A Story Begins

I have difficulty telling stories; it's the beginnings that are most difficult for me. Where do I begin? I know where I end, but where do I begin... I was born in Guatemala, in a small town near the country's southern border. I am an immigrant to this country, America. When my parents decided to leave for the U.S. in the 1980s, they never thought of moving to Brazil, the UK, India, or El Salvador; they thought only of moving to America. Because no one leaving their home, selling everything, and packing up and leaving their life behind says, "I want to go to the second-best place on earth." They decide instead to go to the promised land. What no one knows, on the other hand, is that the price of admission to the promised land is paved in thorns.

There is a greater story here, but I cannot tell it to you this way: so simply, so plain and yet bold, so matter-of-fact. I think for a second, should I quote David Copperfield? "I was born; I grew up"? No! But before I go there, I will tell you what happened to me yesterday, this week, this month, this last year. What got me here?

I found myself on a call with Amitav, an ex-coworker and new friend. You see, I had been having many calls all week. I was, in fact, in the process of founding a new company, and I had just discovered my co-founder. Now, on the phone with Amitav, I picked his brain for what I should do now that I have found a founder and need to look prepared for the next step on the road.

What he told me on that call was the proverbial gut punch that shook my world and galvanized my resolve. In engineering, people often say it's not the most exotic answer, the most novel idea that solves the problem, and they often resolve this paradox by saying, "It is the easiest solution that works." But the truth of the matter is, it's the most ironic solution that dislodges the bolt.