I Spent Most of My 20s in a Basement Under a Taco Shop

Not exactly the startup origin story you’d expect, right?

But that basement — tucked away under a taco joint — shaped everything I’ve built today.

The Real Startup School

Every week, a small group of us would gather. Mostly broke college kids. Beers in hand. Eager minds. Hungry hearts.

And every week, one founder would show up.

No slides.
No investors.
No startup hype.

Just raw stories from people building real companies.

They shared what worked, what failed, and what they’d never do again.

It was honest. Messy. Unfiltered.
And it was the most valuable education I’ve ever received.

 

Three Lessons That Changed My Life

Those basement sessions weren’t just fun — they built the foundation of everything I know about building.

Here’s what stuck:

  • 🔁 Show Up Consistently
    We met every single week. No matter what. And that rhythm built momentum.

  • 🧠 Learn From Real Builders
    These weren’t theorists or influencers. Just scrappy, smart people who actually built stuff.

  • ⚡ Take Immediate Action
    Every time I left, I applied at least one thing that week. The compound effect was massive.

From Basement to Founder Dinners

Those lessons stuck with me.

Today, I run founder dinners in Santa Monica — and everything I do still models that taco shop basement:

  • The consistency

  • The stories

  • The bias toward action

Final Thought

I’m living proof you don’t need a fancy degree, trust fund, or Silicon Valley zip code to build something real.

All you need is the spark — and a community that fans the flame.

That’s how Panoptyc started.
That’s how you’ll start your own journey too.