June 14, 2025 • 32 mins
In this episode, Brian sits down with Sergio Sotelo, an experienced IT executive, entrepreneur, and AI strategist. Sergio shares his remarkable 24+ year journey from software engineering to becoming the CEO of Euler Innovations, a technology firm focused on revolutionizing the travel industry with AI. A former IBM executive, Sergio led the IBM Watson AI business in Latin America and has spoken in front of the president of Peru. Now, he’s building a groundbreaking travel solution while navigating a major life change—moving his family and business to the United States. Sergio’s insights on purpose, risk, and legacy are packed with valuable lessons for entrepreneurs at every stage.
💡 What You'll Take Away For YOUR Business
🚀 Why understanding your purpose will drive long-term success in business
🤖 How to build AI-driven solutions that enhance customer experience and trust
💡 The power of product-market validation—and how Sergio tested his idea in Peru before scaling
💪 How to balance calculated risk-taking with wise decision-making
🌍 Why thinking globally from the start gives you a competitive edge
💼 How Sergio navigated business growth while adapting to personal and family changes
⚡ Why building legacy is about more than business—it’s about impact and preparing future generations
📝 About Sergio Sotelo
Sergio Sotelo is an experienced IT executive, entrepreneur, and AI strategist with over 24 years of expertise in sales, management, business development, and IT innovation. He specializes in AI-driven business models, digital transformation, and startup growth strategies.
A former IBM executive, Sergio successfully led, scaled, and 'nailed' the IBM Watson AI business in Latin America. His work has earned him multiple prestigious recognitions, including the IBM 100 Percent Club Award, he was recently awarded the US EB2 NIW Visa, and recognized and featured in Marquis Who's Who in America for his contributions to AI and IT innovation.
Currently, he is the CEO of Euler Innovations, a technology firm based in Virginia. He also serves as a board director, mentor, and advisor to startups across the U.S. and internationally. He holds an MBA from the University of Lima, a Master in Management from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, and has completed executive programs at MIT and Harvard.
🎯 Sergio’s BEST Piece of Advice for Wantrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs
"Don't be afraid to pursue big dreams. If you’re aligned with your purpose, you have the potential to make it happen."
📢 Memorable Quotes
"If you know your purpose, you have the potential to achieve it." – Sergio Sotelo
"Don't let anyone kill your dream. If you're built with a purpose, you have the power to make it happen." – Sergio Sotelo
"Success without a successor is failure." – Sergio Sotelo
💡 Actionable Takeaways
✅ Identify your core purpose—it will guide your decisions and keep you motivated.
✅ Test your business idea in a smaller market before scaling globally.
✅ Approach risk strategically—consult trusted advisors and adjust based on feedback.
✅ Integrate AI and digital transformation to create more efficient, customer-focused solutions.
✅ Balance work and life—build a business that supports your lifestyle and long-term goals.
🔗 Links
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theEntrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and I don't think
I've ever said this in an introbefore, but I very much feel
this way for today's episode andtoday's guest, and that is that
our guest today is truly anentrepreneur's entrepreneur.
You're going to see why I saythat.
I'm convinced that I loveentrepreneurship far more than
(00:22):
most people do, but I wouldargue that today's guest totally
joins me in that passion andthat love for entrepreneurship.
So let me introduce you to him.
His name is Sergio Sotelo.
Sergio is an experienced ITexecutive, entrepreneur and AI
strategist with over 24 years ofexpertise in sales management,
business development and ITinnovation.
He specializes in AI-drivenbusiness models.
(00:45):
You're going to hear some coolthings there Digital
transformation and startupgrowth strategies.
He's a former IBM executive.
When he was there, sergiosuccessfully led, scaled and
nailed, the IBM Watson AIbusiness in Latin America.
His work has earned himmultiple prestigious
recognitions, including the factthat he's given a speech in
(01:05):
front of the president of Peru,which is where Sergio is from.
He's won a bunch of awards.
I'll let him tell you all abouthis credentials, but I love his
current role.
He's the CEO of EulerInnovations, which is a
technology firm.
On top of that, he's not justan entrepreneur he also serves
as a board director, a mentorand an advisor to startups
across the US andinternationally, helping
(01:26):
founders with product strategyand go-to-market strategy, ai
and digital transformationprojects, fundraising and pitch
deck reviews.
This is someone who reallyunderstands all components, as
well as the immigration andlegal guidance for tech
entrepreneurs, because at thetime of him and I recording this
, sergio is on the midst of abig move to the United States.
I'm personally so excited forhim, his family, his company,
(01:48):
all that good stuff.
This is going to be a funconversation today, so I'm not
going to say anything else.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Sergio Sotelo.
All right, sergio, I am so veryexcited for our conversation
here today.
First things first, welcome tothe show, thank you, Ryan.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Thank you so much.
I'm a huge honor.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Sergio, the honor is all mine because I've gone deep
into all the wonderful work thatyou've done and I'm excited for
you to share it with listeners.
Take us beyond your bio.
Who's Sergio?
How'd you start doing all thesecool things?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, thank you Ryan.
Thanks Well, thank you, ryan.
Well, it's been, I believe,more than 25 years since I
started.
I am a software or systemengineer, but the reason because
I am is because someone helpedme find out, you know, my gift.
(02:41):
And who that person is is myfather.
So he was the very first personwho believed in me.
He gave me the hints and then Irealized over time that I love
(03:06):
technology and that left theuniversity.
I started working as aprogrammer because you know I
love.
I learned to program, you know,in university, in those early
days.
Java was coming, was justemerging, so I was kind of the
kind of the kind of people thatlikes to go buy books, do my own
(03:32):
research, understand howtechnology works, and then I
love programming in those earlydays.
So I became a programmer forover two years, three or four
years more or less.
Then I became like a softwareengineer.
I believe, if I'm not wrong, in2000, I had the chance to
(03:52):
certify one payment protocolthat was just emerging in those
days In 2000,.
Z was the technology that wasused for digital payments, but I
had the honor and the chance towork in in 3d secure.
3d security is what today iswell known as verified by visa.
(04:14):
So I work in order to certifythe protocol for Latin America
and we made it happen.
We made it happen.
That was, I think, my one of myinitial achievement as a
software architect, because inthose days I became a software
architect and then time went by.
You know I love to do that, butthen I said, you know, in 2000,
(04:35):
so what is next?
Should I continue working as aprogrammer, software architect,
or what is next?
And that was the time when I,when I met who was one of my
initial mentors in the earlydays and he I will never forget
what he told me and he said athe best thing that you can do
(04:57):
is to have your own company.
Because I was wondering whetherwhere to go to the US to do my
MBA or to start my own company.
And that's what I exactly did.
I started my company in Peru andin India, working as an IBM
business partner, because one ofthe things I have to tell you
is that my heart has been withIBM since the very beginning and
(05:19):
I had my company, which was asoftware development company in
Peru and in India, for over nearnine years eight years and
something.
We did many, many good thingsin Peru, working with people
from Bangalore, from Kolkata.
So I loved those days.
The only one who didn't lovethat much was my wife, you know.
(05:40):
Because I had to, I had to workovernight because of the time
difference, but that was such anice time working for my own
company.
But then I joined IBM.
I had the chance to join IBMand I did it.
I did it because that was mydream since university.
11 and a half years at IBM forme IBM is a great school and
(06:08):
those were my best years of mylife.
We made many transformations.
We made many, many new projects, many innovations.
I was the CTO, I was thebusiness unit executive for IBM
Watson.
So I think that was one of themost exciting times in my life.
(06:30):
And then I went to study at MITin 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.
Here we are we are working inAI, we are working for
(06:51):
TravelTech.
We really want to reinvent thedetailed experience of traveling
the world, and that's themission that we have right now.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Right.
Yes, I love that overview,sergio, for so many reasons, but
probably one reason that youdon't expect me to call out, and
that is I love how you broughtup your wife, because our
partners are so important to ourentrepreneurial journeys.
And I personally know, just inour interactions leading up to
today's conversation, that oneof your proudest life
accomplishments is you'vesuccessfully obtained the EB2
(07:22):
National Interest Waiver Visaand you are moving your company,
your family, all of that hereto the United States, and I'm so
excited for that, sergio.
With that in mind, to me whatreally stands out is how
purpose-driven you are.
That entrepreneurship, thatbusiness, that innovation, that
technology, that all of thisjust also plays into a better
(07:43):
life, and it's near and dear tomy heart, sergio, we didn't talk
about this off the air, but I'mthe son of an immigrant mom
here in the United States andthat factors a lot into the way
that I see the world and the waythat I see opportunities and
what entrepreneurship means tome.
So, with that in mind andknowing it's one of our
similarities, sergio, I want tounderstand your mindset and how
much of this plays into the factthat it's not just for business
(08:05):
purposes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You have a broader life purpose than just that.
You're right, ryan.
What I can tell you is thateverything has a purpose.
The purpose for me is themeaning of your existence.
We are here doing what we dobecause we all have a purpose.
The problem is that noteveryone knows their purpose.
So I believe that over the yearI had the chance to identify
(08:33):
different milestones.
I'm also a believer.
I know that God is always, youknow, showing me new things and,
little by little, everythinghas been part of a puzzle and
part of the process to reach mypurpose.
And I did many things over theyears, you know, until I left
IBM, and I believe that was ahuge milestone, because that's
(08:56):
where Euler started and that iswhat is taking me all the way
now to the US.
And now that you're mentioningmy wife, she helped me all the
time, even in the visa interview.
This is something I'm gonnatell you.
One of the questions theofficer you know asked me in the
day of the interview is howmany years are you married?
(09:17):
And I told him well, I've beenmarried for over near 20 years
and I have two kids.
And you know what he said.
He said okay, I just wanted tovalidate, but that means also
commitment.
So your visa is finallyapproved, go and welcome to the
United States.
(09:37):
So for me, purpose is so muchimportant and everyone has to
understand its purpose.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, with that said, sergio, here's the thing,
because I not only am apodcaster, but of course, I love
listening to conversations, Ilove consuming business content,
and when I hear these things onpodcasts about we have to have
our purpose and we have to bedriven by our purpose, that's
what's going to get us throughall the moments, the good
moments as well as the badmoments.
It's easier said than done, anda lot of times I feel like
(10:08):
entrepreneurship can be a lonelyjourney, as we don't feel like
others can possibly understandthose low lows that we
experience.
Sergio, I'd love for you tooffer us some of those insights,
because you're a fellowentrepreneur, just like us.
You're growing a reallyinnovative business yourself and
it's not always easy and, ofcourse, we can celebrate your
wins, but I'd love for you totalk to us about the resilience,
(10:29):
determination, the the stuffthat gets you through those
tough times and those toughchanges yeah, well, that's a
good, that's a good question,ryan.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Uh, you're right.
No, it's.
It's difficult, it's not thateasy.
You, you need to be resilient,but I think that's something
that I have learned over theyears.
It is not something that comeout immediately, but it's
something that I learned.
It's not from my very firstchallenge 25 years ago to my new
(10:59):
challenges.
Every challenge is bigger,tougher, but I learned something
.
Now, if you are apurpose-driven person, a
purpose-driven professional, Ibet you that you have not only
think.
There's nothing that can stopyou.
It is you fighting because youknow you will eventually reach
(11:34):
that big dream that allentrepreneurs have.
But sometimes they are worriedand they are afraid that that
could never happen.
But I bet you it will happen ifit is tied to your purpose.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, so well said.
Especially, you talk about bigdreams, and I think that that's
one of the roles thatentrepreneurs play in society is
that we see those possibilities, we dream big and, as a result
of that, we find those bigsolutions, those big innovations
.
Talk to us about your businessnow and kind of the bigger
vision that you have for it,because I'll tell you this,
(12:07):
sergio, that when I wasresearching the work that you're
doing with Euler Innovationsand I'd love for you to share a
little bit about what that lookslike but what I really wanna
hear about from you here todayis how big that dream is,
because I love that video onyour website about little kids
experiencing the possibilitiesof travel and a whole big world
out there for themselves.
(12:27):
To me, that's planting seedsthat truly does change lives.
So introduce us to that workthat you're doing and,
importantly, the big visionbehind it.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah yeah, this vision started, as I told you,
when I studied at MIT.
I wanted to do somethingdifferent 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 totravel.
So I wanted to do somethingrelated to the travel industry.
(12:59):
So we started a research at MITand that research continued
over time in Virginia and werealized that there's a big
problem.
We are not perfect travelers.
We are not perfect planners.
We really want to preventfailed trips and we validated
that with many interviews thatwe did with travelers from
(13:21):
different ages and we understoodand we learned that it's not
only about the old traveler, itis about the youth, but it's
also about those young peoplewho are digital native, who will
understand technology so fastand so different, and they are
the ones who will experience andthey will take advantage of all
(13:42):
this technology as they growwhile traveling.
So we wanted to do that.
So we started this projectnamed Rebecca, your best local
friend, and the reason becauseit's Rebecca is because my
daughter's name is Rebecca andthat's how this started.
Because everything started inPeru, in a location named
Paracas, because that's where Ihave a house that I used to rent
(14:04):
and that's where I learned thetravelers problem and that's the
idea that I used to rent andthat's where I learned the
travelers problem and that'swhere that's the idea that I
took to MIT along the path,along the way in our journey,
that we are doing right now.
As you mentioned, at the verybeginning, we started to do some
product validation.
We have an MVP.
We are testing this right nowin Peru because, as you said, we
(14:28):
won a prize from the governmentof Peru to implement our
technology in three regions ofthe country in Ica, in Cusco and
in Lima.
And something that is exciting,brian, is that it is not about a
technology project.
It is about learning new stuff.
I am an IT executive and an ITguy, but I'm always learning
(14:54):
here.
I'm going to learn deeper howto use AI, how to use deep
learning, generative AI, etc.
However, there are additionalthings that I'm going to learn
Because, on the one side, I needto learn more about the
traveler, so that leads me tostart reading a lot and
understanding about the customerbehavior.
(15:16):
So behavioral science issomething interesting that I
never do, but I need to know nowin order to understand how the
travelers behave, how can Iinfluence and solve the problem?
That's on the one side, but onthe other side, I need to learn
about the places, thedestination, and it is not only
about collecting data, becauseanyone can collect data.
It is about learning what isbehind the history, the heritage
(15:41):
, the heritage, the stories,everything that is behind and
how communities behave and whatproblems they have and how can
they help, not only to give asolution for the traveler, but
also to solve a problem forcommunities.
And it goes beyond only solvingthe traveler problem and give
(16:02):
them memorable experience.
But it's also, brian, about theimpact that you can make in the
world and, beyond that, thelegacy that you can give if this
finally works.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, sergio gosh, so many directions that I want to
go in here, but the first onethat I want to touch on is a
love, a shared love that you andI both have that I didn't
realize before we hit recordtoday, and that is, of course,
geography and travel and theworld.
It's fun for me because myfamily's immigrant story to the
United States is such a corepart of my story You're in the
middle of writing yours for yourstory and for your kids as well
(16:40):
.
But even before the move to theUnited States is that I love
hearing how big your mind thinksabout business.
You talk about Peru, you talkabout working with India before
you talk about obviouslyoperating and expanding here
into the United States, and sowhat I really hear there.
I love geography and it's alwaysbeen a core part of my passions
, but I love it for a reason,and for me it reminds us that
(17:04):
the world is so much bigger thanour immediate surroundings.
There's so many places outthere far beyond what we can see
, and, sergio, as a worldtraveler, I know that that
factors a lot into the way thatyou see the world.
Share some of those insightsinto how travel and culture and
communities have changed andshaped the way that you think
and the way that you operate asan entrepreneur and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Sure, sure, brian, everything.
Every time I travel, everything.
Every time I travel, I can withnew ideas, with new thoughts.
And this is it's amazing,because when I was a child, I
didn't have the chance to travelthat much, but I started
traveling to the US and then toother countries Brazil in the US
(17:51):
, europe, etc.
And in every country you learnnew things.
And that knowledge is aknowledge that you can get, it's
a knowledge that you can bringto your country and it's a
knowledge that you can alsoapply.
And that helped me a lot,because it takes me to a
different level of understandingabout reality.
(18:13):
And that I learned not only forme, but also I'm trying to
learn this to my kids.
I'm trying to take my son toevery trip that I make.
I'm trying to take my daughterto everything that I make,
because I know, once they traveland they get to know different
cultures, different geographies,etc.
(18:34):
They will learn a lot.
I just had a chance to take myson to Portugal last year.
Oh, you can imagine he camewith so many ideas and that we
say, hey, dad, maybe we can dothis in your project, or maybe
this or maybe this.
We now realize that I don'tknow whatever.
(18:54):
Travelers sometimes don't trustthe locals, so what do we do in
order to solve the problem?
You know, new things happenwhen you gather this information
and use them wisely.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, for sure, and I love that visual of you and
your son in Portugal, hopefullyeating pastai de nata,
overlooking the beautiful citiesthere and just thinking about
the possibilities.
Sergio, I want to backtrack tosomething that you said in an
answer there, because I feellike it's been the hardest thing
for me to explore.
The older that I get, the moreI mature as a person and as an
(19:30):
entrepreneur, and that's thathuge concept of legacy.
It's so clear to me that youare in that phase of your
professional career where it'sno longer about you, sergio, and
I think that that's reflectedin the fact that you are a board
director.
You are a mentor to others,you're an advisor.
You love this stuff, but notfor yourself.
You love helping and guidingand shaping others.
(19:51):
What does legacy mean to you?
When you explore the legacythat you're building for
yourself, your family, forgenerations to come, how do you
start to figure out?
What is that legacy?
How can you shape it?
What's the work involved?
I'd love to hear how younavigate that.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, sure, same thing.
At the very beginning, Ithought it was about me.
I have to be honest, you know,I didn't have the experience
that I have today.
Then, as time went by, Ilearned new things.
I got married, I learned aboutthe importance of the family, I
learned about the importance ofthe kids and then, as you were
(20:30):
saying, while working at IBM, Iwanted to spend more time with
my kids.
And today I have theresponsibility to guide my two
kids for their future.
And the best way you can guideis by example.
Whatever they see you doing,they will try to copy.
(20:53):
They will do it again.
And that's what I'm trying todo today.
I'm trying to share myexperience, my knowledge,
through my kids, because there'sone saying that says success
without successor is failure,and I truly believe that, and I
(21:16):
and this is the time that is mypart of my responsibility not
only to take them to the US, notonly to help them you know
study, but also to get themprepared for what is coming, so
that they can really understandthe purpose that they have in
life and they can achieve theirdestiny.
And that's my legacy.
(21:36):
It's not about me, it's aboutthem and it's about their kids
and the kids of their kids.
That's the way I think.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, sergio, it's so cool to hear that.
This is the first time I'veever heard that phrase.
For success, you also need asuccessor.
It's a really cool long-termway of thinking, and I guess I'm
going to put you on the spot alittle bit here, sergio, because
it's so much fun having thisconversation when we are,
because you're currently in Peru, on the verge of moving your
family to the United States.
(22:05):
By the time this episode airs,you will already be here in
Estados Unidos, and with that inmind, sergio, with that in mind
, I guess I not only want to askthis question to Sergio the
entrepreneur, but also Sergiothe father, sergio the patriarch
, sergio the leader inside ofyou, and how many unknowns
(22:26):
you're stepping into and, ofcourse, there's going to be
unknowns for yourself, for yourfamily, your kids are going to
have to figure things out in anew country, and there's so many
exciting things there.
I'm a big believer, and itseems to me, like you share this
, that change representsopportunity.
Change represents newperspectives.
What are some of the thingsyou're thinking about, maybe,
that you're worried about foryourself or for your family?
(22:48):
What are some of those thingsthat you're excited about in the
coming months?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
about in the coming months.
I'm excited about the giantsthat will come up as we move on
to the US, because there arealways new giants, but that's an
opportunity to kill them all.
Something that I didn't sharewith you is that I'm kind of a
(23:14):
risky person.
When I was studying at MIT,they took me to Malaysia and
they took me a test and in thistest you come up knowing the
type of person that you are, andthey taught me that.
There's a person who's used toworking in an enterprise you
(23:35):
know for many years and you knowthey like this type of life.
They are named the sailor.
Then there are the other typeof person, who are the type of
person who likes to scale abusiness.
That's the scaler.
But there's the type of personwho loves the unknown, the
jungle, the risk, and that wasme.
Love.
(23:57):
They'll know the jungle, therisk, and that was me.
So when I understood that, thatwas the moment when I said wow,
I didn't even know.
I saw something was inside me,but I didn't know that this is
what was happening to me.
So now that we have the chanceand we got this opportunity to
move to the US and get this visa, I know there are to be many,
many new challenges, but notonly me but my whole family.
(24:18):
They understand there's anopportunity for something better
.
Something better is going tocome up and we are prepared for
that.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, sergio, okay, if you're going to bring up risk
, then I'll share with you oneof the first ever posters that I
had in my bedroom when I was incollege, and it said it was a
guy standing on a cliff and thecliff was cracking and so he was
thinking about jumping over tothe other side and underneath it
it said the riskiest thing isto take no risks.
(24:48):
And that's always been somethingthat I've thought about is that
I know what my life looks likeas it is.
I know what my life looks likeif I keep doing things the way
that I'm doing them now.
That's the safe option and it'snot the option that I want.
I want more, I want better.
I want all of these things inmy life.
So in order to get there, Ihave to take risks, but I always
argue to people that they'recalculated risks so they don't
(25:11):
feel like risks to myself.
I'd love to get inside yourmind and hear the way that you
think about risks, because Ialso know, sergio, as risky as
you are, you're also very wise,you're very intelligent, you
have a lot of experience.
So how do you calculate thoserisks to take along the way?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
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 wantsomething, but I always go back
to my wife and share my thoughtsand I ask her for opinion.
(25:48):
And you know it's importantbecause the more opinion you ask
to wise people, the wiser youbecome.
So I will never take a decisionalone.
I will ask my wife, I will askmaybe a mentor or someone else
before I make a decision and inthat way I lower the risk that I
(26:11):
may have.
And that's exactly what I didwhen I decided to go to the US,
because you know it's a changeof life.
My kids are studying in theirschool.
They love their friends.
Now it's going to be somethingnew for them, so, but we are
kind of prepared.
We think we have mitigated therisk so far, until now.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah, that's the important word there that I love
the fact that you brought it upis mitigating those risks.
We have to take those.
We can mitigate them to anextent, but I love the careful
calculation and your mostimportant advisor of all, your
wife shout out to the fact thatyou have that support from her.
Talking about risk, I reallyenjoy asking this question.
I started asking it of a lot ofentrepreneurs, most recently
(26:53):
this year, and that is abouttime horizon, knowing that you
are a risk taker, but alsoknowing that you have these big
dreams.
When you think about strategy,when you think about your goals,
how far out do you look, sergio?
Is it that you look a month ora quarter in advance, or six
months to a year in advance, ormultiple years down the line?
Because we're talking legacy,what's that time horizon that
(27:16):
you like to sit with?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
For me mostly it's a year, it's a year timeframe, and
then after a year I will recap,see what is doing good, what is
not doing good, and then I'llmake a plan for a new year to
come.
But it's not only a year, maybeit's a year, but divided by
quarters.
So every quarter we validatewhere we are, if we need to make
(27:40):
some change, adjust some things, and then move on, and then
move on until we achieve thetarget that we have.
For example, today we have thistarget with the government of
Peru for in a year to have ourtechnology deployed and tested
in three regions of the country.
(28:01):
So you also need to have someKPIs to achieve in the timeframe
that you said.
So same thing is going tohappen in the US.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I'm a big fan of quarters.
I believe that we can take alot of action inside of a
quarter.
90 days is a very actionabletimeframe where we can change
anything.
We can change our lives, wecould change our health, we
could change our businesses.
We can change so much stuff.
So it's really cool to hear howyou constantly reassess and
then you do have that broaderyearly vision.
(28:30):
So, Sergio, it's really fungetting inside of your mind.
I ask the same question at theend of every single interview
and that is what's your one bestpiece of advice?
Knowing that we're beinglistened to by both
entrepreneurs and entrepreneursat all different stages of their
own growth journeys.
You are one of us.
You're a fellow entrepreneurwho also advises others.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
So what's that one advice that you want to leave
our listeners with today?
Well, if you're an entrepreneurwho loves technology, who loves
AI, and you're afraid, let metell you don't be afraid, go for
it, go for it.
Don't let anyone kill yourdream.
That's number one.
(29:12):
Number two whatever you do, doyour dream, that's number one.
Number two whatever you do, toyour purpose, because you have
been born Not to find a purpose.
That you are.
You are being born built with apurpose.
So that dream, big dream thatyou have, and all those doubts
that you have, you know, believein yourself because you have
(29:35):
the purpose, but you also havethe potential to achieve it and
reach, at the end of the day,your destiny.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That's my biggest piece of advice yes, I love that
for our listeners.
And, sergio, I also love thefact that you're sitting down
with us here at this importantturn in your trajectory and a
lot of exciting changes foryourself, for your business, for
your family, and I feel likethis is the beginning.
We're going to have to have youback on later in the year, once
you've settled and built thoseroots here in the United States.
(30:05):
With that in mind, I also knowbecause obviously you and I talk
off the air and there's a lotof things that we didn't
necessarily talk aboutbusiness-wise because you have a
lot going on, so many coolinnovations and tech solutions
and, of course, ai built intoall the things that you're doing
.
So, for listeners who do wantto see it and track your
progress along the way, dropthose links on us.
(30:26):
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Feel free to drop any of thoseURLs and websites on us.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm always eager to help others.
You can find me throughLinkedIn, at Sergio Sotelo E in
LinkedIn.
You can also find me in mywebsite, sergiosotelocom, and if
you want to know more about ourproject, you can find more
(30:55):
about it at EulerInnovationcom.
Yes, and also Instagram, if youwish.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Awesome.
Well, sergio, we're going tomake it as easy as possible for
listeners to find all of thoselinks down below in the show
notes, no matter where it isthat you're tuning into today's
episode, you don't have toremember any of these links or
how to spell Sergio's last name,because you can click right on
through from the show notes.
You'll find him on LinkedIn.
We're also linking to hissocials and his business website
and his personal website aswell.
So, sergio, on behalf of myselfand all the listeners worldwide
(31:25):
, thanks so much for coming onthe show today.
Thank you, brian.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Take care.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet
another episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
If you haven't checked us outonline, there's so much good
stuff there.
Check out the show's websiteand all the show notes that we
talked about in today's episodeat thewantrepreneurshowcom, and
I just want to give a shout outto our amazing guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
(31:52):
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsored episodes.
These are not infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
(32:15):
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and sunday
(32:38):
here on the entrepreneur toentrepreneur podcast.
Hey, what is up?
Welcome to this episode of theEntrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
As always, I'm your host, brianLoFermento, and I don't think
I've ever said this in an introbefore, but I very much feel
this way for today's episode andtoday's guest, and that is that
our guest today is truly anentrepreneur's entrepreneur.
You're going to see why I saythat.
I'm convinced that I loveentrepreneurship far more than
(00:22):
most people do, but I wouldargue that today's guest totally
joins me in that passion andthat love for entrepreneurship.
So let me introduce you to him.
His name is Sergio Sotelo.
Sergio is an experienced ITexecutive, entrepreneur and AI
strategist with over 24 years ofexpertise in sales management,
business development and ITinnovation.
He specializes in AI-drivenbusiness models.
(00:45):
You're going to hear some coolthings there Digital
transformation and startupgrowth strategies.
He's a former IBM executive.
When he was there, sergiosuccessfully led, scaled and
nailed, the IBM Watson AIbusiness in Latin America.
His work has earned himmultiple prestigious
recognitions, including the factthat he's given a speech in
(01:05):
front of the president of Peru,which is where Sergio is from.
He's won a bunch of awards.
I'll let him tell you all abouthis credentials, but I love his
current role.
He's the CEO of EulerInnovations, which is a
technology firm.
On top of that, he's not justan entrepreneur he also serves
as a board director, a mentorand an advisor to startups
across the US andinternationally, helping
(01:26):
founders with product strategyand go-to-market strategy, ai
and digital transformationprojects, fundraising and pitch
deck reviews.
This is someone who reallyunderstands all components, as
well as the immigration andlegal guidance for tech
entrepreneurs, because at thetime of him and I recording this
, sergio is on the midst of abig move to the United States.
I'm personally so excited forhim, his family, his company,
(01:48):
all that good stuff.
This is going to be a funconversation today, so I'm not
going to say anything else.
Let's dive straight into myinterview with Sergio Sotelo.
All right, sergio, I am so veryexcited for our conversation
here today.
First things first, welcome tothe show, thank you, Ryan.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Thank you so much.
I'm a huge honor.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
Sergio, the honor is all mine because I've gone deep
into all the wonderful work thatyou've done and I'm excited for
you to share it with listeners.
Take us beyond your bio.
Who's Sergio?
How'd you start doing all thesecool things?
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, thank you Ryan.
Thanks Well, thank you, ryan.
Well, it's been, I believe,more than 25 years since I
started.
I am a software or systemengineer, but the reason because
I am is because someone helpedme find out, you know, my gift.
(02:41):
And who that person is is myfather.
So he was the very first personwho believed in me.
He gave me the hints and then Irealized over time that I love
(03:06):
technology and that left theuniversity.
I started working as aprogrammer because you know I
love.
I learned to program, you know,in university, in those early
days.
Java was coming, was justemerging, so I was kind of the
kind of the kind of people thatlikes to go buy books, do my own
(03:32):
research, understand howtechnology works, and then I
love programming in those earlydays.
So I became a programmer forover two years, three or four
years more or less.
Then I became like a softwareengineer.
I believe, if I'm not wrong, in2000, I had the chance to
(03:52):
certify one payment protocolthat was just emerging in those
days In 2000,.
Z was the technology that wasused for digital payments, but I
had the honor and the chance towork in in 3d secure.
3d security is what today iswell known as verified by visa.
(04:14):
So I work in order to certifythe protocol for Latin America
and we made it happen.
We made it happen.
That was, I think, my one of myinitial achievement as a
software architect, because inthose days I became a software
architect and then time went by.
You know I love to do that, butthen I said, you know, in 2000,
(04:35):
so what is next?
Should I continue working as aprogrammer, software architect,
or what is next?
And that was the time when I,when I met who was one of my
initial mentors in the earlydays and he I will never forget
what he told me and he said athe best thing that you can do
(04:57):
is to have your own company.
Because I was wondering whetherwhere to go to the US to do my
MBA or to start my own company.
And that's what I exactly did.
I started my company in Peru andin India, working as an IBM
business partner, because one ofthe things I have to tell you
is that my heart has been withIBM since the very beginning and
(05:19):
I had my company, which was asoftware development company in
Peru and in India, for over nearnine years eight years and
something.
We did many, many good thingsin Peru, working with people
from Bangalore, from Kolkata.
So I loved those days.
The only one who didn't lovethat much was my wife, you know.
(05:40):
Because I had to, I had to workovernight because of the time
difference, but that was such anice time working for my own
company.
But then I joined IBM.
I had the chance to join IBMand I did it.
I did it because that was mydream since university.
11 and a half years at IBM forme IBM is a great school and
(06:08):
those were my best years of mylife.
We made many transformations.
We made many, many new projects, many innovations.
I was the CTO, I was thebusiness unit executive for IBM
Watson.
So I think that was one of themost exciting times in my life.
(06:30):
And then I went to study at MITin 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.
Here we are we are working inAI, we are working for
(06:51):
TravelTech.
We really want to reinvent thedetailed experience of traveling
the world, and that's themission that we have right now.
Speaker 1 (06:59):
Right.
Yes, I love that overview,sergio, for so many reasons, but
probably one reason that youdon't expect me to call out, and
that is I love how you broughtup your wife, because our
partners are so important to ourentrepreneurial journeys.
And I personally know, just inour interactions leading up to
today's conversation, that oneof your proudest life
accomplishments is you'vesuccessfully obtained the EB2
(07:22):
National Interest Waiver Visaand you are moving your company,
your family, all of that hereto the United States, and I'm so
excited for that, sergio.
With that in mind, to me whatreally stands out is how
purpose-driven you are.
That entrepreneurship, thatbusiness, that innovation, that
technology, that all of thisjust also plays into a better
(07:43):
life, and it's near and dear tomy heart, sergio, we didn't talk
about this off the air, but I'mthe son of an immigrant mom
here in the United States andthat factors a lot into the way
that I see the world and the waythat I see opportunities and
what entrepreneurship means tome.
So, with that in mind andknowing it's one of our
similarities, sergio, I want tounderstand your mindset and how
much of this plays into the factthat it's not just for business
(08:05):
purposes.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
You have a broader life purpose than just that.
You're right, ryan.
What I can tell you is thateverything has a purpose.
The purpose for me is themeaning of your existence.
We are here doing what we dobecause we all have a purpose.
The problem is that noteveryone knows their purpose.
So I believe that over the yearI had the chance to identify
(08:33):
different milestones.
I'm also a believer.
I know that God is always, youknow, showing me new things and,
little by little, everythinghas been part of a puzzle and
part of the process to reach mypurpose.
And I did many things over theyears, you know, until I left
IBM, and I believe that was ahuge milestone, because that's
(08:56):
where Euler started and that iswhat is taking me all the way
now to the US.
And now that you're mentioningmy wife, she helped me all the
time, even in the visa interview.
This is something I'm gonnatell you.
One of the questions theofficer you know asked me in the
day of the interview is howmany years are you married?
(09:17):
And I told him well, I've beenmarried for over near 20 years
and I have two kids.
And you know what he said.
He said okay, I just wanted tovalidate, but that means also
commitment.
So your visa is finallyapproved, go and welcome to the
United States.
(09:37):
So for me, purpose is so muchimportant and everyone has to
understand its purpose.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Yeah, with that said, sergio, here's the thing,
because I not only am apodcaster, but of course, I love
listening to conversations, Ilove consuming business content,
and when I hear these things onpodcasts about we have to have
our purpose and we have to bedriven by our purpose, that's
what's going to get us throughall the moments, the good
moments as well as the badmoments.
It's easier said than done, anda lot of times I feel like
(10:08):
entrepreneurship can be a lonelyjourney, as we don't feel like
others can possibly understandthose low lows that we
experience.
Sergio, I'd love for you tooffer us some of those insights,
because you're a fellowentrepreneur, just like us.
You're growing a reallyinnovative business yourself and
it's not always easy and, ofcourse, we can celebrate your
wins, but I'd love for you totalk to us about the resilience,
(10:29):
determination, the the stuffthat gets you through those
tough times and those toughchanges yeah, well, that's a
good, that's a good question,ryan.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Uh, you're right.
No, it's.
It's difficult, it's not thateasy.
You, you need to be resilient,but I think that's something
that I have learned over theyears.
It is not something that comeout immediately, but it's
something that I learned.
It's not from my very firstchallenge 25 years ago to my new
(10:59):
challenges.
Every challenge is bigger,tougher, but I learned something
.
Now, if you are apurpose-driven person, a
purpose-driven professional, Ibet you that you have not only
think.
There's nothing that can stopyou.
It is you fighting because youknow you will eventually reach
(11:34):
that big dream that allentrepreneurs have.
But sometimes they are worriedand they are afraid that that
could never happen.
But I bet you it will happen ifit is tied to your purpose.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Yeah, so well said.
Especially, you talk about bigdreams, and I think that that's
one of the roles thatentrepreneurs play in society is
that we see those possibilities, we dream big and, as a result
of that, we find those bigsolutions, those big innovations
.
Talk to us about your businessnow and kind of the bigger
vision that you have for it,because I'll tell you this,
(12:07):
sergio, that when I wasresearching the work that you're
doing with Euler Innovationsand I'd love for you to share a
little bit about what that lookslike but what I really wanna
hear about from you here todayis how big that dream is,
because I love that video onyour website about little kids
experiencing the possibilitiesof travel and a whole big world
out there for themselves.
(12:27):
To me, that's planting seedsthat truly does change lives.
So introduce us to that workthat you're doing and,
importantly, the big visionbehind it.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
Yeah yeah, this vision started, as I told you,
when I studied at MIT.
I wanted to do somethingdifferent 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 totravel.
So I wanted to do somethingrelated to the travel industry.
(12:59):
So we started a research at MITand that research continued
over time in Virginia and werealized that there's a big
problem.
We are not perfect travelers.
We are not perfect planners.
We really want to preventfailed trips and we validated
that with many interviews thatwe did with travelers from
(13:21):
different ages and we understoodand we learned that it's not
only about the old traveler, itis about the youth, but it's
also about those young peoplewho are digital native, who will
understand technology so fastand so different, and they are
the ones who will experience andthey will take advantage of all
(13:42):
this technology as they growwhile traveling.
So we wanted to do that.
So we started this projectnamed Rebecca, your best local
friend, and the reason becauseit's Rebecca is because my
daughter's name is Rebecca andthat's how this started.
Because everything started inPeru, in a location named
Paracas, because that's where Ihave a house that I used to rent
(14:04):
and that's where I learned thetravelers problem and that's the
idea that I used to rent andthat's where I learned the
travelers problem and that'swhere that's the idea that I
took to MIT along the path,along the way in our journey,
that we are doing right now.
As you mentioned, at the verybeginning, we started to do some
product validation.
We have an MVP.
We are testing this right nowin Peru because, as you said, we
(14:28):
won a prize from the governmentof Peru to implement our
technology in three regions ofthe country in Ica, in Cusco and
in Lima.
And something that is exciting,brian, is that it is not about a
technology project.
It is about learning new stuff.
I am an IT executive and an ITguy, but I'm always learning
(14:54):
here.
I'm going to learn deeper howto use AI, how to use deep
learning, generative AI, etc.
However, there are additionalthings that I'm going to learn
Because, on the one side, I needto learn more about the
traveler, so that leads me tostart reading a lot and
understanding about the customerbehavior.
(15:16):
So behavioral science issomething interesting that I
never do, but I need to know nowin order to understand how the
travelers behave, how can Iinfluence and solve the problem?
That's on the one side, but onthe other side, I need to learn
about the places, thedestination, and it is not only
about collecting data, becauseanyone can collect data.
It is about learning what isbehind the history, the heritage
(15:41):
, the heritage, the stories,everything that is behind and
how communities behave and whatproblems they have and how can
they help, not only to give asolution for the traveler, but
also to solve a problem forcommunities.
And it goes beyond only solvingthe traveler problem and give
(16:02):
them memorable experience.
But it's also, brian, about theimpact that you can make in the
world and, beyond that, thelegacy that you can give if this
finally works.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, sergio gosh, so many directions that I want to
go in here, but the first onethat I want to touch on is a
love, a shared love that you andI both have that I didn't
realize before we hit recordtoday, and that is, of course,
geography and travel and theworld.
It's fun for me because myfamily's immigrant story to the
United States is such a corepart of my story You're in the
middle of writing yours for yourstory and for your kids as well
(16:40):
.
But even before the move to theUnited States is that I love
hearing how big your mind thinksabout business.
You talk about Peru, you talkabout working with India before
you talk about obviouslyoperating and expanding here
into the United States, and sowhat I really hear there.
I love geography and it's alwaysbeen a core part of my passions
, but I love it for a reason,and for me it reminds us that
(17:04):
the world is so much bigger thanour immediate surroundings.
There's so many places outthere far beyond what we can see
, and, sergio, as a worldtraveler, I know that that
factors a lot into the way thatyou see the world.
Share some of those insightsinto how travel and culture and
communities have changed andshaped the way that you think
and the way that you operate asan entrepreneur and as a leader.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
Sure, sure, brian, everything.
Every time I travel, everything.
Every time I travel, I can withnew ideas, with new thoughts.
And this is it's amazing,because when I was a child, I
didn't have the chance to travelthat much, but I started
traveling to the US and then toother countries Brazil in the US
(17:51):
, europe, etc.
And in every country you learnnew things.
And that knowledge is aknowledge that you can get, it's
a knowledge that you can bringto your country and it's a
knowledge that you can alsoapply.
And that helped me a lot,because it takes me to a
different level of understandingabout reality.
(18:13):
And that I learned not only forme, but also I'm trying to
learn this to my kids.
I'm trying to take my son toevery trip that I make.
I'm trying to take my daughterto everything that I make,
because I know, once they traveland they get to know different
cultures, different geographies,etc.
(18:34):
They will learn a lot.
I just had a chance to take myson to Portugal last year.
Oh, you can imagine he camewith so many ideas and that we
say, hey, dad, maybe we can dothis in your project, or maybe
this or maybe this.
We now realize that I don'tknow whatever.
(18:54):
Travelers sometimes don't trustthe locals, so what do we do in
order to solve the problem?
You know, new things happenwhen you gather this information
and use them wisely.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, for sure, and I love that visual of you and
your son in Portugal, hopefullyeating pastai de nata,
overlooking the beautiful citiesthere and just thinking about
the possibilities.
Sergio, I want to backtrack tosomething that you said in an
answer there, because I feellike it's been the hardest thing
for me to explore.
The older that I get, the moreI mature as a person and as an
(19:30):
entrepreneur, and that's thathuge concept of legacy.
It's so clear to me that youare in that phase of your
professional career where it'sno longer about you, sergio, and
I think that that's reflectedin the fact that you are a board
director.
You are a mentor to others,you're an advisor.
You love this stuff, but notfor yourself.
You love helping and guidingand shaping others.
(19:51):
What does legacy mean to you?
When you explore the legacythat you're building for
yourself, your family, forgenerations to come, how do you
start to figure out?
What is that legacy?
How can you shape it?
What's the work involved?
I'd love to hear how younavigate that.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Yeah, sure, same thing.
At the very beginning, Ithought it was about me.
I have to be honest, you know,I didn't have the experience
that I have today.
Then, as time went by, Ilearned new things.
I got married, I learned aboutthe importance of the family, I
learned about the importance ofthe kids and then, as you were
(20:30):
saying, while working at IBM, Iwanted to spend more time with
my kids.
And today I have theresponsibility to guide my two
kids for their future.
And the best way you can guideis by example.
Whatever they see you doing,they will try to copy.
(20:53):
They will do it again.
And that's what I'm trying todo today.
I'm trying to share myexperience, my knowledge,
through my kids, because there'sone saying that says success
without successor is failure,and I truly believe that, and I
(21:16):
and this is the time that is mypart of my responsibility not
only to take them to the US, notonly to help them you know
study, but also to get themprepared for what is coming, so
that they can really understandthe purpose that they have in
life and they can achieve theirdestiny.
And that's my legacy.
(21:36):
It's not about me, it's aboutthem and it's about their kids
and the kids of their kids.
That's the way I think.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Yeah, sergio, it's so cool to hear that.
This is the first time I'veever heard that phrase.
For success, you also need asuccessor.
It's a really cool long-termway of thinking, and I guess I'm
going to put you on the spot alittle bit here, sergio, because
it's so much fun having thisconversation when we are,
because you're currently in Peru, on the verge of moving your
family to the United States.
(22:05):
By the time this episode airs,you will already be here in
Estados Unidos, and with that inmind, sergio, with that in mind
, I guess I not only want to askthis question to Sergio the
entrepreneur, but also Sergiothe father, sergio the patriarch
, sergio the leader inside ofyou, and how many unknowns
(22:26):
you're stepping into and, ofcourse, there's going to be
unknowns for yourself, for yourfamily, your kids are going to
have to figure things out in anew country, and there's so many
exciting things there.
I'm a big believer, and itseems to me, like you share this
, that change representsopportunity.
Change represents newperspectives.
What are some of the thingsyou're thinking about, maybe,
that you're worried about foryourself or for your family?
(22:48):
What are some of those thingsthat you're excited about in the
coming months?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
about in the coming months.
I'm excited about the giantsthat will come up as we move on
to the US, because there arealways new giants, but that's an
opportunity to kill them all.
Something that I didn't sharewith you is that I'm kind of a
(23:14):
risky person.
When I was studying at MIT,they took me to Malaysia and
they took me a test and in thistest you come up knowing the
type of person that you are, andthey taught me that.
There's a person who's used toworking in an enterprise you
(23:35):
know for many years and you knowthey like this type of life.
They are named the sailor.
Then there are the other typeof person, who are the type of
person who likes to scale abusiness.
That's the scaler.
But there's the type of personwho loves the unknown, the
jungle, the risk, and that wasme.
Love.
(23:57):
They'll know the jungle, therisk, and that was me.
So when I understood that, thatwas the moment when I said wow,
I didn't even know.
I saw something was inside me,but I didn't know that this is
what was happening to me.
So now that we have the chanceand we got this opportunity to
move to the US and get this visa, I know there are to be many,
many new challenges, but notonly me but my whole family.
(24:18):
They understand there's anopportunity for something better
.
Something better is going tocome up and we are prepared for
that.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah, sergio, okay, if you're going to bring up risk
, then I'll share with you oneof the first ever posters that I
had in my bedroom when I was incollege, and it said it was a
guy standing on a cliff and thecliff was cracking and so he was
thinking about jumping over tothe other side and underneath it
it said the riskiest thing isto take no risks.
(24:48):
And that's always been somethingthat I've thought about is that
I know what my life looks likeas it is.
I know what my life looks likeif I keep doing things the way
that I'm doing them now.
That's the safe option and it'snot the option that I want.
I want more, I want better.
I want all of these things inmy life.
So in order to get there, Ihave to take risks, but I always
argue to people that they'recalculated risks so they don't
(25:11):
feel like risks to myself.
I'd love to get inside yourmind and hear the way that you
think about risks, because Ialso know, sergio, as risky as
you are, you're also very wise,you're very intelligent, you
have a lot of experience.
So how do you calculate thoserisks to take along the way?
Speaker 2 (25:27):
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 wantsomething, but I always go back
to my wife and share my thoughtsand I ask her for opinion.
(25:48):
And you know it's importantbecause the more opinion you ask
to wise people, the wiser youbecome.
So I will never take a decisionalone.
I will ask my wife, I will askmaybe a mentor or someone else
before I make a decision and inthat way I lower the risk that I
(26:11):
may have.
And that's exactly what I didwhen I decided to go to the US,
because you know it's a changeof life.
My kids are studying in theirschool.
They love their friends.
Now it's going to be somethingnew for them, so, but we are
kind of prepared.
We think we have mitigated therisk so far, until now.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
Yeah, that's the important word there that I love
the fact that you brought it upis mitigating those risks.
We have to take those.
We can mitigate them to anextent, but I love the careful
calculation and your mostimportant advisor of all, your
wife shout out to the fact thatyou have that support from her.
Talking about risk, I reallyenjoy asking this question.
I started asking it of a lot ofentrepreneurs, most recently
(26:53):
this year, and that is abouttime horizon, knowing that you
are a risk taker, but alsoknowing that you have these big
dreams.
When you think about strategy,when you think about your goals,
how far out do you look, sergio?
Is it that you look a month ora quarter in advance, or six
months to a year in advance, ormultiple years down the line?
Because we're talking legacy,what's that time horizon that
(27:16):
you like to sit with?
Speaker 2 (27:19):
For me mostly it's a year, it's a year timeframe, and
then after a year I will recap,see what is doing good, what is
not doing good, and then I'llmake a plan for a new year to
come.
But it's not only a year, maybeit's a year, but divided by
quarters.
So every quarter we validatewhere we are, if we need to make
(27:40):
some change, adjust some things, and then move on, and then
move on until we achieve thetarget that we have.
For example, today we have thistarget with the government of
Peru for in a year to have ourtechnology deployed and tested
in three regions of the country.
(28:01):
So you also need to have someKPIs to achieve in the timeframe
that you said.
So same thing is going tohappen in the US.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I'm a big fan of quarters.
I believe that we can take alot of action inside of a
quarter.
90 days is a very actionabletimeframe where we can change
anything.
We can change our lives, wecould change our health, we
could change our businesses.
We can change so much stuff.
So it's really cool to hear howyou constantly reassess and
then you do have that broaderyearly vision.
(28:30):
So, Sergio, it's really fungetting inside of your mind.
I ask the same question at theend of every single interview
and that is what's your one bestpiece of advice?
Knowing that we're beinglistened to by both
entrepreneurs and entrepreneursat all different stages of their
own growth journeys.
You are one of us.
You're a fellow entrepreneurwho also advises others.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
So what's that one advice that you want to leave
our listeners with today?
Well, if you're an entrepreneurwho loves technology, who loves
AI, and you're afraid, let metell you don't be afraid, go for
it, go for it.
Don't let anyone kill yourdream.
That's number one.
(29:12):
Number two whatever you do, doyour dream, that's number one.
Number two whatever you do, toyour purpose, because you have
been born Not to find a purpose.
That you are.
You are being born built with apurpose.
So that dream, big dream thatyou have, and all those doubts
that you have, you know, believein yourself because you have
(29:35):
the purpose, but you also havethe potential to achieve it and
reach, at the end of the day,your destiny.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
That's my biggest piece of advice yes, I love that
for our listeners.
And, sergio, I also love thefact that you're sitting down
with us here at this importantturn in your trajectory and a
lot of exciting changes foryourself, for your business, for
your family, and I feel likethis is the beginning.
We're going to have to have youback on later in the year, once
you've settled and built thoseroots here in the United States.
(30:05):
With that in mind, I also knowbecause obviously you and I talk
off the air and there's a lotof things that we didn't
necessarily talk aboutbusiness-wise because you have a
lot going on, so many coolinnovations and tech solutions
and, of course, ai built intoall the things that you're doing
.
So, for listeners who do wantto see it and track your
progress along the way, dropthose links on us.
(30:26):
Where should listeners go fromhere?
Feel free to drop any of thoseURLs and websites on us.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
Oh, yeah, yeah, I'm always eager to help others.
You can find me throughLinkedIn, at Sergio Sotelo E in
LinkedIn.
You can also find me in mywebsite, sergiosotelocom, and if
you want to know more about ourproject, you can find more
(30:55):
about it at EulerInnovationcom.
Yes, and also Instagram, if youwish.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
Awesome.
Well, sergio, we're going tomake it as easy as possible for
listeners to find all of thoselinks down below in the show
notes, no matter where it isthat you're tuning into today's
episode, you don't have toremember any of these links or
how to spell Sergio's last name,because you can click right on
through from the show notes.
You'll find him on LinkedIn.
We're also linking to hissocials and his business website
and his personal website aswell.
So, sergio, on behalf of myselfand all the listeners worldwide
(31:25):
, thanks so much for coming onthe show today.
Thank you, brian.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Take care.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
Hey, it's Brian here, and thanks for tuning in to yet
another episode of theWantrepreneur to Entrepreneur
podcast.
If you haven't checked us outonline, there's so much good
stuff there.
Check out the show's websiteand all the show notes that we
talked about in today's episodeat thewantrepreneurshowcom, and
I just want to give a shout outto our amazing guests.
There's a reason why we are adfree and have produced so many
(31:52):
incredible episodes five days aweek for you, and it's because
our guests step up to the plate.
These are not sponsored episodes.
These are not infomercials.
Our guests help us cover thecosts of our productions.
They so deeply believe in thepower of getting their message
out in front of you, awesomeentrepreneurs and entrepreneurs,
that they contribute to help usmake these productions possible
(32:15):
.
So thank you to not onlytoday's guests, but all of our
guests in general, and I justwant to invite you check out our
website because you can send usa voicemail there.
We also have live chat.
If you want to interactdirectly with me, go to
thewantrepreneurshowcom.
Initiate a live chat.
It's for real me, and I'mexcited because I'll see you, as
always every monday, wednesday,friday, saturday and sunday
(32:38):
here on the entrepreneur toentrepreneur podcast.
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