything's negotiable."
Adrian Mendoza is the Co-Founder and General Partner of Mendoza Ventures, an early and growth-stage fintech, AI, and cybersecurity venture fund that he founded after noticing no one in the startup world looked like him...
episode 25: What's It Really Going to Take to Change the Face of Silicon Valley? (With Visible Hands' Yasmin Cruz Ferrine)
"70% of the US is women and people of color, and yet they only receive 10% of venture capital funding, but that's not just a problem that's also an opportunity. So, we see an enormous missed market opportunity, and we wanted to be a part of catalyzing that change."
Yasmin Cruz Ferrine is the co-founder and general partner of Visible Hands - a 14-week, virtual-first accelerator on a mission to highlight and invest in the limitless potential of overlooked founders...
episode 24: What a Masters Degree Really Teaches You (With Sigo Seguros' Nestor Solari)
"I met my cofounder on the first day. A year later we started working together. We graduated and worked together. That alone was the price of admission."
Nestor Solari, Co-Founder and CEO of Sigo Seguros, an insurance technology company providing affordable access to auto insurance through its bilingual, mobile-first platform, is no stranger to schooling...
episode 23: The Ultimate Small-Business Survival Guide (With Self-Made Boss Authors Jackie Reses and Lauren Weinberg)
"It feels really lonely to be a business owner, and everyone feels like they're starting from scratch and going through these things by themselves. Jackie and I thought that there are so many people out there that have come before the current slate of entrepreneurs and business owners, and they've all learned incredible things and are full of wisdom and insight...we thought it'd be great if we could package just some of those wisdoms and insights up and share them with other business owners...
episode 22: Mentors Matter: A Conversation with Drift's First Gen at Drift Employee Resource Group
"I was so dependent on that program in high school that I didn't realize that there's not really something for that in college, and there's definitely not that type of support for post-grad and being in the working world...It would be nice through this ERG or on a larger scale for first-generation professionals to have some other network of support of other mentors who are in higher positions who have navigated corporate America and all that that entails...
episode 21: Unlocking the Power of Community (With Snowball Wealth's Pamela Martinez)
"People are dealing with imposter syndrome, we're dealing with kind of a lot of these struggles, so having that extra encouragement and reminding them that they can do it, and they will do it if they put their minds to it, and if they're doing well, making sure you remind them of that and recognize them, that can really help propel those people...
episode 20: Making the Jump from Big Tech to Startup (With Bexi.io's Cuco Vega)
"I always wanted to start my own business. I think that's just because growing up, that's how I saw my parents. And the reason I love the name of your podcast is because I feel like every time I talk about my experience, it's like this experience is really the continuation of my parents' American Dream."
What's it like to go from working your way into big tech, just to pivot and start your own company?
Cuco Vega, and host Elias Torres, know first-hand...
episode 19: How Do We Create Generational Wealth in Community? With Ganas Venture's Lolita Taub
"And the fact that we are Latino gives us an opportunity to understand the opportunities that are on the table, that's being left on the table; and that we have a unique perspective and that our lived experiences actually help us in being successful as founders, as investors in startups, or as investors in funds."
Lolita Taub is the general partner of Ganas Ventures -- a fund that invests in pre-seed and seed Web 2 and Web 3 community-driven startups...
episode 18: How Do We Democratize Wealth? (with Infinity Venture's Mario Ruiz)
Mario Ruiz grew up on food stamps in the Bronx. He credits this experience to being instrumental in how he's able to manage wealth and run his investing firm, Infinity Ventures, today.
But, it's also an experience he hopes very few other Latinx people need to have. That's why, as co-founder and partner of Infinity Ventures, Mario is focused on investing in infrastructure and new companies with the mission to democratize wealth...