In this Mentor Spotlight get to know our Endeavor Mentor Carlos Diaz, Endeavor Entrepreneur and Managing Partner at Rolling Bridge Capital.
Why did you decide to join the Endeavor Network?
As the company began to have significant growth, I knew we were going to need help structuring our organization to scale. As first-time founders, there were a lot of unknowns…especially when in the process of onboarding new investors from our Series A. I wanted a team of advisors who would look out for the founders and help guide us to scale.
Tell us about your background and why you decided to become a mentor.
I co-founded Entic back in 2011, joined Endeavor in 2016 then sold the company in 2019. I was CEO of Entic for 9 years, raising $20M of venture capital from some of the world’s largest VCs and strategic investors. There were a lot of mistakes made, lessons learned, and experiences felt throughout the Entic journey. I became a mentor to help guide the next group of eager entrepreneurs…and hopefully, help them avoid some of the mistakes we (and most first-time entrepreneurs) made. I truly enjoy talking to founders about their experiences and answering questions.
What are the most important qualities and characteristics that mentors should have?
A mentor should be empathetic, understanding, and mindful of what founders are going through. We have all been in their shoes at some point throughout our journey, we should work to guide the entrepreneurs in a way that would have helped us. Being a founder/entrepreneur is very exciting and stressful at the same time. Providing a little bit of advice that helps them sidestep just one land mine, is enough to help with the stress that builds up because of the unknown.
Any general advice for entrepreneurs?
I tell every entrepreneur I meet something someone once told me. To be a successful entrepreneur you don’t need the brains, nor the heart…. you need the stomach. You need to be able to stomach those days that will keep you up at night. You need to stomach those days that will test your will and drive to keep going and not give up. That’s what separates good entrepreneurs from everyone else.
What are you reading?
Atomic Habits – James Clear It’s a must-read!
These responses have been edited for grammar.
