In today’s episode, we talked with Hitomi Mizugaki & Angel Ramirez Co-Founders at Cuemby, about how their experience over the years working together and building a Cloud Native community helped stand up their product.
In today’s episode, we talked with Hitomi Mizugaki & Angel Ramirez Co-Founders at Cuemby, about how their experience over the years working together and building a Cloud Native community helped stand up their product.
Interested in more insights, industry best practices, and actionable content → connect with The Sales RX Community on social and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and follow to get the latest notifications from us!
Hatchet Ventures website: https://www.hatchetventures.com
Hatchet Ventures LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hatchet-ventures/
Chet Lovegren’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chetlovegren/
Connect with Angel Ramirez on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ar4mirez/
Connect with Hitomi Mizugaki on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitomim/
Check out Cuemby’s Website: https://www.cuemby.com/
Listen on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/36ub3fpy
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://tinyurl.com/ystuxubt
Listen on Google Podcasts:
[00:00:00] 1, 2, 3, 4. Are you a founder, co-founder, aspiring entrepreneur, or just someone who loves to hear about how companies are built? Then join us as we talk with founders and CEOs who have been there and done that. Welcome to the Founders Formula Podcast. Sponsored by Hatchet Ventures, and now your host, Chet Lovegren.
[00:00:33] Chet: Hello and welcome one. Welcome all to the Founders Formula podcast. I'm your host. Chet Lovegren, this is the show that is designed to bring you the latest and grace insights from founders and CEOs worldwide. And I'm super ecstatic, uh, for our episode today. As you all know, the podcast is sponsored, uh, by our friends in the startup space, Hatchet Ventures, and today I have two of the three co-founders of one of our portfolio companies, Cuemby.
Today we have Hitomi Mizugaki, the Chief Product Officer, and Angel Ramirez, the CEO. Hitomi and Angel, welcome to the show. We made it happen. We're here. How are we doing?
[00:01:12] Angel: We're doing great. Thank you for having us.
[00:01:14] Hitomi: Thank you so much. We're doing great.
[00:01:16] Chet: I'm excited to have you all. Um, for those that are listening, um, they have been so gracious with a couple reschedules cuz my kids have just been absolutely sick this entire winter.
They're so gracious. And then I had some other family stuff that had happened, so it took us around uh, I think this is our third time around scheduling the recording, but we made it happen. So, you know, the episode's gonna be good. Anytime we have scheduling conflicts, the episodes are always awesome. So no pressure you two.
Um, but, uh, and you have a, you have another co-founder, Cristher Castro, who is not with us today. She's the COO. Um, but we're really gonna dig into your two backgrounds and then talk a little bit about Mby and the story of Cuemby, and then talk a little bit about where Cuemby's at now and what you're doing.
So, you know the show, you've listened to the show, you're both first time founders. Where we wanna start as we want to dig into your background, your professional experience up to the. Of founding Cuemby. Um, so I'm gonna kick it over to Hitomi, uh, and let you talk a little bit about your background up to the point.
I know this is your second time around also having the role of Chief Product Officer, so we'll hear about that story. Um, tell us about Hitomi and your professional experience and how you got here.
[00:02:19] Hitomi: Okay. So, uh, I'm, uh, originally from Japan and I came to the United States and, uh, you know, I ended up, uh, staying here for longer than.
And then before Cuemby, I was in pharmaceutical in the business development and also, you know, sale, uh, real estate sales. And then when I was in real estate, I realized that I didn't know anything about computer and then the whole world is, you know, uh, revolve around software. So I decided to study software and as I, I was studying, I re I really got into it.
So I decided to change my career. And, uh, I went to, uh, interview, uh, for, uh, the, uh, software development position and Angel was there. He interviewed me and then he hired me for my first, very first software job. And ever since, uh, we've been working on the same team and same project. Whenever he moves a different company, I'll follow him cuz you know, we, we work well together.
And also I just, no, I just follow him , wherever he went and, um, you know, he had this digital agency, Cuemby. And then it was, you know, developing software, but it was, uh, um, kind of evolving to more of a DevOps agency. And you know, he asked me like, would you be interested in helping out? I said, of course.
So I started helping and then the business started to become a little bit bigger than just a hobby company. So one day he asked me, he told me, time to quit your job. Quit your job now. So, so I quit my job and then joined mbi. Um, but you know, as I said in the, it was really a digital agency that was developing software, but then, you know, uh, Angel was, um, specialized in, you know, software architecture and also cloud native technology and creating cloud infrastructure.
And then we found the niche in the market. So we decided to really focus on, you know, the cloud native technology and also software infrastructure. So, yeah. Awesome. That's my background.
[00:04:21] Chet: Yeah, that's quite a jump from, uh, Real estate sales to software. What was, what was one of the most surprising things to you when, that you saw, when you joined, when you started, um, being a software engineer that you said, Hey, actually this feels like something I did in real estate sales.
Like, what was one of the things you did in real estate sales that helped you kind of prepare for that, that you kind of saw in the software engineering world?
[00:04:44] Hitomi: So, you know, when I was in uh, real estate, I have to create my work. Nobody was giving me work. So in software too, I can just sit around and do nothing.
But I was looking for something to improve in a product constantly. And I think the mentality really helped me with the software development job. And then also, you know, being a founder of, uh, co-founder of Cuemby.
[00:05:08] Chet: That's really cool. Angel, let's kick it over to you. How about you? Let's talk about, um, your professional experience.
I know you're a tenured software engineer. I've been doing it for over 15 years, but dig deep a little bit into that and let's, let's talk about your experience up to the point of, of being a co-founder at Cuemby.
[00:05:23] Angel: Absolutely. So, well, I'm, I'm coming from a little different background. I'm coming from Cuba.
Yeah. Beach, salsa, and baseball. And, um, I got an opportunity when I was right into my 23rd year where I say, oh, should I continue my career of computer science in Cuba? Or I had an opportunity to move to United States and now you know which one I chose. That's why I'm here. So, but after I came here, of course I went to multiple jobs.
Trying to land my first development job, uh, in the United States due to the, uh, lack of language, not due to the, uh, um, lack of, uh, skillset set, but I think that's basically what every immigrant, like Hitomi was mentioning in the background. We go, we all go through, but at the end, I got the job first development company, and then I moved into a ladder.
Um, you know, starting making sure that I, I stay up today with, um, later trends and all. So all the way to the point where that's where he told me and I met in this company where I was the hiring manager. And then we move into more roles. We're actually working two more companies together. And uh, what she says, uh, it's a hundred percent true, is like, there was a point where we, I found myself and the team along with, Hitomi, like we were just doing everything all over again.
Like we were repeating the same mantra, the same technology, same stack, the same steps. And, uh, during that time I got passionate about infrastructure and what is actually needed to run software. Because building software one thing and run it is another one. So that's where we got to the point of, uh, founding Cuemby and say, Hey, this is our niche market.
This is what we can help. This is a lot of, uh, people in pain right now. So let's,
let's get into that.
[00:07:09] Chet: That's awesome. So you've both touched a little bit on Cuemby and kind of how it came about. So, you know, Hitomi me you and Angel had worked together for many years and you know, he kind of got you to, you know, leave, leave your job and come continue building this thing with me.
And, um, you have another co-founder, Christer. So let's, let's talk about how did, how did Christer come into play and how did you all decide? I mean, Angel, was this something that you started before you brought the other two on, or was this kind of an idea you had been building that. Three of you kind of went out full-time and started building it.
Let's talk a little bit about that founding story and how the three of you came together.
[00:07:44] Angel: Well, I, I think, uh, we might need to backtrack a little bit because at Cuemby, I think, uh, unofficially it was founded like three times before that. So the, uh, the actually Cuemby the domain, I bought it when I land in the United States.
The next month I got my first paycheck and a job that I was doing online, and I paid the domain. Because I, I had an, uh, an idea like, I want to do something right. But that was, that was just a dream. I want to do something, but I didn't know what, I just put the domain, but I, I really didn't do much about it because I didn't have experience.
I mean, we might touch that in, in, in, in, in official, in the podcast, but being a founder and being the developer, working for someone else is completely different story. So there was a point where, uh, then I, I went to Orlando and that's how I. And, uh, Chris is our found co-founder, but she's also, uh, my partner and, um, she actually, um, have this ability to operate people.
She, she knows how to manage people, how to do all the work that even though that I'm engineer, I cannot do like payroll, finance, like, oh, they, they, there you go. That's what she actually excels. And um, same thing. We had this idea like, oh, we should do something together. We have skillset. But it wasn't until we actually, um, moved back to Miami from Orlando five years later that we decided to do that digital agency.
That's how the Cuemby, I would say, launched to actually happen, which is the digital agency. And then when, um, Hitomi and I talk about it, like, we should take this to a next level. We say, Hey, let's just, let's just now combine the three of us. The skills that we have. We complement each other. Let's build that as a, as a, as a partnership.
[00:09:32] Chet: That's great. And Hitomi, I'm gonna put you on the spot for a second, but what was the, what was the thing that gave you the confidence to leave your job and go build this amazing thing with Angel and Chris? What was the thing where you go, I know I've worked with them for a really long time and I trust them, but what was the thing you saw out of what, out of the idea and what they were building that made you want to take that leap?
[00:09:53] Hitomi: Yes. I think there are a few things. One is that Angel and Chris they're amazing people. I can leave my credit card mortgage with everything to them, and I know they'll take a good care of them. We build a strong trust and a relationship and, uh, whatever the decision decision they make, I know that that's the best decision and I can trust them.
So that's number one. And the second one is that, um, as we are in, Angel mentioned that as we are moving different companies and doing, you know, building software, we realize that all the processes are same. And also as we, you know, consult. , every single company that are going to the growth stage are struggling with scalability.
So I saw, okay, there is a something happening in this, you know, market. There's something you know wrong with how the infrastructure is set up. So we are able to kind of find the problems that we could really focus on and we are expert in. So I was confident that if we can really focus on that and make it into a product, we're able to really excel.
And because they are customers, you know, they are asking for us to do the service to solve the problem. But what if we make it into a product? You know, there is already demand. We kind of prove it by doing all the service work. So, you know, I, I was pretty confident that in a way we are able to, um, you know, um, that the product will be, will have demand.
[00:11:14] Chet: Yeah. Mm-hmm. services are great, but products are scalable too. So , that's the other great thing about it is yes. Mm-hmm. . Absolutely. I live that in my life. I have a portion of my business is service based and sometimes I'm like, there's just no way to really productize it right now. But if I could figure out a way, I would feel so much better about the workload, you know?
Yeah. Um, So, uh, Hitomi talk, talk to me a little bit about, well, what, what is Cuemby? What does it do? Who's your customer and what's the problem that it solves? And then Angel, we'll get you to, we'll get a little insight from you on the back end there. Okay.
[00:11:45] Hitomi: So Cuemby, uh, so we have a, a product called Cuemby Cloud Platform.
So what it does, it's really, uh, shortened the time to market of software. And then we saw that in the past 10 years, you know, the product, you know, creating new features and new product and ship to market. It took only one year, but it doubled in the past 10 years. And the reason is that the cloud native, you know, landscape, people are going cloud, but the managing it is gets really complex.
And now, you know, the compliance, security, all the things are getting more complex and managing it is gonna, it's getting difficult. And then also, you know, cloud, everybody went to cloud.. But now they have to keep paying. And then the, you know, the cost is increasing every year. So managing that cost is also challenging.
And you know, so in order to do that, you need skilled people, you know, like software, uh, the DevOps, uh, client engineers. But finding these talent is difficult. Only like 60% of those positions are filled. So, you know, the, we are making a product to really remove all the, you know, the barriers and making it very easier for people to manage in complex cloud infrastructure by using our product.
So, I dunno if I'm missing anything. Angel .
[00:13:11] Chet: No, that's, that's awesome. Angel, anything to add there?
[00:13:15] Angel: Um, no, I mean, Hitomi that that taste of what she's on the product side, she basically owns the whole thing. But the only thing that I will add is that, It, it tends to be like, uh, one of the main, main reasons why it's so complex now compared to before is because there's uh, way too many tools now.
Like if you see the engineers engineer house, they just managing 16 to 20 tools to do the same job. And then like, that's why we're saying at the beginning, like, we've done it so many times and it's the same thing. Doesn't change. So that's what we find out, that something had to change and that's how we got into these.
Cloud native and world, we actually prepare for the past five years to become experts. Like when Elli came out and no one really wanted to even know about the the this technology. We actually were the first crazy ones to implement a live and production in the company that we were working on. So, so that type of mentality of innovation is what keeps driving us, and that's how we find out like, oh, we need to reduce that.
They, they shouldn't be that mini. We need to make it simple because at the end, what we want people to deploy products faster, not just managing complex, uh, uh, infrastructure.
[00:14:27] Chet: Yeah. So it sounds like this is something that has kind of been being built in the background by you all as well over the years working together.
Um, you've worked in the industry, you've seen this niche, you've seen how it's worked. You've even, it sounded, uh, sounded like you just said, Angel. You kind of implemented it to some extent. At a company you worked at, so I bet, I bet that gave you a lot more confidence in your MVP and your potential product market fit, right?
Absolutely. Uh, seeing that live in action and , let me ask you, do you, do you take that information into investor conversations when you're trying to potentially raise capital or just get feedback from investors that someday you might wanna raise capital from? What kind of things are you showing them or talking about in terms of are you the best person to solve this?
That you think other founders might need to think about when they're walking into rooms with investors to get feedback or show them what they're working on to plant those seeds for eventual investment. What are some of the things that you all are talking about or showing in terms of your history and what you've been building?
[00:15:24] Angel: I mean, I, I can cover a little more, uh, on the, uh, technical side. Like, um, we've been, uh, basically exposed to multiple big infrastructures. Like, um, I mean, there's one that, uh, for example when El Savlador adopted Bitcoin, uh, we were part of that, we built the infrastructure along with decided the in-house team that they had.
So that was a large infrastructure. So we understand the, what it takes to build large infrastructures, and that's what, um, when we have conversation with investors and all, and potential customers as well, because they want to see have you done large infrastructure? Yes. I mean, there's all the customers that, that we cannot disclose online, but, um, it's been a, for example, in, in gaming entertainment, uh, an entertaining industry.
We have our experience in FinTech. We got a lot of experience, uh, building, um, infrastructure. That's actually how we end up building, uh, a FinTech community because we found that they were having those pains and we say, Hey, you know what? We might not be able to help them all at once. But we can build a community so we can start helping everyone, uh, uh, slowly and progressively.
And also, um, in, uh, in the side, we've been exposed to a lot of our process with mergers and acquisitions where not only understand current infrastructure and architecture for companies that are being acquired, but also understand the pains on the, uh, financial side that the investors have. Because investors say, well, yeah, Angel what can you tell us that you know about, about companies, for example, that that some of the pains and I, I just go straight up like, tell me how much you're spending right now on DevOps.
And I'll tell you pretty easy. It's 150 K plus every each one and how much you actually spinning up your process and you say, you're gonna probably say that not enough.
And that's how you start having those conversations. When you invest with him, they understand like, oh yeah, he knows what we're talking about. That's one of the big. And on top of that, the last one just to, to um, uh, make the final point is the cost. When you see companies that they're spending more than 10% of the revenue in just client infrastructure, that's a big, big red flag cuz why would you spend so much on client infrastructure if you're a product talking about services and product, the whole point of having a product that you can have, know a big margin.
And that's one of the key points that we, uh, that we see on, uh, in this companies.
[00:17:48] Chet: Yeah. That's really cool. Um, Hitomi I'm gonna kick it over to you. We talked a little bit before the podcast about, um, part of the go to market strategy is building out this community ecosystem, and you guys have a couple different communities, so we'll dig into what the communities are, um, but.
You said that you all are over 11,000 members right now. Correct. Across all these communities. That's, that's incredible. Let's, let's talk about that, that strategy and that initiative. How did the idea of building these communities come, come to play? And then what has the execution been like on getting people to join those communities?
[00:18:25] Hitomi: Yes. So, uh, you know, Angel, from day one, he is a big, uh, believer in giving back to the community. And then, uh, you know, that's how I really learned some of the technologies that I was using as an engineer. So when we started Cuemby Inc, the company we have right now, we said, well, how, you know, I think some of the communities are still not, um, able to utilize the cloud native technologies.
Can we teach them so that we can kind of prepare the market for us to sell our product in the future? So that was the intention. And then also we have an office in Latin America, in Columbia. And, uh, we, there's not enough, um, like documentation and then, you know, resources for engineers to learn about cloud native technologies.
So, us being a bilingual company, Angel said, you know, why don't we build a community and then start teaching people? So we, you know, started this. Now what are the Kubernetes, you know, Kubernete hours? And every Thursday night we will teach. You know, first Angel was the only. And then, you know, some of the employees of our company will teach, you know, some of the techniques of cloud native technologies.
And then people start noticing, and then people start joining. And then our community become pretty big now, um, actually it's 1100 people. And then, um, become part of the cloud native computing foundations community group. Mm-hmm. and, uh, you know, so as we see that, you know, there's a huge need for Spanish language, you know, learning, you know, workshop learning resource.
We kind of created another community, um, which he created, uh, the foundation, Hispanic Foundation of Cloud Native. You know, that's also, you know, getting all the resources in Spanish, you know, to the community. And then now we saw an opportunity in FinTech market, FinTech market, you know, the software in FinTech, they're struggling with, you know, scalability, you know how to properly manage cloud resource.
So we created another community. Within a few months we had like dozens of dozens of companies joining. And now almost every month or so we have companies from all over Latin America joining and sharing their knowledge about, you know, their technologies and, you know, new trends. So, you know, that's how all the communities are, you know, built.
And now in June, we are going to have a first, uh, Kubernete Community Days in Latin. And then it's really bigger, getting bigger than we thought, you know, getting more traction. So, you know, we are pretty excited about it.
[00:21:01] Chet: And that's really cool, cuz correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you could potentially have this group of future users for your product as they get employed at other companies.
And now they're going, why don't we use this tool? You know what I mean? Why don't we, why don't we leverage that? And that's all just by giving away free information and education and a place to support people. Right? Angel? Like that's the, that was kind of the goal is, you know, hey, if we, if we give something , we may get something in return, but we can't expect to get something in return if we at least don't start giving something. Um,
[00:21:34] Angel: Yeah. And, and, and if I may record this, um mm-hmm. , everything has started because when we founded the company and the first employees that we got was in Colombia. So when we got to Colombia, we say, Hey, we need to hire these people and we need these skills. And we find out there's not those skills were.
So we need to build those skills in the first five people. Then those phase five people become 10, then 10 become 50. And that's what was saying. So it was like, yes. At the beginning it was just like, five guys trying to, to make it happen. And now it's 1100, uh, that actively engaged. And by way, those are became, um, those are paying off already because we actually got people already coming from the same community that, Hey, you know what, I, I saw you there and, uh, I, I, I have this need on the infrastructure side.
Can you help us? And, and that's, that's all about, right. So we, and we still tell them like, if you want training, don't. , wash it for free. I'm giving you the free information. Instead, I can help you with the specific, the specific needs of your company on the infrastructure side with the, with the product.
But, um, at the end, giving back, you also get something in return. And that's, uh, absolutely, uh, the way that we're going.
[00:22:48] Chet: I love that. I mean, it's one of the reasons that I personally love podcasting so much. Um, you know, directly, we don't, we don't get anything in return for pushing this information out to the public and this education.
Um, but we do get, I mean, it's a big part of your marketing funnel, you know, awareness, interest, desire, action, AIDA, I mean, getting eyeballs on stuff is awareness. And that's all the marketing, seo and all the clicks and that, and where is all your content and. Push it out. But to me, I've always been a firm believer, and I tell people this all the time.
The I and the D, the interest and the desire is from the education information and how, how often you can show up. You're showing up every Thursday night, you're giving these free trainings, you're packing them up, you're putting them in a place where people can access them later. Now in order to get people to take action when they need something similar, they see a problem in their business that can be solved by what they already know, which is you and your product, and the problem that it solves, they know immediately where to go.
And I, I love that you've embraced that mindset, um, that you all have that mindset because not enough companies do, and I see it all the time that companies go, oh, we stand up a product and it. , but it's a good product. Okay, but what are you doing to build your audience and build your tribe and your people that are gonna be advocates for you?
Because that's what it's all about. It's about advocacy. Um, yep. You know, there's companies that are making a living now off implementing software where it attracts job changes on LinkedIn because they know that people that have used my product before are more likely to buy it. So why would I go make a hundred cold calls if I can just call someone who used to use my product, you know,
So, and like, so it's a similar thing if you've already got. A very close mentor of mine always says, y you should never make people pay you for information and education people will pay you for your execution. Mm-hmm. . And so I'm a firm believer in that. And it sounds like you've all got that really done, pat.
I love that. Um, let's, let's dive a little bit into, um, experiences and challenges as a first time founder. It's a section I really like to talk to with first time founders where it kind of, you know, This honeymoon phase where it's like, I'm a founder now and I'm working for myself with a group of my friends and all that stuff.
But then the reality sets in a couple months later, right? And then things get tough. And I was actually, uh, having a conversation with my cousin over the weekend, uh, who's been in business for five years, and he says, you know, the thing I've learned as an entrepreneur is that it's, um, you love it until you don.
And then when you don't, if you can get through that, you'll love it again forever. So there's like always gonna be this period of doubt that'll set in. But if you can get over that. So I'm sure, I'm sure you've all heard all these kinds of things before, but, uh, let's start with you hit what is, what are one of the challenges that you've had as a first time founder that you feel that you've overcome, that you wanna share with the audience?
[00:25:22] Hitomi: Yes. So, um, you know, in the past few years or longer, we made a lot of mistakes. And every time we made mistakes, it can be, you know, really like serious, it has serious consequ. And you know, I used to go up and down, you know, like, oh, I'll cry, you know, and I'll complain to my husband. And, uh, you know, it was really a rollercoaster up to a certain point when we decided that, you know what, this company is going to be a real company.
And then we started actually run the company, not, you know, be, just know, entrepreneur, you know, like, okay, we are going to make it happen. That's. Um, that emotional rollercoaster stopped. And then also, you know, having, you know, angel and Chris, you know, by my side, you know, we always make decisions together that really help us, um, you know, how do I say, like, go, go through difficult times together.
And then we also remind, uh, ourselves our goals and what needs to be done next. So you know that that's something that. You know, I, I learn, you know, if I have the, the concrete goals and the people who you have the same vision and works together, you know, any problems, no problems are surmountable, you know, so, uh, that's what I learned by, uh, being a founder.
[00:26:44] Chet: So it sounds like your founders do a good job of keeping you accountable, which I think is important. Mm-hmm. , um, to the things that you want to accomplish, which is, which is great. That's why, that's why you have co-founders, you know? Mm-hmm. , it's another person that's in the trenches with you and share, sharing that in that pain and transgression.
Angel, what about you as a first time founder? Uh, what are, what's the challenge that you've experienced, that you've overcome, and, and how did you do that? Share that with the listen.
[00:27:07] Angel: How, how long do we have here?
I'll keep it short. Keep it short. Um, so I think what, what I can highlight, um, obviously different from maybe he told me and Chris, because Chris and he told me had previous management experience. Um, so even though that we, we facing the same challenge you have in, like he told me, said we cried together.
Like, Hey, we just, we just have to go to it. And the good thing is that we support each other everywhere. Is that, uh, for me, management was something that I have to learn. And I kind of set the stage at the beginning where I didn't know anything about. I, I knew that I wanted to do something, but that doesn't mean that I knew what I really wanted to do and how I wanted, I wanted to do it for me, always as an engineer mentality.
Everything was just execution, execution, writing code, and that's it. But when you get into a, a CEO position or this, this, think the titles out, like when you need to manage. that becomes your number one priority. And, um, and I know, I mean, I'm, I'm so happy and, and I'm proud of the team that we have in Colombia.
We have 24 plus people in Colombia, and so proud of every one of them because the thing is like, they also went through every single hurdle with us and stake with us and help us out to get to it. And that's what I think is what I learned. And I, there's another founder out there that might help this, uh, this, uh, advice is, , you prioritize your people and that's okay.
We actually say more than once, have to deferred payment to make sure that they get your theirs. Um, we've done a lot of sacrifices to make sure that they are fine and, and putting them first at the beginning. That's how you get your startup going because at the end, um, they are doing the work, right. Even though that I'm a, I'm an engineer, I always understood, yes, I can cook, but I cannot do.
I need them. Mm-hmm. and I need my founders. So that's why we basically, in my, in my position, I've been putting them first because I think that's definitely what I, I have to do as a ceo. Making sure that I keep the vision, making sure that I inspire them of what they're doing, actually have meaningful, you know, outcome and honestly make them part of it.
I mean, uh, something that I'm really proud of it is that our company, every single one, Stocks in the company. Doesn't matter if you live in the us, in Colombia, gu, Amala, wherever you, you get stocks in the company. Because I, I don't want to have employees. I want to have partners. I want to have people on my, on my side that actually, uh, pursuing the same, the same, uh, outcome and just to make it Sure.
Uh, the one thing that I can definitely say, this is what I learned, uh, and this is maybe coming from my, uh, experience as engineer. because what he told me, uh, uh, mentioned is true. You more, you probably gonna have a lot more, you know, bad experience versus the, the, the good ones. Enjoy those small times that you actually gotta win, enjoy it.
Um, but that the bad one does not need to be the one, uh, that define your commitment, cuz at the end, But you said if, if you're a founder, you, you won't be able to say, I, I was a founder or entrepreneur, until you actually make it. So you cannot not just stop it because, uh, there was a, a problem or something and you can solve it.
You have to solve it. That's what entrepreneurs, uh, does. You have to solve the problem and go through. .
[00:30:31] Chet: Yeah, that's that's totally right. And I think that's what separates to Hitomi's point, the entrepreneurs from the entrepreneurs, right. I like that you use that, you use that term. Um, well this has been great.
We're, we're at time for today, but this has been really insightful. Um, I love conversations when we can have. Co-founders together talking about their experience and their business and sharing insights with the community. So I appreciate both of you being flexible and making this happen and making this work.
Um, if anybody that's listening wants to connect with either of you or connect with Cuemby, what's the best way to do that?
[00:31:03] Angel: Oh they can find us at Cuemby.Com. That's, uh, the main side. Everything is there. Um, we also on LinkedIn, make sure that we can put it somewhere in the description. Yep. That's what it is.
[00:31:14] Chet: Perfect. And yes, we'll put, uh, we'll put a link to their LinkedIn profiles, both Hitomi and Angel and Chris is in the show description as well as a link to Cuemby.com, C U E M B Y cuemby.com for those that are listening. And we will also include a link to the Founder's Formula podcast. As you know, we release new episodes every Tuesday at 6:00 AM Eastern, and then at the end of every month we release our monthly highlight show as well, which is more like a, a teaser trailer of all the best clips from our guests over the previous month.
Uh, if you're interested in engaging with myself or Hatchet Ventures further, um, you can find us at hatchetventures.com. Click on my LinkedIn URL in the show description up below. Angel and Hitomi, thank you so much for the time today to all of our Founders Formula listeners, thank you for giving us your time, and we will see you next week.
Talk to you soon.