Jose RICO

Yo, have you heard about Jose Rico? The dude’s a straight-up legend in the startup world, and his story is just wild. So Jose’s from Colombia, right? But the crazy part is, he’s lived in like 9 countries, speaks 4 languages, and has been all over the place, like, the global tech nomad. He’s not your average founder, man. He’s been deep in strategy and ops for over 15 years, working across everything from telecom and retail to media and food. Dude knows his shit.

Before jumping into startups, Jose crushed it at Google. Yeah, he’s got that big tech background, which totally set him up for the entrepreneurial rollercoaster. Then, he went all-in on his own stuff. He’s the brain behind OlaClick, a sick restaurant e-commerce platform that makes ordering via WhatsApp a breeze, leverages POS and CRM tools, super slick. Started that in 2020, and it got into Y Combinator’s Winter 2021 batch. No cap, that’s the real deal.

But Jose didn’t stop there. He also founded America Invertida LLC, which is both an angel investment vehicle and a production company. Basically, he’s not just building stuff, he’s fueling other startups, too. He’s been involved as a founder, investor, or advisor in a bunch of startups, like inversiones.io, trytoku.com (YCS21), cuentamono.com (YCW22), campfire.to (YCW22), and more. The dude’s got his hands in everything, always pushing forward.

What’s crazy is, his process screams motivation. This ain’t just about making a quick buck. It’s about solving real problems, building community, and pushing boundaries. Starting OlaClick, especially during a pandemic, shows he’s not afraid of chaos or bullshit, he jumps right into the fire. His experience at Google probably gave him the skills and confidence to build something new. And his global background? That’s probably why he’s so good at spotting opportunities in new markets and tech.

Basically, Jose Rico is a perfect example of what it means to be a modern founder: insanely experienced, globally connected, always grinding, and never afraid to jump into the deep end. He’s not just building products; he’s shaping the future of how we do stuff, especially in Latin America and beyond. That’s why he’s kinda a big deal in the YC network, especially as a Colombian founder making moves on a global scale.

So yeah, if you wanna understand what a real startup hustler looks like, look no further than Jose Rico. The guy’s just getting started, and he’s already crushed a lot. No bullshit.