A startup founder who had always dreamt of becoming a permanent resident of the United States took to X to share how he turned this into reality. Nahuel Candia, the founder of Rebill.com - a payments and subscriptions platform, detailed in now-viral posts that he achieved this in 15 years.
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“I promised myself that if I moved to the USA, it would be through the grand entrance, not just as an employee,” wrote Candia on X.
He began preparing 15 years ago for his dream. “I started programming 15 years ago while in high school. I met Sonia Oster over LinkedIn, the director of the Fulbright Alumni Association and an SV entrepreneur who mentored me early on and introduced me to Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial mindset and customs. She also motivated me to study and pursue a career in the US,” he added.
Candia also expressed gratitude towards Miguel Angel Saez, another startup founder, who helped him get into Microsoft.
He also shared that his application was accepted by three universities in the United States, but he couldn’t attend any due to financial constraints.
At 19, the Rebill.com founder started his own company and took a solo trip to San Francisco. In 2015, he was selected for an exclusive program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Only 70 entrepreneurs out of over 4,000 applicants from more than 50 countries were selected and would meet in Seoul, South Korea, for one week as part of the three-month program.
{{/usCountry}}At 19, the Rebill.com founder started his own company and took a solo trip to San Francisco. In 2015, he was selected for an exclusive program by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Only 70 entrepreneurs out of over 4,000 applicants from more than 50 countries were selected and would meet in Seoul, South Korea, for one week as part of the three-month program.
{{/usCountry}}“The program was one of the most intense experiences of my life, and I made some of the best friends I have ever made,” he expressed.
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“In 2016, we had to close my first company - basically, we crashed and burned since we couldn't find PMF,” Candia posted on the microblogging platform.
He then went on a “round-the-world trip to Asia” and applied for jobs at Google, AWS, and Facebook. He preferred AWS but couldn’t make the cut. However, he got the UK Entrepreneurship residency time afterwards.
Candia further wrote, “I moved back to the UK in 2021 with Rebill, and entered Y Combinator four months later. I realized running Rebill from the UK was killing me because of the 5-hour time difference, so I returned to Argentina to build up the team.”
The company now has 12 members, and Candia’s move to the States is “part of a bigger vision to connect the US Market with Latin America and vice versa”.