Meet a winner of Start-Up Peru and Start-Up Chile : Tony Cueva Bravo
By Sally Coldrick and Rachel Hentsch
Tony Cueva Bravo CEO & Founder — Drop Technologies and Mentor at MIT Launch. He is a man of many talents who bears a wide, infectious smile! Read on to learn more about a man who professes that his favourite meal is meatballs and spaghetti because eating it always puts him in a good mood!
Tony’s approach to learning is best described in his words, “I will never stop because I think what I just learnt in college/university is just 1% of what I’m going to learn in life.”
What has happened in your world since attending Bootcamp?
Since I left the Bootcamp, my life took a 360° turn. Personally, I feel energized and renewed to accomplish whatever I want to, seriously. It (The Bootcamp) helped me to erase all the psychological boundaries that I had in my mind when I tried to start my own business. Furthermore, it gave me discipline to follow steps of a framework that helps entrepreneurs to understand the principles of how to run a startup, which is the reason why I went.
On the other hand, on a professional level, I quit my job as a teacher to follow my dreams of implementing my business idea which is called Drop, a portable device that reduces excessive sweating by applying small doses of electricity easily and automatically. This intensity of current slows down the overreaction of sweat glands and make them release less sweating. Since then, my startup has raised $57,000 non-equity taken from 2 important competitions: Start-Up Peru and Start-Up Chile, has finished its MVP and is ready for launching the main product on December with a Kickstarter campaign.
How has your network grown?
Exponentially! Seriously, you can check out my Linkedin and Facebook profiles before and after August 2015 and you will see the difference. The connections you make at the Bootcamp will last forever, but not only as friendship bonds, also as family ties. I’ve shared recommendations, entrepreneurial articles, experiences. I actually think it is useful for the group as a whole because, as a community, everyone helps each other with no strings attached. Moreover, I believe that the program (Bootcamp) itself promotes the importance of growing your network because it shapes your skills as entrepreneur and builds opportunities that you’d never have been able to reach before.
“I think the best learning in all my life and in business: to follow the 24 steps of Bill Aulet’s Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework.”
Where does your inspiration come from?
My parents are a huge inspiration for me because although they have faced many economic and social problems during their lives, they never gave up to obtain a degree, a good work opportunity and a better life for their family. I think they understood the value of forming their kids (my sister and I) as good citizen and people for the community. I hope someday I can be as wise as they are right now. I will never miss Christmas because it’s a celebration about union and happiness, which is what symbolizes my family to me.
My technological inspiration are the founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, because without having any expertise in developing web pages, they started with a minimalist page that symbolizes the simplicity of their company. I think that feature is the key behind the culture of the company that gave them a lot of successes.
What annual celebration with your family and friends would you travel from the other side of the world not to miss?
About family, I will never miss Christmas because it’s a celebration about union and happiness, which is what symbolizes my family to me.
About friends, I think it turned into a tradition to me to attend in every single bootcamp! I never miss one :)
How did you spend your summer holidays as a child?
I spent my time studying different courses from maths to physics and did some sports like swimming and chess.
Ending Note: We met Tony at the MIT Bootcamp in South Korea and were immediately impressed by his enthusiasm. We thank Tony for opening his world up to us! MIT Sisters are fueled by a desire to share real stories of entrepreneurs’ lives.
This article coincides with the launch week of our crowdfunding campaign: “Play a Part in Getting the MIT Sisters to Boston”: we are grateful that Tony has kindly allowed us to point you to a place where you can support our plight.
