My relationship with technology starts early in life. I could easily spend hour after hour on my father’s computer, indulging my childhood tweaking programs and playing Mu online.
The first time I clearly felt passion for it was the time I created a keylogger in python and installed it on my father’s computer. I remember showing the stolen accounts to my brother to see his expression. Obviously, we didn’t do much with the accounts as we were kids. But we laughed.
After I learned the basics of programming, I started learning some web development, HTML and CSS came in handy when my dog got lost. My first website was a bunch of pictures of him and the reward for finding him. I never found him 😔.
Several years later, the software boom began and was eating up the world. There was an app for everything and I came up with an idea to help people while also creating a dynamic platform with consumer-created content. It was called Yanapaña which means help in Quechua (an indigenous language used mainly in the Andean highland regions of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Argentina). The idea was to create a platform that would let users ask completely anonymous questions about their health and have *only* licensed doctors answer them. We ended up making more than 12,000 medical orientations, and over 400 doctors subscribed to the platform. It gave me a lot of experience as an entrepreneur and I became a YLAI member.
Some years later while developing a mobile application for one of the biggest insurance companies in the country I got a new idea and started a new web-based platform called QuieroTengo . An insurance comparator platform for the user to find the best insurance directly from the insurance company without going through the usual broker. We signed with the biggest insurance companies but false accusations from the brokers association in the country made the regulation try to stomp on us. Our first encounter with regulation was interesting, we ended up kicking some butt and getting a clarification letter in our favour from the regulatory entity.
It was at this point that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were making front-page news, and their prices were rising. Aside from ripping the rewards, I became fascinated with the technology. It was like a “brain virus” and to this day I can't stop thinking about it.
Currently, my favorite way to spend my time is traveling to web3 conferences, meeting hackers building cool shit, programming functional languages such as Haskell, and developing new mental models for web3.
People need to realize that cryptocurrencies are more than the sum of their protocols, source code, and utility. It is ultimately a social system that inspires, enables, and connects people.
I'm grateful to be here helping shape the future of this industry.