WEBVTT
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Hey, what is up?
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Welcome to this episode of the Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur podcast.
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As always, I'm your host, brian LoFermento, and I don't think I've ever said this in an intro before, but I very much feel this way for today's episode and today's guest, and that is that our guest today is truly an entrepreneur's entrepreneur.
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You're going to see why I say that.
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I'm convinced that I love entrepreneurship far more than most people do, but I would argue that today's guest totally joins me in that passion and that love for entrepreneurship.
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So let me introduce you to him.
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His name is Sergio Sotelo.
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Sergio is an experienced IT executive, entrepreneur and AI strategist with over 24 years of expertise in sales management, business development and IT innovation.
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He specializes in AI-driven business models.
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You're going to hear some cool things there Digital transformation and startup growth strategies.
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He's a former IBM executive.
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When he was there, sergio successfully led, scaled and nailed, the IBM Watson AI business in Latin America.
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His work has earned him multiple prestigious recognitions, including the fact that he's given a speech in front of the president of Peru, which is where Sergio is from.
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He's won a bunch of awards.
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I'll let him tell you all about his credentials, but I love his current role.
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He's the CEO of Euler Innovations, which is a technology firm.
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On top of that, he's not just an entrepreneur he also serves as a board director, a mentor and an advisor to startups across the US and internationally, helping founders with product strategy and go-to-market strategy, ai and digital transformation projects, fundraising and pitch deck reviews.
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This is someone who really understands all components, as well as the immigration and legal guidance for tech entrepreneurs, because at the time of him and I recording this, sergio is on the midst of a big move to the United States.
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I'm personally so excited for him, his family, his company, all that good stuff.
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This is going to be a fun conversation today, so I'm not going to say anything else.
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Let's dive straight into my interview with Sergio Sotelo.
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All right, sergio, I am so very excited for our conversation here today.
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First things first, welcome to the show, thank you, Ryan.
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Thank you so much.
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I'm a huge honor.
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Sergio, the honor is all mine because I've gone deep into all the wonderful work that you've done and I'm excited for you to share it with listeners.
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Take us beyond your bio.
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Who's Sergio?
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How'd you start doing all these cool things?
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Well, thank you Ryan.
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Thanks Well, thank you, ryan.
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Well, it's been, I believe, more than 25 years since I started.
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I am a software or system engineer, but the reason because I am is because someone helped me find out, you know, my gift.
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And who that person is is my father.
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So he was the very first person who believed in me.
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He gave me the hints and then I realized over time that I love technology and that left the university.
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I started working as a programmer because you know I love.
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I learned to program, you know, in university, in those early days.
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Java was coming, was just emerging, so I was kind of the kind of the kind of people that likes to go buy books, do my own research, understand how technology works, and then I love programming in those early days.
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So I became a programmer for over two years, three or four years more or less.
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Then I became like a software engineer.
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I believe, if I'm not wrong, in 2000, I had the chance to certify one payment protocol that was just emerging in those days In 2000,.
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Z was the technology that was used for digital payments, but I had the honor and the chance to work in in 3d secure.
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3d security is what today is well known as verified by visa.
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So I work in order to certify the protocol for Latin America and we made it happen.
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We made it happen.
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That was, I think, my one of my initial achievement as a software architect, because in those days I became a software architect and then time went by.
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You know I love to do that, but then I said, you know, in 2000, so what is next?
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Should I continue working as a programmer, software architect, or what is next?
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And that was the time when I, when I met who was one of my initial mentors in the early days and he I will never forget what he told me and he said a the best thing that you can do is to have your own company.
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Because I was wondering whether where to go to the US to do my MBA or to start my own company.
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And that's what I exactly did.
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I started my company in Peru and in India, working as an IBM business partner, because one of the things I have to tell you is that my heart has been with IBM since the very beginning and I had my company, which was a software development company in Peru and in India, for over near nine years eight years and something.
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We did many, many good things in Peru, working with people from Bangalore, from Kolkata.
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So I loved those days.
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The only one who didn't love that much was my wife, you know.
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Because I had to, I had to work overnight because of the time difference, but that was such a nice time working for my own company.
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But then I joined IBM.
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I had the chance to join IBM and I did it.
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I did it because that was my dream since university.
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11 and a half years at IBM for me IBM is a great school and those were my best years of my life.
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We made many transformations.
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We made many, many new projects, many innovations.
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I was the CTO, I was the business unit executive for IBM Watson.
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So I think that was one of the most exciting times in my life.
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And then I went to study at MIT in 2019 and I decided to start my own company, my own journey, working in a travel tech project with a company, as you said, named Euler Innovation.
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Here we are we are working in AI, we are working for TravelTech.
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We really want to reinvent the detailed experience of traveling the world, and that's the mission that we have right now.
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Right.
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Yes, I love that overview, sergio, for so many reasons, but probably one reason that you don't expect me to call out, and that is I love how you brought up your wife, because our partners are so important to our entrepreneurial journeys.
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And I personally know, just in our interactions leading up to today's conversation, that one of your proudest life accomplishments is you've successfully obtained the EB2 National Interest Waiver Visa and you are moving your company, your family, all of that here to the United States, and I'm so excited for that, sergio.
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With that in mind, to me what really stands out is how purpose-driven you are.
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That entrepreneurship, that business, that innovation, that technology, that all of this just also plays into a better life, and it's near and dear to my heart, sergio, we didn't talk about this off the air, but I'm the son of an immigrant mom here in the United States and that factors a lot into the way that I see the world and the way that I see opportunities and what entrepreneurship means to me.
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So, with that in mind and knowing it's one of our similarities, sergio, I want to understand your mindset and how much of this plays into the fact that it's not just for business purposes.
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You have a broader life purpose than just that.
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You're right, ryan.
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What I can tell you is that everything has a purpose.
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The purpose for me is the meaning of your existence.
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We are here doing what we do because we all have a purpose.
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The problem is that not everyone knows their purpose.
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So I believe that over the year I had the chance to identify different milestones.
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I'm also a believer.
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I know that God is always, you know, showing me new things and, little by little, everything has been part of a puzzle and part of the process to reach my purpose.
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And I did many things over the years, you know, until I left IBM, and I believe that was a huge milestone, because that's where Euler started and that is what is taking me all the way now to the US.
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And now that you're mentioning my wife, she helped me all the time, even in the visa interview.
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This is something I'm gonna tell you.
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One of the questions the officer you know asked me in the day of the interview is how many years are you married?
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And I told him well, I've been married for over near 20 years and I have two kids.
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And you know what he said.
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He said okay, I just wanted to validate, but that means also commitment.
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So your visa is finally approved, go and welcome to the United States.
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So for me, purpose is so much important and everyone has to understand its purpose.
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Yeah, with that said, sergio, here's the thing, because I not only am a podcaster, but of course, I love listening to conversations, I love consuming business content, and when I hear these things on podcasts about we have to have our purpose and we have to be driven by our purpose, that's what's going to get us through all the moments, the good moments as well as the bad moments.
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It's easier said than done, and a lot of times I feel like entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey, as we don't feel like others can possibly understand those low lows that we experience.
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Sergio, I'd love for you to offer us some of those insights, because you're a fellow entrepreneur, just like us.
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You're growing a really innovative business yourself and it's not always easy and, of course, we can celebrate your wins, but I'd love for you to talk to us about the resilience, determination, the the stuff that gets you through those tough times and those tough changes yeah, well, that's a good, that's a good question, ryan.
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Uh, you're right.
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No, it's.
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It's difficult, it's not that easy.
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You, you need to be resilient, but I think that's something that I have learned over the years.
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It is not something that come out immediately, but it's something that I learned.
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It's not from my very first challenge 25 years ago to my new challenges.
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Every challenge is bigger, tougher, but I learned something.
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Now, if you are a purpose-driven person, a purpose-driven professional, I bet you that you have not only think.
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There's nothing that can stop you.
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It is you fighting because you know you will eventually reach that big dream that all entrepreneurs have.
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But sometimes they are worried and they are afraid that that could never happen.
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But I bet you it will happen if it is tied to your purpose.
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Yeah, so well said.
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Especially, you talk about big dreams, and I think that that's one of the roles that entrepreneurs play in society is that we see those possibilities, we dream big and, as a result of that, we find those big solutions, those big innovations.
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Talk to us about your business now and kind of the bigger vision that you have for it, because I'll tell you this, sergio, that when I was researching the work that you're doing with Euler Innovations and I'd love for you to share a little bit about what that looks like but what I really wanna hear about from you here today is how big that dream is, because I love that video on your website about little kids experiencing the possibilities of travel and a whole big world out there for themselves.
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To me, that's planting seeds that truly does change lives.
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So introduce us to that work that you're doing and, importantly, the big vision behind it.
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Yeah yeah, this vision started, as I told you, when I studied at MIT.
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I wanted to do something different with the things that I know for the people that I love, and then I realized that I am a world traveler, so I love to travel.
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So I wanted to do something related to the travel industry.
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So we started a research at MIT and that research continued over time in Virginia and we realized that there's a big problem.
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We are not perfect travelers.
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We are not perfect planners.
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We really want to prevent failed trips and we validated that with many interviews that we did with travelers from different ages and we understood and we learned that it's not only about the old traveler, it is about the youth, but it's also about those young people who are digital native, who will understand technology so fast and so different, and they are the ones who will experience and they will take advantage of all this technology as they grow while traveling.
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So we wanted to do that.
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So we started this project named Rebecca, your best local friend, and the reason because it's Rebecca is because my daughter's name is Rebecca and that's how this started.
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Because everything started in Peru, in a location named Paracas, because that's where I have a house that I used to rent and that's where I learned the travelers problem and that's the idea that I used to rent and that's where I learned the travelers problem and that's where that's the idea that I took to MIT along the path, along the way in our journey, that we are doing right now.
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As you mentioned, at the very beginning, we started to do some product validation.
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We have an MVP.
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We are testing this right now in Peru because, as you said, we won a prize from the government of Peru to implement our technology in three regions of the country in Ica, in Cusco and in Lima.
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And something that is exciting, brian, is that it is not about a technology project.
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It is about learning new stuff.
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I am an IT executive and an IT guy, but I'm always learning here.
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I'm going to learn deeper how to use AI, how to use deep learning, generative AI, etc.
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However, there are additional things that I'm going to learn Because, on the one side, I need to learn more about the traveler, so that leads me to start reading a lot and understanding about the customer behavior.
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So behavioral science is something interesting that I never do, but I need to know now in order to understand how the travelers behave, how can I influence and solve the problem?
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That's on the one side, but on the other side, I need to learn about the places, the destination, and it is not only about collecting data, because anyone can collect data.
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It is about learning what is behind the history, the heritage, the heritage, the stories, everything that is behind and how communities behave and what problems they have and how can they help, not only to give a solution for the traveler, but also to solve a problem for communities.
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And it goes beyond only solving the traveler problem and give them memorable experience.
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But it's also, brian, about the impact that you can make in the world and, beyond that, the legacy that you can give if this finally works.
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Yeah, sergio gosh, so many directions that I want to go in here, but the first one that I want to touch on is a love, a shared love that you and I both have that I didn't realize before we hit record today, and that is, of course, geography and travel and the world.
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It's fun for me because my family's immigrant story to the United States is such a core part of my story You're in the middle of writing yours for your story and for your kids as well.
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But even before the move to the United States is that I love hearing how big your mind thinks about business.
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You talk about Peru, you talk about working with India before you talk about obviously operating and expanding here into the United States, and so what I really hear there.
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I love geography and it's always been a core part of my passions, but I love it for a reason, and for me it reminds us that the world is so much bigger than our immediate surroundings.
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There's so many places out there far beyond what we can see, and, sergio, as a world traveler, I know that that factors a lot into the way that you see the world.
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Share some of those insights into how travel and culture and communities have changed and shaped the way that you think and the way that you operate as an entrepreneur and as a leader.
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Sure, sure, brian, everything.
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Every time I travel, everything.
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Every time I travel, I can with new ideas, with new thoughts.
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And this is it's amazing, because when I was a child, I didn't have the chance to travel that much, but I started traveling to the US and then to other countries Brazil in the US, europe, etc.
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And in every country you learn new things.
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And that knowledge is a knowledge that you can get, it's a knowledge that you can bring to your country and it's a knowledge that you can also apply.
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And that helped me a lot, because it takes me to a different level of understanding about reality.
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And that I learned not only for me, but also I'm trying to learn this to my kids.
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I'm trying to take my son to every trip that I make.
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I'm trying to take my daughter to everything that I make, because I know, once they travel and they get to know different cultures, different geographies, etc.
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They will learn a lot.
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I just had a chance to take my son to Portugal last year.
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Oh, you can imagine he came with so many ideas and that we say, hey, dad, maybe we can do this in your project, or maybe this or maybe this.
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We now realize that I don't know whatever.
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Travelers sometimes don't trust the locals, so what do we do in order to solve the problem?
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You know, new things happen when you gather this information and use them wisely.
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Yeah, for sure, and I love that visual of you and your son in Portugal, hopefully eating pastai de nata, overlooking the beautiful cities there and just thinking about the possibilities.
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Sergio, I want to backtrack to something that you said in an answer there, because I feel like it's been the hardest thing for me to explore.
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The older that I get, the more I mature as a person and as an entrepreneur, and that's that huge concept of legacy.
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It's so clear to me that you are in that phase of your professional career where it's no longer about you, sergio, and I think that that's reflected in the fact that you are a board director.
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You are a mentor to others, you're an advisor.
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You love this stuff, but not for yourself.
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You love helping and guiding and shaping others.
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What does legacy mean to you?
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When you explore the legacy that you're building for yourself, your family, for generations to come, how do you start to figure out?
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What is that legacy?
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How can you shape it?
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What's the work involved?
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I'd love to hear how you navigate that.
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Yeah, sure, same thing.
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At the very beginning, I thought it was about me.
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I have to be honest, you know, I didn't have the experience that I have today.
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Then, as time went by, I learned new things.
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I got married, I learned about the importance of the family, I learned about the importance of the kids and then, as you were saying, while working at IBM, I wanted to spend more time with my kids.
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And today I have the responsibility to guide my two kids for their future.
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And the best way you can guide is by example.
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Whatever they see you doing, they will try to copy.
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They will do it again.
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And that's what I'm trying to do today.
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I'm trying to share my experience, my knowledge, through my kids, because there's one saying that says success without successor is failure, and I truly believe that, and I and this is the time that is my part of my responsibility not only to take them to the US, not only to help them you know study, but also to get them prepared for what is coming, so that they can really understand the purpose that they have in life and they can achieve their destiny.
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And that's my legacy.
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It's not about me, it's about them and it's about their kids and the kids of their kids.
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That's the way I think.
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Yeah, sergio, it's so cool to hear that.
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This is the first time I've ever heard that phrase.
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For success, you also need a successor.
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It's a really cool long-term way of thinking, and I guess I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit here, sergio, because it's so much fun having this conversation when we are, because you're currently in Peru, on the verge of moving your family to the United States.
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By the time this episode airs, you will already be here in Estados Unidos, and with that in mind, sergio, with that in mind, I guess I not only want to ask this question to Sergio the entrepreneur, but also Sergio the father, sergio the patriarch, sergio the leader inside of you, and how many unknowns you're stepping into and, of course, there's going to be unknowns for yourself, for your family, your kids are going to have to figure things out in a new country, and there's so many exciting things there.
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I'm a big believer, and it seems to me, like you share this, that change represents opportunity.
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Change represents new perspectives.
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What are some of the things you're thinking about, maybe, that you're worried about for yourself or for your family?
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What are some of those things that you're excited about in the coming months?
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about in the coming months.
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I'm excited about the giants that will come up as we move on to the US, because there are always new giants, but that's an opportunity to kill them all.
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Something that I didn't share with you is that I'm kind of a risky person.
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When I was studying at MIT, they took me to Malaysia and they took me a test and in this test you come up knowing the type of person that you are, and they taught me that.
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There's a person who's used to working in an enterprise you know for many years and you know they like this type of life.
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They are named the sailor.
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Then there are the other type of person, who are the type of person who likes to scale a business.
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That's the scaler.
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But there's the type of person who loves the unknown, the jungle, the risk, and that was me.
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Love.
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They'll know the jungle, the risk, and that was me.
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So when I understood that, that was the moment when I said wow, I didn't even know.
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I saw something was inside me, but I didn't know that this is what was happening to me.
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So now that we have the chance and we got this opportunity to move to the US and get this visa, I know there are to be many, many new challenges, but not only me but my whole family.
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They understand there's an opportunity for something better.
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Something better is going to come up and we are prepared for that.
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Yeah, sergio, okay, if you're going to bring up risk, then I'll share with you one of the first ever posters that I had in my bedroom when I was in college, and it said it was a guy standing on a cliff and the cliff was cracking and so he was thinking about jumping over to the other side and underneath it it said the riskiest thing is to take no risks.
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And that's always been something that I've thought about is that I know what my life looks like as it is.
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I know what my life looks like if I keep doing things the way that I'm doing them now.
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That's the safe option and it's not the option that I want.
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I want more, I want better.
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I want all of these things in my life.
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So in order to get there, I have to take risks, but I always argue to people that they're calculated risks so they don't feel like risks to myself.
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I'd love to get inside your mind and hear the way that you think about risks, because I also know, sergio, as risky as you are, you're also very wise, you're very intelligent, you have a lot of experience.
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So how do you calculate those risks to take along the way?
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The easy answer is with my wife, because you know I'm very risk, I love the risk, but, as you said, we need to be wise, because maybe I want something, but I always go back to my wife and share my thoughts and I ask her for opinion.
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And you know it's important because the more opinion you ask to wise people, the wiser you become.
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So I will never take a decision alone.
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I will ask my wife, I will ask maybe a mentor or someone else before I make a decision and in that way I lower the risk that I may have.
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And that's exactly what I did when I decided to go to the US, because you know it's a change of life.
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My kids are studying in their school.
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They love their friends.
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Now it's going to be something new for them, so, but we are kind of prepared.
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We think we have mitigated the risk so far, until now.
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Yeah, that's the important word there that I love the fact that you brought it up is mitigating those risks.
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We have to take those.
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We can mitigate them to an extent, but I love the careful calculation and your most important advisor of all, your wife shout out to the fact that you have that support from her.
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Talking about risk, I really enjoy asking this question.
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I started asking it of a lot of entrepreneurs, most recently this year, and that is about time horizon, knowing that you are a risk taker, but also knowing that you have these big dreams.
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When you think about strategy, when you think about your goals, how far out do you look, sergio?
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Is it that you look a month or a quarter in advance, or six months to a year in advance, or multiple years down the line?
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Because we're talking legacy, what's that time horizon that you like to sit with?
