What would you give up?

A couple of days ago I saw a post on LinkedIn regarding what company founders would be willing to give up. Going through some of the answers there were answers that definitely caught people’s attention but it got me thinking. I have already given up more than most of the answers so the question went from “what would you give up?” to “what have I given up?”.

Photo by Ian Schneider on Unsplash

The answer is simple: Everything! Money, food, family, health,a roof, a car, and what the future requires.

Let me preface this that I was born and raised in central Mexico to a father that is a doctor and a highly educated mother. I was born into a situation that put me a head of 99% of people in my community and because of that out of all my childhood friends I’m the one that was handed a better opportunity to “make it”.

Now because I was given advantages that other people didn’t have it’s my turn to do everything in my power to “make it” and help others.

As a founder I have always had the mentality that my team will be taken care off before me. They will eat first, have new tools first and get paid first. At the end of the day if you work with the right people and take care of your team your chance of success grows exponentially.

A couple of years ago I decided to start an EdTech company to change the way people learn. During the process I have given up:

1. Money — I haven’t had a paycheck in over 3 years. My monthly expenses for everything is under $450.
2. 2. Jobs — I have been very fortunate that in the journey of talking to successful people they have offered me jobs. Some of them are jobs at companies that people dream of working at but … at the end of the day in my mind I know that if I ever need to look for a job, I know where to start.
3. 3. Food — There was a time early last year where I didn’t know if we were going to be able to pay our team. We where going to be short a small amount. To save as much money as possible I locked myself in the office to save gas and did not eat any food for a week. We made payroll by $17.
4. 4. Family — my immediate family is extremely supportive but outside of my mom and brother I haven’t been able to see my father, and the rest of my family in years. Have missed every family reunion, get together, weddings and unfortunately even funerals. My family knows I love them and if they ever need anything I’ll flip the world on its head but for now it’s a sacrifice.
5. 5. Health — I used to be a fairly good shape and with that I have been able to learn a lot about my body. However, there was a point last year that we knew it was going to be time to put our heads down and deliver. It was a conscious thought out plan and I decided to stop working out, eat the cheapest thing I could(mostly never healthy), sleep least amount necessary so I could focus on work 18–20 hours a day. I gained nearly 30 lbs over my walking weight but it’s ok because with my past I know I can buckle down and get back to normal once things slow down. Fortunately that time is now.
6. 6. A roof- if I was willing to give up food, you can imagine I gave up a roof over my head. Slept around the office sometimes changing places so the team wouldn’t notice, sleep in back of my car, just had to find a different place to park daily. Thankfully at the time the place where we office had showers and the gym did too.
7. 7. A car — I drove a beat up Saturn Ion pulling into the office one day I saw one of our team members get out of an Uber. In the middle of West Texas that is not common. The team member and I had a conversation and I realized his car broke down and he didn’t have a car. After some planning I gave him the title to my Saturn so he could drive around. Remember above I now didn’t have a place to sleep, again.

Just because we had made sacrifices and we work hard it doesn’t mean we are guaranteed success. It just means we gain experience in this beautiful world. We are still a start up with no guarantees of what the future holds but rest assure that the stories to come will be epic.