For decades, we’ve celebrated individual Latino entrepreneurial success stories. Those stories matter. But they are not enough. If we’re serious about transforming the economic future of our community, we need to think beyond individual startups and begin building national entrepreneurial infrastructure. The United States has countless organizations doing incredible work to support Latino entrepreneurs. Incubators. Accelerators. Universities. Chambers. Nonprofits. Investors. Corporate initiatives. Yet our efforts remain fragmented. Imagine what would happen if we aligned around one ambitious national objective: Create 100,000 new Latino startups. Not because it’s a nice round number. Because startups create jobs. They commercialize innovation. They generate wealth. They solve problems. They become the next generation of employers, investors, mentors, and community leaders. The Latino community is one of the fastest-growing economic forces in America, yet we continue to underinvest in the very engine that creates long-term prosperity: entrepreneurship. This moment demands something bigger than another program. It demands a national movement. One that connects ecosystems instead of competing with them. One that shares knowledge instead of protecting it. One that leverages AI, education, capital, mentorship, and collective intelligence to help thousands more founders move from idea to company. The question isn’t whether Latinos have the talent. We do. The question is whether we have the courage to organize at a scale we’ve never attempted before. I believe we do. The future of the American economy will be built by entrepreneurs. Let’s make sure 100,000 more of them are Latino. #TheLatinoStartup #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #EconomicDevelopment #LatinoLeadership #Startups #AI #FounderEconomy #CollectiveImpact

This Wednesday I’m joining Ruby Garcia and Dr. Michal Tapia from Latino AI Summit for a live conversation on what actually separates founders who are AI curious from founders who are AI ready. For a lot of us building without a big team or big budget, AI isn’t optional anymore, it’s leverage. But most founders I talk to are stuck at “I asked ChatGPT one question and it was cool” instead of having it built into how they run the business day to day. We’re talking about that gap directly. Real habits, not hype. Wednesday, July 8, 10am PT on LinkedIn Live. https://www.linkedin.com/video/event/urn:li:ugcPost:7478923511370178560

Recently, I attended a First-Generation College Program designed to help channel some of the brightest young minds into higher education. As I often do, I spoke one-on-one with over 40 students and asked a simple question: had anyone ever told them they could also become entrepreneurs? The answer was consistent—and unsurprising. Nearly all of them said no. No one had encouraged them to explore, imagine, or pursue a path where they could be the CEO or founder of their own company. We prepare young people for employment. We should also prepare them for ownership. This is not a criticism of jobs. Jobs matter. Teachers matter. Professionals matter. But if entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful drivers of innovation, economic mobility, and wealth creation, why is it still treated as an elective rather than a foundational life skill? Today, we guide millions of young people toward becoming excellent employees. We spend years teaching them how to earn a paycheck. But how much time do we spend teaching them how to create one? Imagine if every high school graduate understood how to identify problems, validate ideas, build a business model, leverage AI to launch a company, raise capital, and lead a team. How many more innovators would emerge? How many more communities would generate their own opportunities? How many more young people would realize they are capable of building something extraordinary? This is not an argument against employment. It is an argument for expanding possibility. Every young person should graduate knowing they have two legitimate paths: To build someone else’s vision. Or to build one of their own. The future requires both. Yet today, we overwhelmingly prepare for only one. That must change. Not because every student should become an entrepreneur, but because every student deserves the chance to discover whether they could be one. The future is not inherited. It is constructed. Let’s start teaching our young people how to build it.

Independence was never meant to be inherited. It must be renewed by every generation. Our parents and grandparents crossed borders, worked impossible hours, and sacrificed so that we could have choices they never had. The question before us now is simple: What will we build with that sacrifice? The Latino community is not waiting for permission. We are launching companies, creating jobs, developing technology, telling our stories, and shaping the future of America. Entrepreneurship is our modern declaration of independence. We are the generation that moves from labor to ownership, from consumers to creators, from participation to leadership. The movement is growing. The time is now. The future is ours to build. ¡Feliz 4 de Julio, Inquietos! #TheLatinoStartup #Inquietos #FourthOfJuly #DeclarationOfIndependence #LatinoFounders #BuildDontWait #AmericanDream #Entrepreneurship #CreateTheFuture

Hi communidad, what a great workshop with Carlos Mantilla, the founder behind IAMIA. A startup focused on leveraging world class AI & CRM from GOHIGHLEVEL. Watch to understand how the platform works, what it can do for your business and how Carlos and company can help not just sign up, but get the backend technical support from virtual assistants he has across Latin America. I can tell you that his help and his assistant were critical in getting my system up and running! Take a look, reach out to Carlos through DM, he is in the directory tab. Saludos!