2025 EES Keynote Session ADEYEMI AJAO: From Startups to Scale: A Founder’s Journey

Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.

Yes, you’re in the right place. I don’t know about you, but I’m at the Emerging Engineers Summit here at Copacetic and it’s 2025 and I’m your host. My name is Bobby Dorlus, but my friends call me Bobby D.

I’m so excited to be here for another year and let me tell you how important surveys are. The reason why I’m here is because of surveys from last year. So, I encourage you to fill out your surveys and we’ll definitely have some more information.

But, a little bit more about me. As mentioned, my name is Bobby Dorlus, but I go by Bobby D and I’m an engineer, I’m a technologist, and I’ve been at the keyboard for 20 plus years. I’m also a founder, I write books, I do mentors, coach, I mean, I do it all.

But, in general, what I do appreciate the most is the opportunity that Copacetic gives me to give back to my community directly and that’s why I’m here and I got you. I promise you for the next 3 days, you’re going to have a blast. Now, me in terms of my skill set, I’m a systems engineer, but I’m also a software engineer and while I was at the keyboard, I worked at some really cool companies including one of those that I don’t know if you all know it anymore.

It’s the one that used to be the little blue bird. It’s a social media company. I don’t know.

Somebody throw it in the chat. Maybe y’all can find me on LinkedIn and get connected. But, the real reason why I’m here today is to open up the Emerging Engineering Summit and I’m so excited to because I I have something to read here and it looks like this year we have over 6,000 people tuned in across the country and around the the Now, now that’s extremely powerful.

But, let me let y’all know how the next 3 days are going to roll roll out. So, over the next 3 days, you’re going to get exclusive access to industry leaders, directly connect with companies and sponsors, and a chance to build real communities, tech communities. That’s That’s what we’re all here for is to build a community.

And if you were here last year, you already know how we do it, right? This ain’t just another conference. This is where moments of connections can rewrite futures.

So, do me a favor. Don’t just sit back. Get to know as many people as you can.

Build with each other, and yeah, take a chance cuz this is the hustle. Get in the game, right? Now, we can’t make this happen without our sponsors.

So, we want to send some big love to Z’s, Pluralsight, Microsoft, Base 10, Snowflake Inc., Build.com, ServiceNow, PwC, and GitHub. And that’s just part of the lineup because the full roster is stacked up with incredible companies and speakers through the next 3 days. Make sure you hit up the booths on the event platform.

Networking blocks are perfect time to connect with their teams. And don’t sleep on the lounge. This is where we’ll be hanging out, right?

This is where you’ll find not just your next collab, your next mentor, but even an opportunity to find your next co-founder in the lounge area. Keep your eyes on the main feed right here on the main stage. This is where we’ll be dropping updates, session highlights, and please share feedback so maybe I can come back another year.

I mean, not just virtually, but also in real person, too. So, just let us know, and we really want to hear from you. All right, enough with reminders because the main event is here, and we’re really excited about who we have aligned up for our keynote.

To kick off EES 2025, we’ve got a keynote that embodies everything the community stands for. Innovation, grit, and impact. Our guest today is someone whose journey has touched continents, industries, and billion dollars in value.

But, what makes him stand out is his purpose. Adey is a co-founder and managing partner at Base 10 Partners, the first black-led VC firm to reach $1 billion in asset management. Give him a round of applause for sure.

That That’s a bar right there. He’s a builder at heart. Adey founded Tuenti, known as Spanish as Facebook or Spain’s Spanish Facebook, I’m sorry, and identified an AI company later acquired by Workday.

He also helped launch Workday’s venture and invested in early unicorns like Cabify, Nubank, and Instacart. And check this out. He taught himself how to write code in high school, just like a lot of you all, including myself.

Studied law and economics in Spain, earned an MBA at Stanford, and has driven AI and entrepreneurship over a decade. But, beyond his resume, what I respect most about Adey is his commitment to build tech that improves everyday life. And also his leadership in pushing diversity forward through programs like Code 2040, Black Venture Capital Consortium, and yes, Codepath.

So, let’s get into today’s today’s session, which is titled From Startup to Scale, A Founder’s Journey. We will walk through Adey’s path from launching companies to shaping the future of of tech and as an innovator. Family, let’s give a big warm welcome to Adey.

Adey, how you doing today? I’m doing very good, especially more so after your your very kind introduction. So, thank you for having me and for the kind words.

Oh, of course, of course. Very much appreciate your time. And yeah, I always like to amp the energy up so everybody can get into the right mindset.

We got a few questions lined up for our chat today. So, we’re just going to jump right into the first question that I have here on my list here, and please bear with me. One thing that we’re always interested in is trying to understand what sparked your interest in technology, and you know, how did you start coding in school and eventually building, you know, the Spanish Facebook?

Yeah. So I’ve been interested in tech as long as I can remember. I you know, I My dad was an as he liked to call it a a real engineer.

She was he was building like a power grids and electric plants in Nigeria. And and at that time we’ll like follow him around to the construction sites. Me and my brother were home schooled.

And probably, if I had to guess, like seeing that made me think about, okay, how how do things work and, you know, what are these power lines, etc. and yes, you’re right. Me and my brother were huge nerds. So, as we like to joke, we were interested in everything that will make you unpopular in high school.

So, math, physics, chess, etc. And the coding part came because actually of chess and strategy games. And I was obsessed with this is like circa 1992, 1993, I think. And I was obsessed with a game called Civilization.

That was a strategy game at that point in its second version, think today is in its seventh version. And I wanted to mod it. That is, I wanted to modify some of the units.

And in order to that, I needed to learn how to code. And that was the beginning of my journey when I was about 12 or so. Yeah, that that that’s awesome.

And big shout out to Nigeria. Big shout out to the continent. And definitely I always appreciate when we have mentors in front of us giving us examples of how to do what we enjoy to do like problem-solving and developing.

And definitely, obviously we can see the outcome because you’ve been able to make some big, big headways in the industry. But one question that we have here is what lesson did you take away from building and exiting two companies that shape how you think about entrepreneurship today? I mean, countless, but if I have to choose one, I I always say focus.

You know, it is very I I think about it every day. I tell my team that if we are successful, we should be doing less things. But the few in which we focus on, we should be doing them better and better.

Because my my takeaway is that it takes a really long time to become, excellent at something. And you can only do that by really constantly asking yourself like day by day and hours hour by hour, "Hey, if I can only do one thing, what is the single most important thing I could be doing?" And, you know, in in every company I have started, at the beginning resources have been quite constrained. And that is good because it’s a really good forcing function to focus.

So I continue to work on that daily. Yeah, I mean, the big takeaway for me is focus. And I did like how you also describe the challenges of being an entrepreneur in terms of resources.

Capital is usually always limited at the beginning, but also it does encourage you to have focus on smaller and simpler problems before you go tackle a big one. But, the the thing that I I I was really impressed, and definitely highlighted, when I was reading and and reviewing your your intro, is the the the the creation of Basecamp and your transition from a founder now into a fund manager, like how did that all go down for you? It had started with personal investing.

So I moved to Silicon Valley now, almost 16 years ago. And thankfully because I had exited my my first company, I I had some personal money that I could invest. And I did a And I ended up, you know, forming a thesis around what today Base 10 does, which is automation for the real economy.

And yes, you know, focusing on how automation and AI were going to transform sectors like logistics, like food, like transportation, etc. and after a few years doing that, and being lucky enough to be part of some companies that became very consequential. I was like, "Hey, how come there’s not a fund fully focused on this?" and and thankfully today there is, and that’s Base 10. Yeah, yeah, and and a billion dollars under management, congratulations to you.

And definitely I know the value around, you know, VCs bringing insights in terms of just your experience, you know, exiting two companies, building them, will definitely be valuable to to those, companies that you’re all investing in. And one one topic that really caught my interest, is automating for the real economy. And and more specifically, is this something that you envision AI supporting, major trends?

Yeah, I think automation and AI are synonymous. And in fact, I originally the tagline for Base 10 was going to be applied AI for the real economy. But back in 2017, I got feedback from from prospective LPs that applied AI was too too small and too much of a niche, which is funny in hindsight.

But anyway, that that is not not feedback we’re getting today, for sure. Yeah, yeah. AI being a wave is definitely sometimes a little bit overwhelming.

And And one thing that I I want to to get your insights into, especially with the the the audience that we have here, is in the direction that we’re heading with AI, especially for for newer engineers in the field, how do you feel like it’s going to change the way they work now? We we are seeing day-to-day in all our companies that it is significantly easier to build. It’s just you can produce a lot more.

You can produce a lot more code thanks to AI tools, and you can learn a lot faster, and you can deploy a lot faster. So, you know, I I think it’s a significantly better time to be coding and to be an engineer than it was 5 years ago, and and definitely, you know, 20 years ago when when I got to start. Yeah, yeah.

And And I mean, just from your history, you’ve definitely seen AI in terms of its iteration and where we are right now. In comparison, like I know that you were talking about when you first was, you know, developing you know, software in high school in the ’90s to where we are right now in 2025, how have you seen from like what you thought AI was going to be back in those days as you were, you know, traversing the industry and time versus where we are right now? I I I no longer make predictions because I I have been surprised in a very positive way at the speed of development.

When I first got someone interested on AI in in high school, you know, it was a very big deal that like Deep Blue won one game against Garry Kasparov. Like that was not in the cards in the ’90s. That was not the prediction.

And Deep Blue was a a blunt instrument. And you know, it for most experts back then, humans were always going to be better at chess than computers. And then that by the end of the ’90s, that that was over.

Like we we we lost chess. And then I remember in the in the 2000s, kind of the next frontier was Go, the Chinese strategy game, which is infinitely more complex than chess. And I remember telling everyone, "Yeah, you know, like Go will not be solved in our lifetime." and 2015, DeepMind Lee Sedol and always say we we all know what happened there.

And then you know, all the way to attention and transformers. So, it it’s been breathtaking. I think that’s a very very good thing.

I think we’re we’re all benefiting from it. And I personally I’m in learning mode and try not to not to have too many priors on what the next frontier is because I’ve been underestimating it all the way. I would say I’ve been underestimating it all the way.

And and I can totally attest to that also. Just from my perspective is like the the the the way we’re iterating, I don’t even think I could have imagined us getting to this point. And I’m just so excited for the next round of engineers that are coming up.

And this actually leads into a question that we have here. So, one thing that just definitely comes through is that AI is a great equalizer, but also a disruptor. What role do you think emerging engineers should play in shaping, you know, the the the future of tech?

Well, I I think we’re all be following the lead that Emergence Engineers put us into, you know? I I think I have never seen the speed of growth of new new companies that we’re experiencing today. We have several companies in our portfolio that have gone from zero to many millions of revenue in months, which is crazy.

And the founders of those companies, not all of them, but but some of them, you know, are going to become the next generation of CEOs of consequential companies. So, to me, what that means is that for those emerging engineers, they they yes, they are having to grow up faster. Like significantly significantly faster, and they are having to ask themselves questions such as, say, what kind of company do I want to be, or what is what is the big vision, like what do we want to stand for?

That generally as a company builder, you had years, if not decades, to shape, and now it’s happening in like a few months. So, that that’s profound. That’s profound.

I don’t have a playbook for how to handle it. But it’s it’s inspiring and a little bit scary to see. Yeah.

Yeah, I would definitely say it’s inspiring, but also a little scary. And for me, what I always tell my mentees is like, just imagine what will be created based on where you all are starting right now. So, I also feel extremely inspired.

And also, staying on the lane of advice for our attendees here at the Emerging Engineering Summit, is and we’ve know you’ve done a lot of hiring, invested in a lot of companies, and mentored hundred of techno hundreds of technologists. What separate those who succeed from those that just aren’t able to to keep up? I think a million things and we can never underestimate the important of the luck factor, which is plenty, right?

But I will go back to focus and determination. You know, I I just think the the I I admire everyone I meet here that is more focused than I am and it’s always something that I don’t like to do. If I can only like a streamline more, so I can like again, it takes very, very, very long time and a lot of effort to become really good at something.

So I think that’s if I have to pick one thing, it will be that. Yeah, and and definitely totally agree with focus. One other thing that I want to know is is if you can give some advice on if there’s any other like mistakes that early career engineers or founders have make that you wish they could, you know, that you could coach them through it.

I think that, you know, looking inward and trying to be really honest about, "Hey, what drives us? Like, you know, who who am I? What am I looking for?

What do I really want to do? What makes me happy? What gives me energy?" And yes, trust yourself and listen to your inner voice.

I I think that is a lifelong pursuit, right? But at least I have found that the sooner people can get there, and it took me a long time and I’m still working on it. The that gives you more clarity and confidence to decide what game exactly you want to play and what game you want to win at.

I think that’s very, very important because otherwise you’re kind of looking for outside answers and that can be in confusing and again lead to not being focused. Yeah, yeah. And and just to double tap on that that question itself and this is kind of, you know, this transparency and definitely giving the audience and insights into your journey.

What would you say is is maybe not defined as a mistake, but maybe a misstep in your early start of either the venture or companies or into creating VCs that that you really, you know, felt is noteworthy in your journey. I I regret every decision I make or every inaction that comes out of fear. And you know, those are plenty.

Like often times I would like, you know, take too long to stop working with someone that I know is not right, but looks good on paper. That’s like a very common one or like not have the courage to be like, you know what? I’m hedging with these two things, but they’re not the main thing and I shouldn’t yes, I completely cut them off.

And like focus on the main thing because it’s a fake hedge. I’m I’m kind of self-fulfilling prophecy that the main thing is not going to work because I’m hedging. Anything that feels like that I should you know, instead take the mentality of like, okay, let’s just assume the main thing is going to be wildly successful.

Why would I do anything else? Why would I work with anyone that is not like equally focused and believing with me on on this? I think listening to that again, easier said than done.

But it’s generally a very, very good tell. Yeah, for sure. Big shout outs to you and and obviously the the the way that it pans out is those journeys help you become a better leader in time, right?

One thing that I always get into conversations with mentees and new grads is making a decision if they should, you know, pursue big tech in terms of a career path, join a startup, or maybe even fund something themselves and, you know, create their own company. What advice would you have for those that are attending considering those options? I think that if you are thinking of a person, there has never been a better time in history to start your own company.

And if not, join a very, very early startup. And again, this is we’re in a time and companies are going from zero to over 10 millions of revenue in 10 to 20 months. That’s crazy.

There is nothing like that. Like the the choice between, no, joining Nvidia or Goldman Sachs and like going to a startup that goes at that speed. And again, that we’re talking about 100 companies plus that will do that this year.

It’s crazy. It’s crazy. So, I think it’s actually a big risk to like not do that right now in this moment in time.

And the ecosystem is such that when, you know, 80% of those fail, which they will, it doesn’t matter. Because the 20% that work are like growing so fast that they will hire everyone else. And there are now like so many accelerators, incubators, early funds that is just for the value of the experience that is worth going like full throttle, in my opinion.

Yeah, yeah. And and thank you so much for for insights in terms of where we’re at in this iteration of time where in it might have been a different advice three or four or five years ago versus where we are right now. And definitely thank you for giving us your perspective behind, you know, a VC company that makes those type investments.

One thing that I did want to double tap on, you know, founding and and something that I find a lot of mentees are are really questioning, especially when they’re thinking about founding, is is is it a requirement to have a solid idea before you go off and adventure in the fund a company? Absolutely not. I think that you know, as someone said, like no plan survives contact with the enemy.

Like you start building, you put it out there, and most likely most likely the main idea will remain the main idea weeks because the feedback will be like, "Okay, you know what? There was something there, but it’s actually something completely different." So, and again, I think that comes with the being unafraid of failure. Mhm.

And being able to like keep keep that feedback loop very tight. And you know, I think Jeff Bezos puts it best when he says, "You have to remain like a stubborn in your vision, but flexible on the details." So, I think that is particularly true at the beginning. You know, you might be like, "Oh, I I’m generally interested in something with like AI and genetics and health care." And then you think you’re going to do like a Ancestry app, and you end up with like transplant compatibility for pet organ transplants.

Like, I don’t know, but I think you only get there by like being like, "Go." And take the feedback. Oh, that that that’s that’s powerful. And I think that example hits the nail right on the head because I I feel like the hesitant for especially those that have that entrepreneurship and skills are like, "Hey, I have to have something before I go." versus realizing that it’s going to come as you go, right?

Like, get on the run, get into that marathon, run that race, and your path will open up. Actually, you know, transitioning into more personal purpose and perspective. One thing that we obviously is well noted is is your your story spans from Nigeria, Spain to Silicon Valley and beyond.

How can you identify how this has shaped your approach in leadership and innovation based on your, you know, your journey? I I think that I have benefited from the lack of being exposed to extremely different environments and extremely different people. Because, you know, it gives you different frameworks and different tools that you can apply to problem-solving.

So, that is very good. And then in hindsight, I think that, you know, being a citizen of many places also means at some level that you’re a citizen of none. And that hey, I’m an out-out-outsider, no matter what perspective, I think gives you a little bit of permission to have your own ideas because you’re never going to like fully fit.

And in hindsight, I think I have benefited from that. 100% I I think our journeys as I’m a first-generation Haitian American. My parents originally from Haiti from Haiti.

It just gives me a different perspective in life and also the hunger drive, you know, really pushed me because I knew what my parents, you know, instilled in me in terms of them coming to this country. But also being a world traveler, you get to see other parts of the world cuz it’s not just here in the States. It definitely gives you some great perspective.

And big shout-outs to you on your journey. One one thing that I definitely wanted to dive into is this topic that has been really difficult, unfortunately, and and more specifically diversity. And one thing that I want to highlight here is that number one, you’ve had an extremely loud voice, and I want to encourage you to keep shouting.

But, what do you think is most urgent that we need to see in terms of change? And how can we be a part of this movement? I I I think that we are going to see several billion-dollar multi-million-dollar companies that started by founders of very diverse backgrounds.

And I think supporting that and encouraging that is the number one thing you know, we we could all be doing to show again by example of like, "Hey, look, it’s it’s possible and it’s great." and I am very very much you know, the the doing what I can on my side to encourage that. Yeah, for sure. And and and thank you so much for that insights cuz I do want to encourage innovation, especially during a time of AI.

I mean, like you said, I’m I’m I’m I’m projecting we’re going to see the first trillion-dollar individual before you even know it. Hopefully within my lifetime, but definitely allowing us to all to have the opportunity, especially utilizing AI in some capacity. One thing I do want to let the audience know is we’re getting close to the end of these, you know, questions that I have here on the cue card, but I do want to encourage you all to queue up your own questions that you have for Ade after this last question I have here.

So, for Ade, what is one value or philosophy that has remained reminded you constant across that has remained with you constant across your chapter in your journey? I try to put a lot of emphasis and remind myself that it’s extremely important to be authentic and to be yourself. And I think it’s very easy to get caught on, you know, whatever the environment is pushing you towards or, you know, be transactional because we’re all way too busy.

But I think that leaving the space, kind of what what I was saying before of like, "Hey, listening to that inner voice that is generally very wise, and and projecting it, goes a very very long way. Thank you so much for for for that philosophy. And and let me tell you, I’ve been listening, so you’ve been dropping gems throughout our conversation so far, so definitely want to encourage everybody to rewind if you missed anything.

But, this is our opportunity where we’re going to get some questions from the audience, and it looks like I have one here from Charles. Charles asked, "What is the most underrated skill, tech or non-tech, for a software engineer to develop?" It’s called I guess what is called UX, or human-computer interaction, but where that was coming from from me is that early interest in game design and game design architecture, and understanding the psychology of why we find games engaging, and different environments and different reward, and different reinforcement loops of why we want to keep going back to certain apps and tasks and doing certain things. And I think understanding that, and even the psychology and neurology behind that, is extremely powerful.

Ah, man, I think I think you really, are opening up this idea and concept that, definitely allows engineers to think beyond just writing code in terms of how we can support our users and customers of different platforms by understanding how humans work, right? And I’ll always encourage engineers to have two skills, especially if they are going into the industry which is overwhelmed with a lot of people coming with just coding. But imagine if you have that type of background, the type of influence you can have.

The next question that we have up is for those of us who are just starting our career, how can we think and act with an entrepreneurial mindset even if we’re not funding a startup? Join one. I think there has never been a better time to join a startup.

Like, you know, literally go to the Y Combinator website and go through the batch and whichever are the 20 most interesting companies, write them and be like, "Hey, are you hiring?" The amount of people I’m seeing that are And again, easier said than done, everyone in their circumstances, but when you are at the time where you can actually consider a full-time job, be like, "Hey, what if I literally go and write the 20 companies out of YC that I like the most and say, ’Will you give me a job?’" And I’m seeing a lot of people from like college, high school, really young joining these companies and getting getting this this training, and it’s fantastic. Yeah, and I even like the way that you described it as training, right? Because first of all, the hustle’s real.

If you’re not on the hustle and trying to get access and if you’re sitting back waiting, I don’t know if that nowadays is going to come and find you. You got to have to put yourself out there. And that idea of hitting up top com- companies on YC and I’m about to go to Base 10 to see who y’all invested in, right?

And really just, you know, put yourself out there in terms of where you want to develop and really get an opportunity level up even massively, in my opinion, start from a startup. The next Go ahead. Everything is right, but I I do want to share this.

I I think it was the the CEO of Cognition that mentioned an interview the other day that he and Alex Wang, the founder and CEO of Scale, were both either in No, they were both engineers out of high school in the same week entering to work at Addepar, which was a financial software company. When they were both like, you know, in their teens. And it’s like, wow, like you know what What about that?

So, I I think again there has never been I I know for a fact that if I, back in Spain, had the access to like, wait, I can just like like apply to like a bunch of startups and like get training like a guy and like like yes, absolutely. So, I I think it’s a no-brainer right now. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you so much for those words of encouragement and and definitely for those that are a little hesitant to do those type of cold call cold outreach, we want to encourage you to do more of it. The streets are are oversaturated.

All right. So, we have our next question up here. The next question is says, what advice would you give for someone interested in working at a startup?

So, we’re kind of, you know, double tapping on what you were talking about. Yeah. Write your top 20 30 most interesting startups.

Tell me like, here is why I love what you are doing. And I would like you to give me an hour to show you what I can do for you. Yeah.

Yeah. And and just you do that 30 times and it’s almost impossible that you don’t come out of that exercise with transformative life opportunities. 100% 100% And and just to dive a little bit more deeper, if someone is studying computer science, maybe, you know, programming language their their primary like Java or Python.

What what type of role would they fill for a startup? And and more or less just trying to frame it so that they in terms of the attendees know what what their pitch is in terms of what what they bring to the table. That very much depends on what it is interested on.

But you know, always say marketing engineer engineer system engineer like the obvious ones, but there will be people that are more interested in the design part that are more interested in the product side of things. I would just again, be like take the products that you are most interested on because you use them either for your coding or you use them for your day-to-day or you’re just like interested on what you’re doing and like call right people. The founders, the engineers, the recruiters and be like, "Hey, I use your product.

Here is why I like it. Here is what I’ll do with it. Here are my skills.

I want to talk." And I I really think it’s like impossible if you that 20 or 30 times and and you are a specific and authentic about like, you know, not it’s not everyone writing to open AI being like, "I like what you’re doing." It’s like, yeah, sure. But you know, like just be a specific. And you’ll be surprised.

I think I think it’s impossible not to come out of that exercise without life-transforming opportunities. 100% I I even have stories I tell when I used to interview candidates and if they come in and talk about a blog post that we posted on our site, oh my gosh, you already got a one-up on everybody else, right? It’s understanding the product, utilizing it.

There’s a saying that eat your own dog food type thing, but then you then utilizing that as an opportunity for you to engage with these companies is amazing amazing amazing. The next question that we have up here is, let’s see. Question is for attendees still early in their career, what do you recommend we specialize in?

What part of the software engineering is most open to growth? That kind of know what you’re you’re probably leading to, but what would you be your opinion? Yeah, I I I don’t actually have any prescriptive answer to that because I think again, we are all like very different and like you know, is is better like if you are really interested in design like even if visual design, that’s what I mean.

Even if it seems that being a AI engineer is more lucrative today you might end up being way better you say focusing on design than those something or AI engineering. So, I’ll be like, what what do you see yourself doing that even if you weren’t paid, you will be doing. And like generally follow that.

Yeah, I I think what I hear is coming through is passion is something that is very noteworthy, especially when you’re engaging with companies and and looking for opportunities. That passion comes through. And if you double down on that passion, opportunities potentially will open up.

Would would you concur? 100% Roger that. Roger that.

The next question I have is almost in the same lane, a little bit more into and and let me just say that the audience here is really just trying to dive into like checking a box in terms of what are the skills from your tech journey that has been translated that has translated into your career into startups? And trying not to I I don’t think I can say anything new. Again, I would say that being extremely focused, which I’m still working I’m still working on everything.

But being extremely focused being unafraid of getting a lot of feedback and in particular a lot of negative feedback and reacting quickly to that are generally applicable to anything and everything. Roger that and thank thank you so much for for doubling down on that. I think the audience is very much aligned.

The next question I have coming up here is is more or less diving into startups. It’s a audience member asked being a founder includes being extremely efficient. How do you make sure you manage your time well enough and to give you all the tasks that’s necessary to attain them as you need it and at the same time ensuring that you are not burnt out.

So, it’s more or less Well, what what advice would you have around that? Yeah, things very hard and I think that you know, we we are all particularly in this day and age constantly behind. I was joking with someone yesterday that asked me, "How’s your week?" And I’m I and I was like, "I’m already behind." And I’m getting to the realization that I’m going to be behind on my email for the rest of my professional career.

I think that’s kind of true. But and I think that constantly looking at the calendar I mean like, "Wait. What is the most important thing I’m trying to accomplish?" Let’s go through the calendar again.

What are all these things that are not directly related to this being the most important thing? Okay, out. Trying to do that often and then again, because it does take a very very long time you have to give yourself you know, rope for that very, very long time.

So, you know, I’m 43. When I was 22, all-nighters, not a problem. Like, and you know, and I would work like infinite hours a week, and then like go and see my friends, and like play soccer, and like whatever.

That’s no longer possible for me. One all-nighter and I’m paying for that all week. So, I try not to do that.

And you know, for me like exercise and family are like must-haves. So, I carve time for that constantly because that’s what allows me to like work a lot and enjoy it. Yeah, for sure.

80S babies out here, we can’t do all-nighters like we used to, but definitely appreciate the insights of your journey. Question I have here from Anthony is how do you get or I’m sorry, how do you blend tech into leadership into creating equal opportunities for all? I don’t think I have a very good answer other than I just try to, you know, be myself.

And ask myself for everything that I’m doing, "Hey, does this feel right?" And that try that is generally a good compass. I’m really intrigued to to hear your perspective is is obviously we talked a little bit about diversity and challenges the industry is shifting to. How have you seen that affect companies and VCs that that are pitching to to your firm?

You know, we we maybe by the nature of who we are and and what I do, we really attract founders from like very, very, very diverse backgrounds. We invest internationally quite a bit. We invest outside Silicon Valley quite a bit.

Our portfolio is like full of people from all over the world and from all backgrounds. And tons of immigrants from like very different densities. So we just personally believe that opportunity is everywhere and looking for it everywhere will lead to better returns.

So independently of whatever else else is what we’re going to keep doing. Yeah, for sure. And And I very much appreciate the services and opportunities and doors that you all are opening up for for those that don’t get the chance to pitch at other places.

So, another question I have and I’m actually really excited about this is across everything you’ve built what would you say is your most proudest product, venture, creation, and things that you’ve done? Base 10, but Base 10 10 years from now. Ooh.

What What do you see Base 10 10 years from now? Not as good as Base 10 20 years from now. I I just try to have the mindset of like, "Hey, I believe I believe I genuinely believe we have a chance to build the best technology investing firm in the world and the one that is best as helping transform the real economy to be better and and more productive.

And I think that’s the coolest opportunity ever. Obviously, I’m a little bit biased. But the the I I don’t know exactly what that looks like and I think that you have to be a stubborn in your vision but flexible in the details.

But yes having the that 10-year mindset of like, "Okay, I know today we are like quite good at like understanding the logistics industry and how that is shaping. We have two IPOs of realistic companies this year, which is amazing, what we’re proud of. But it’s like, well, but there’s so much opportunity here.

How good can we be at this 10 years from now? It’s going to be amazing. We’re going to like understand everything.

So, that’s is kind of the mindset. For sure. And and I’m following along and I encourage everyone watching, listening and follow Base 10 cuz 10 years from now we already there.

So, last question I have from the audience is do you think you need to have an entrepreneur mindset to work at a startup? And if so, what is your advice in developing that mindset? I I is I I’m not personally of the belief that, you know, you you are what you repeatedly do.

That’s that’s an Aristotle quote that that we say a lot at Base 10. And like, I don’t know. I I’m like personally, I’m not naturally gifted at at many things.

And I very early on decided that I was going to be have to be very comfortable doing things repeatedly that I wasn’t naturally gifted in and looking very stupid at the beginning if I wanted to like get a chance to to do anything. So, you know, it’s an entrepreneur mindset is like I think if you just like decide, you know what? I I want to try a new and startup, then by week two, you already have an entrepreneur mindset.

You I mean, I like it’s a little bit what what I mean is like you kind of just start doing it. And once you get over that initial, you know, uphill, which which I always says, little by little, you know, you you get you you get to comfortable with it. Yeah.

Yeah, and and and be afraid of failure. Don’t be afraid to, you know, inquire. Don’t be afraid to to talk about your journey and develop because I I I heard Adi give some gems like, "Hey, you might think this is the track you’re on, but you just need to start running and another path will open up." So, definitely very much encouraging.

Next question I have. I thought it was getting close, but well, we got a a few more lined up. But, the one that I have here is what makes people stand out to you and basically during a pitch of a product or a business?

Clarity, clarity of vision, clarity of how to get there, confidence, authenticity, passion. Mhm. Man, I I hope y’all wrote those down because I I heard passion like 10 times today, and I know that that’s very clear, right?

Clarity, obviously, being able to articulate the idea and envision, right? Being able to see base 10 10 years from now, right? These are definitely things that I I appreciate you, Adi, reminding us and giving us some insights into it.

And and another thing is how have you been to been able to build a positive mindset and and how do you handle rejection and failure? Because we’ve been talking about failure. Yeah, by by having a lot of it.

You know, it’s like by having a lot of it. I’m like, "Okay, well, so I guess I have two options. I let it break me or I keep going." I chose to keep going.

And you know, again, luck plays a huge part and you know, I have the blessing of being surrounded by a community and finally and and family and friends that have been beyond encouraging. But, I’ve definitely had since I started and in my childhood and very recently extremely tough moments. And I do think it’s something that like everything else in life, you practice.

And you get better at it and you go through. Yeah, for sure. For sure.

And And And one thing I want to dive a little bit more deeper into is is how important is it, you know, building a team, right? As a founder, you might be that the tip of the sword, but there’s obviously those that support you. So, how how important is in building a team?

I I I think it’s very important. Yeah. I I It’s definitely more fun than to be solo, at least for for me.

There are some people that prefer to do everything solo. And hey, they It’s way easier with AI tools. So, you need to hire less people.

Yeah. And And we’re we’re still on the the the startup conversation here is what what metric or or signal do you prioritize when deciding if a startup can deliver real economy impact at scale? At scale, we anchor a lot in customer feedback.

And in particular, how, you know, whatever signals the customers have are giving us of, "Hey, this is solving a real problem for me and hence I am willing to invest a lot more on it." Yeah. And And would you say that’s that product fit or product fit kind of phase that you all are evaluating for for either product or what’s being developed? You know, I I think that I think that product market fit will be when you already have a few customers and they’re growing and they’re happy.

And I think at a scale is when you can articulate a pretty clear plan backed by customer data on, you know, we are actually ready to take a meaningful meaningful chunk of our industry. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

For sure. I still still on startup. I got another question here is what draws the line between great startups and a great product?

And how would you bring a great product to become a great startup? I think if the great product is used by a lot of happy customers that are willing to part with the contracts to give us a new product, that is that is a good sign. Yeah, for sure.

If If people are willing to go in their pocket books and their purse to to to actually, you know, pay for something, there is definitely value around that, for sure. And and one one thing I actually want to throw out there is I noticed in terms of your portfolio that there was some companies that you invested in early startup. Believe it was Instacart, Nubank, and Carfy, I believe it is.

Which which of those three have really like terms of when you first saw them really developed into the company that you you envision versus there was some type of pivot on the journey. Well, one thing I would say is that I think a special thing about Nubank is that it is the best digital bank in the world. And it wasn’t started in the US, so we said it was started in Brazil.

And it is just the best company, the defining company of its category worldwide, period. And you know, I think for anyone that had met David before he started Nubank, and meets David today, there is a very clear line. Of like, hey, this guy this guy can clearly articulate why he needs to do what he’s about to do.

And it’s a very clear plan that then will change a bunch of times to like how to get there. So, I think that is you know, a clear example of what a 0.001% founder look looks like. Yeah, for sure.

Cuz cuz it’s rough in the streets. All right. So, I think we’re at our last question here.

And this is to to wrap us up. What would be your top top top piece of advice you would share with our emerging engineers? And then that that that would help us wrap up.

So, what top advice would you have that you would like to share with the emerging engineers in the audience? I I think touching on a couple of the things that I mentioned that are hey, one, listen like tune out the noise. Listen to yourself.

And whatever that voice tells you that you really want to do and you know that’s possible, focus on that. And just like cut everything else out. Focus.

First of all, I want to say Audi, thank you so much for pulling up, giving us some insights of your journey. It’s very noteworthy. I’m going to be following along.

I want to encourage everyone to follow along. And maybe even a question, what would be the best platform or where is the best spot for us to follow along? I I am someone that is started social media company and then is not in social media at all.

So, the only place where I put stuff is on LinkedIn. I’m not that active. But in in Base 10, my team which is wonderful, we we do have a presence elsewhere.

For sure. Again, a big round of applause and thank you so much for hanging out with us as our inaugural kickoff of our keynote for here at the Emerging Engineers 2025. Thank you so much.

I got a few things that I’m going to share real quick with you all. And first of all, I want to say thank you again to Audi for sharing his story, his wisdom, and his perspective with all of us this morning. What a powerful way to kick off the day for the Emerging Engineers Summit.

As we move forward, I want to remind you of the part of our program featuring breakout sessions hosted by Pluralsight and PwC. Be sure to check out the event schedule to find the sessions and plan out your next experience you want to be a part of. We also want you your feedback, not just for feedback for all these conversations which I thought was lit.

Let them know how well I’m doing as a host, but definitely all the sessions and opportunities that you all have throughout the next 3 days. Please take a moment to fill out the survey after the wrap-up today of events, and it really does make a difference. And of course, don’t forget to explore the lounge and companies booths throughout the day.

This is your chance to connect, ask questions, and start building those relationships that can last even beyond this week. This is from me. This is it for me now, and I can’t wait to see you all in breakout sessions.

And again, thank you Ade for his inspiring keynote, and thank you all for being a part of the journey here. Highlight your boy is Bobby D. I love my life.