And we are just getting started.
In late 2022, while working at Amazon AWS, I was approached with interviews by major tech giant corporate monopolies such as Google & Apple. Also, Tesla reached out in early 2023 with an attractive potential offer to work in building part of the Cybertruck's software. Yet, my dream to establish my startup Blossend was bigger & more important. I transitioned full-time into Blossend. My biggest goal for 2023 was to build a team of four engineers by year's end.
January 2023 marked a pivotal moment in my career. I left Amazon & dedicated myself full time to building Blossend, driven by a desire to create necessary change.
In March, I initiated the team-building process by doing free job posts. The job platform said that without a paid/promoted job posts ($45/ day), I could expect around five applicants per month. Defying odds without paid job promotions, Blossend received an astonishing 500+ applicants in a few days! I immediately started interviewing candidates, 8 per day, back-to-back. The strongest 12 candidates were onboarded & trained the first week, immediately contributing by assisting with the rest of the interviews. Strategic improvised recruiting & onboarding, shaped a resilient & dynamic team, ready to propel our startup forward. In just one month, our number swelled to over 22+ engineers. We created a robust foundation, swiftly progressing from operational strategies to actual development of visionary platforms. The intense interview process was hard-core and overwhelming, from conducting interviews mid-flight to sometimes having lunch between calls when candidates were late. I had to use every minute wisely & go ALL-IN to make it happen.
Our momentum was evident, as we pioneered the Open My Doctor app, Blossend's vision drew in founders from small companies with partnership interests, signaling the resonance & reach of our mission, which emphasized the potential impact of our products.
This period wasn't just about business growth; it was about lifestyle too. Discipline was key, waking up at 4 am including weekends. This schedule, powered with cold plunges, exercise, healthy diet, & other healthy lifestyle choices, was essential in maintaining the energy & focus needed for overcoming the many challenges from starting a business. This lifestyle was a testament to the power of habits & discipline in achieving entrepreneurial success. The journey was fraught with risks & uncertainties, but it was driven by a deep sense of purpose & meaning.
2023 has been transformative, so far the most positive & fulfilling year of my career β a testament to hard work, unity, & relentless pursuit of innovation. We're not just building tech; we're redefining industries and touching lives. I am profoundly grateful for this beautiful countryπΊπΈ & the support received by my friends, family, and amazing diverse team. Our teams cherish this incredible experience, a journey that truly epitomizes the essence of entrepreneurship.
2022 has been an amazing year full of blessings. Iβm grateful for the opportunities, wins, support, & challenges that helped me grow as a person, in my career, & in my confidence. I've learned so much from the awesome, talented, & brilliant team I been working with since the beginning of 2022. Working with such great role models pushed me beyond my boundaries & encouraged me to embrace βfailing earlyβ without being embarrassed, in order to know what to improve early on & be proactive. Being part of a company whose principles & values I share, & whose many products & platform I use everyday, has been very fulfilling.
Last year, a huge opportunity emerged during summer of 2021 when I stopped working for American Airlines. I felt like my potential was stagnated & unused there, & out of a blessing, my 6 months software engineering contract ended then. The day my contract ended, I faced a challenging decision. Either to start applying to new jobs again right away, or to pursue an idea I had since young β WeTalkin, a super private social networking app. The risk was big because I was in a visa & had about 6 months from my contract end date to find a new job.
As an entrepreneur & risk taker, I decided to dedicate myself full time to developing WeTalkin App the same day my contract ended, & after 6 months of hard work, I finally accomplished my goal. The first version of WeTalkin was completed, fully working, & released to the AppStore. I published WeTalkin on LinkedIn & on other platforms, added it to my resume, & started applying to jobs.
In February of 2022, many big techs were interested in WeTalkin & reached out to me. Consequently, I interviewed with Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Uber, & more. Twitter liked my idea & app so much, that they proposed the possibility of hiring me if I signed a non-compete agreement, removed my app from the AppStore, & work with them to implement my algorithms & ideas on their platform. I didnβt take the offer. Weeks later, I got multiple job offers and chose my top pic, the most successful global eCommerce & cloud computing provider, Amazon AWS. Amazon AWS has been my dream job for many years & after over a hundred interviews with many different companies, I finally achieved it.
This experience proved that if you really want something & have a purpose, you can accomplish it. It helped remind me of how important it is to have perspective, take risks & be bold, be resilient, be yourself, & believe in yourself like your life depends on it.