From Zero to Founder: Lessons from 10 Years in Tech and the Music Industry

Looking back, my path as a founder has not been a straight line—it has been a constant series of experiments that started when I was seven years old in front of my first computer in Medellín. Today, after a decade of building agencies and working with the music industry, I have learned that even though code and beats may look like opposite worlds, they follow the same business laws: if you do not solve a real problem, you do not have a company.

I went through constant moves that forced me out of my shell, creating content in the early days of YouTube, and carrying the responsibility of building technology for an investment bank. Here are the lessons that took me from a young person with ideas to the CEO of Sleem.

1. Do not sell "things"—solve problems

At Qué Código, my first agency, we learned that the market does not reward you for a "pretty" tool—it rewards you for saving your client money or time, or helping them earn more. That is the principle I apply in music today. Many artists chase "fame" (which is fleeting), but what they really need is a system that fixes the chaos of royalties and distribution. In business, as in music production, clarity builds trust—and uncertainty destroys it.

2. Systems beat "hacks"

In my early years I looked for shortcuts. But after watching our initial success with Shennay fade for lack of structure, I understood that building a company is a marathon, not a sprint. At Kinsta I internalized a phrase: "Systems over hacks." Doubling your traffic or your streams for one month means nothing if you do not have a solid operational base to sustain that growth. Consistency and strategy always beat quick wins.

3. Transparency is your greatest asset

One of the biggest challenges in my time in music distribution was seeing how distorted income reporting could get. Treating every revenue stream as if it were the same is the first step toward a label's financial failure. In software and in music, data reconciliation—making sure what reports say matches exactly what lands in the bank—is what protects your reputation. Without transparency, there is no sustainable business.

4. You get what you pay for

I have watched many founders pinch pennies on technology, thinking cheaper options save money. Yet undercharging for a service makes scaling harder. In web hosting and in managing a music career alike, cheap gets expensive in lost time and missed opportunities. Investing in premium tools and expert teams is not an expense—it is the minimum buy-in to play in the major leagues.

Conclusion: the future is tech + music

Reaching 2026 with Sleem up and running is not luck. It comes from grinding with clients, scoring school audiovisual projects, and learning that to be profitable you have to be human and technological at once.

I do not define myself only as a musician or a developer. I am someone who enjoys building solutions. What about you—are you building a solid system, or only chasing the next hack?