What it’s like starting from scratch as a seasoned entrepreneur
Almost two months have passed since I started my journey at Builders. My entrepreneurial journey however took off already 10 years ago.
I come from a really conservative family with certain ideas and thoughts on job stability. That’s why it took a while to me to find my own voice and eventually taking the leap to become an entrepreneur.
The turning point, which I often recall as the iconic Neo-Morpheus scene on Matrix 1, took place at the age of 24, after a transformational experience while living abroad and pursuing a professional masters degree. When back to Brazil I decided that it finally was the time to follow my life-long dream — I wanted to create a business with the power to impact millions.
Embarking on an entrepreneurial journey
At first, it was natural to me to stay close to my traditional path as an engineer, so I started a very traditional solar business company. After joining a few of the most prestigied acceleration programs in the country, I decided to completely pivot our direction. By fully incorporating the “tech” part, we became the first clean energy sharing platform for Latin America.
It didn’t take much time for me to realize we were now in the right direction, leading to thousands of people on our waiting list, 50+ pitches for investors, and handling interest from big corporates.
From friendly conversations, very fast we got to an acquisition proposal that made a lot of sense back then. For the next 2 years, I was partner and CEO of the digital vertical of brazilian’s largest renewable energy producer, responsible for structuring and launching the first clean energy platform for companies to buy and manage their energy needs in Brazil.
I’m very proud to have led such purpose-driven teams with our own built strong culture to achieve big time results, and I’ll cherish that forever. At some point, it was time to go pursue other dreams, and had my exit.
For the next and last 2 years, I focused on helping other entrepreneurs with their ventures. Although I really liked doing that, there was always an “itch” on the back of my mind pushing me to go build something of my own again.
After all, I’m still a builder at heart, so time to get back to the arena. 👷♂️
A fresh start at builders
Almost two months ago, the moment was there. I moved from Brazil to the Netherlands to pursue another dream: Building a global company from scratch. And I gotta say, It feels great to start over again.
Of course, it’s not all rainbows and smiles, the journey is intense. Being an entrepreneur means embarking on a roller-coaster full of ups and downs. Period. But, if that’s where your heart is and you have great people around you, it feels great and that’s the position I’m in right now.
At Builders, we build companies for the future of work. Getting to real insights from a deep discovery process is the core building blocks of the first four weeks. In that period, I already conducted over 55+ interviews with possible customers to find out what problems they are experiencing and whether these problems are big and painful enough. Sometimes this requires shutting down your inner “builder” so that you can really listen and learn from the customers and experts around you.
Having frequent conversation with Builder’s team, access to different kind of playbooks and other tooling to help me visualise the insights, made me more focused on the journey. 🛤️
The reality of entrepreneurial challenges
Like I already told you: it’s not all rainbow and sunshine.
As a Brazilian entrepreneur that just got to the Netherlands, there are just so many different things one have to be aware of and adapt, not mentioning all the bureaucracy and house-hunting (still in the making btw). Whether you want it or not, these things will take some mind space, so settling as fast as you can help you to stay focused.
Also, don’t fall into the trap of thinking you’re some sort of superhuman and just focus on getting the work done. Settle, and make your new place your home. Working out for me is, for example, non-negotiable. It’s the time of the day where I’m pushing my (physical and mental) limits, putting all frustration out so that I can energise back.
But hey, there’s also so much to be excited for. After all those great interviews, I got to a point that I really feel that I understand the market very deeply. I am confident that I found a problem worth solving. 🔍
I am making friends and feel integrated into the Builders universe, which helps a lot. Like I said, the journey is made up by the people that are a part of it, so choose well who you’re surrounded by.
Advice for Fellow Entrepreneurs
One thing that I learned as an entrepreneur is that it’s important to pursue something you really care about and feel connected to. The journey will be extremely hard and it’s the connection to what you’re doing that will keep you focused and energised.
Of course, there are tons of advice on the internet. But I strongly encourage you to filter the advice from people who are in the arena, just like you. And that’s something you can find at Builders. 💯
I’d like to finish this with a word of encouragement. The journey won’t be easy, but if your heart is set in the right place and you are willing to put on the hard work, building a business is one of the greatest joys one can have in a lifetime. It’s not for everyone, for sure, but nothing is and I do believe that it’s for way more people than common sense dictates.
For all the aspirant founders out there and the ones who are already building — let’s go 🤘.
Also, make sure to connect with me on Linkedin.
