Let's catch up, it's been a while.
On Oct 17, 2023 I had just returned to work after attending an AI conference in San Francisco that eMed sponsored me to attend. That day, 3 software engineers including me were laid off. This was after CTO and other executives had left the company as the owner was seeking profitability.
I immediately gave starting my own company a shot again. It's always been my goal and it's why you are here following the journey.
I cold called people to explore challenges in the construction industry. Took advantage that it's a huge sector of GDP, lots of growth in Miami, and that I can piggyback off my parents' network to get my first 10 conversations.
I made a video in English and Spanish with my elevator pitch on why construction folks should talk to me.
This would empower friends and family to act as my affiliates and connect me to the construction project managers I wanted to speak to.
After 35 interviews, I did not find challenges that I could solve with software, so I pivoted.
I reached out to WashU alumni who were business owners and asked them if I can help solve their A+ problem.
Working directly with business owners is the best way to find challenges that software can solve for.
I cold-called a Financial planning firm CEO whose company does $20-50M in revenue, got the meeting and his A+ NEED is recruiting financial advisors for his firm.
I made him an offer on the spot: pay nothing upfront and only pay me for every Financial Advisor I help you get hired. He said yes.
I have spent weeks preparing and a couple hundred dollars between subscriptions, tools, and freelance work to learn and help get a cold email campaign set up.
It launches in the next 2 weeks.
Marketing is the only way I can help a business owner make more money. It only took 3 years of working as a software engineer to learn this.
Thanks to my friends Chris C. and Asif R. who have consistently helped me get unblocked, and shown me the ropes, as I have picked up these new skills. Also, shoutout to Mo Soussi for helping me with a little data scraping blocker I encountered when trying to do it myself using python.
Stay tuned for the next email update to see the progress on the cold email outreach campaign and to learn more about a second client that I will start work with.
Grateful for your support on this journey.