About Me
I live in Sacramento, CA with my wife Sarah and our three boys — Cameron, Brandon, and Nico. We’ve been here since 2000 and have truly made it our home.
I was born in Venezuela to a Venezuelan dad and a Chilean mom, so I consider myself both Venezuelan and Chilean — but American first and foremost. I immigrated to the U.S. in 1991 with my mom and older brother when I was 10, and we settled in Northern California. I attended CSU Sacramento, earning a degree in Criminal Justice. My original plan was law enforcement, but my passion for technology and business pulled me in a different direction. My brother, a software engineer, was always tinkering with computers, and I was naturally drawn in.
Living in the Bay Area, where tech was booming, only fueled that interest. I was surfing internet forums and playing online games before it was mainstream.
Previously
During college, I worked full-time at a local appliance and lighting retailer. That’s where I built a strong work ethic and learned the fundamentals of business from great mentors. I did anything and everything that was asked of me, eventually becoming the warehouse manager overseeing millions of dollars in inventory, before transitioning into sales and marketing. I developed the store’s first website, which sparked a bigger idea: selling products online. In 2005, I attempted to build an ecommerce site. It failed miserably, but I learned a lot.
After graduation, I was recruited by a manufacturer’s representative, where I covered all of Northern California as an outside sales rep. The housing market collapse made it an incredibly tough time to sell into the construction industry. Conventional sales tactics weren’t working, so I added value by helping customers with IT needs and even building websites in exchange for showroom space. Two of my customers were fast-growing online retailers. Though initially skeptical of traditional sales reps, they eventually discovered my ecommerce and technical background. One of them, based in Sacramento, recruited me directly — opening the next chapter of my career.
For the next 15 years, I worked alongside some great leaders, learning firsthand what it takes to grow a business and build software. I built teams, processes, and platforms that helped the company scale from $5M in revenue to $100M at its peak. During that time, I expanded my role multiple times, eventually specializing in software development, taking on several leadership roles, and growing my skill set.
In 2019, I decided it was time for a new challenge. I reduced my role to part-time and pursued entrepreneurship, launching a D2C brand and a consulting business helping brick-and-mortar retailers move into ecommerce. Things were ramping up and I was fortunate to have support from my company during this transition. Then Covid hit. Around the same time, one of my mentors became gravely ill, putting the company in a difficult position. They asked me to return full-time as CTO, and I willingly came back to help lead the company through an acquisition.