From Unseen to Unstoppable - Edrizio De La Cruz (Arcus, Y-Combinator, Founder School)

Welcome to this new episode of Explore and thank you for your continuous support, I wanted to let you know that the best way to send me some love is to give a 5 stars review ✨ on Spotify/Apple podcast. This week, I sit down with Edrizio de la Cruz the co-founder of Arcus that he sold to Mastercard, a former visiting partner at Y-Combinator and CEO of the Founder School. Tune in to learn about the highs and lows of a startup and get valuable advice.In our conversation, he shares:* How he went from being an airplane mechanic to an investment banker* The creation of Arcus to tackle the remittance market through gift cards* Being rejected from all accelerators, except Y-Combinator* Pivoting and focusing on LATAM bills payments through API integration* How to maintain team’s motivation during challenging periods* How they got acquired by Mastercard in a prolonged negotiation process* Becoming a visiting partner at Y-Combinator and coaching founders* How he supports entrepreneurship for underrepresented tech professionals * Going to the Whitehouse to talk about venture capital and startups Listen now on 🟢Spotify or 🟣Apple Podcast.Some key takeaways:Startups are hard and persistence is key Throughout our discussion Edrizio emphasized on persistence as a key factor in entrepreneurial success. Of course, he his an underdog founder, someone that defied the odds, which probably made it even harder. But when I asked: Hugo: “What are you the most proud of?”Edrizio: “I feel like I could have quit a lot of times. I think a normal person would have quit and I chose to stay sometimes in my own detriment, sometimes when nobody wanted me to in the company."Or when we talked about Y-Combinator and what makes it special he said: Edrizio about YC: “And all you're doing is listening to these success stories that are really horror stories.” We all hear about how hard it is. But once you’re there, it’s probably different. Pivoting is necessaryIn his own words: Edrizio about pivoting: “It’s not about whether or not, it’s about when?”From our discussion, I understood that being able to recognize when a pivot is needed and execute it is an important skill of a founder/CEO. Edrizio mentioned many times that he should have let go the original product earlier. While pivoting is incredibly hard, especially if you’re short on cash, it’s not surprising that you don’t always get it right on the first shot. But getting the right timing is more an art than a science. Focus on a nicheFocus on one market/product initially rather than spreading too thin. Edrizio told me all about how trying to tackle multiple markets simultaneously was a mistake. If you look at examples of great companies, they all leveraged the power of a niche. It's better to win in one market before expanding. It leads to much greater success. Don’t try to expand too quickly. In his own words: “The error that I made was to keep both the U.S. and Latam on at the same time.”"It doesn't matter if you're in a small market. I think if you can get big in that market and then expand, it's better than if you try to get of medium size in multiple markets at the same time, because it rarely translates from one to another." From “chief doer” to “chief delegator”As a startup scales, the CEO role shifts from "chief doer" to "chief delegator". Your role becomes more focused on bringing talented people who could potentially take your job than to execute. Scaling a company requires bringing on individuals who can take on leadership roles and delegate tasks.“There's like two faces to a CEO. There's like chief doer and chief delegator.""Under 50 employees, you are doing a lot. You're doing sales, product management, marketing, you're kind of leading the charge on everything." "Once you get past 50, you have to be very cognizant of being able to bring on talents and people that are so good that they could take your job from you."Where to find Edrizio:🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edrizio-de-la-cruz/🔗 The founder school: https://www.linkedin.com/school/thefounderschool/Where to find me:🔗 LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/hugorauch/🔗 Newsletter: https://explorepodcast.substack.com/Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome02:41 Edrizio’s Early Life and Journey to New York04:38 Challenges and Determination in Education07:20 Breaking into Investment Banking10:53 Founding Arcus and Early Struggles14:57 Getting into Y Combinator24:55 Facing Leadership Challenges25:26 Navigating Legal Troubles28:22 Pivoting the Business Model30:16 Scaling and Learning from Mistakes35:52 Acquisition by Mastercard41:20 Role at Y Combinator46:43 Founders School Initiative50:36 Final Thoughts and Reflections This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit climateventuresvco2.substack.com