XFX: 1st Cuba Startup #1 on Product Hunt

Tim Parsa
2 replies
Hi PH Founders & Supporters-- I know everyone has a favorite founder/startup that they want to see take the #1 spot. I want to make a case for why we should all upvote XFX --https://www.producthunt.com/post.... XFX is startup built by a founder from Cuba where entrepreneurship is essentially an outlaw activity. Building startups is hard, but building startups in Cuba is the hardest of hard modes. Camilo has built a startup that solves a huge problem for millions of folks in Cuba and in other countries where hyperinflation has made sending and receiving remittance a nightmare due to govt-rigged vs. free market exchange rates. This is a global problem that impacts billions of people and XFX is building a suite of products and services that make it easy for fintech entrepreneurs to launch P2P remittance businesses that help friends and family survive and thrive. Having a Cuba-based startup reach #1 on PH would be historic, the first of its kind, and would inspire many more founders to build, launch, and grow their startups. Most of us here in PH live in nations with reliable power grids and highspeed internet access, and functional money and financial systems, relatively low inflation, and the freedom to build digital products that solve problems we care about. In Cuba, electricity comes and goes, the internet is often cut off by the regime to discourage coordination of peaceful protests, hyperinflation destroys the purchasing power of local money, and building startups is an outlaw activity. This is especially true of fintech startups like XFX that bypass regime payment processors and provide free market (vs. govt-rigged exchange rates). I've been building startups for 25 years, first in Mexico and for the past 10 years in the U.S. I have seen the transformative power of startups on society-- the freedom and abundance and wealth they can create by solving big problems with technology. After more than 62 years of top-down repression of private enterprise and entrepreneurship by the regime in Cuba, a culture of independent digital entrepreneurs is rising that is outside the control and benefit of the authoritarian regime. If a founder in Cuba can build a startup that reaches #1 on PH, it will inspire many others to try to do the same, not just in Cuba but in many isolated and miserable countries where freedom is reserved for the ruling elites. I know everyone has a favorite founder and startup on PH, but I invite you all to upvote XFX and make it #1 on PH. Anyone who does can can count on my support and possibly even investment from my fund (just reach out). I believe Founder Energy -- the energy manifested here on PH-- is the most important and valuable resource in the world, the most scarce and precious. Because I believe that Startups Save the World, not just in Cuba but everywhere. Thanks for helping Camilo and XFX, for inspiring other founders and startups who are struggling against repression, and for showing the regime in Cuba that there is no stopping an idea whose time as come. Thanks for taking time to read this. Regards, Tim

Replies

Thanks a million, Tim! Your support has been invaluable. I can't express how much I appreciate it!
Yoan Landa Arencibia
Very true Tim for a Cuban founder to be able to launch his startup and reach the top positions would not only be a merit for this founder but for many Cubans who until now had unattainable dreams. To Camilo “congratulations”. He and XFX are going to reach infinity and beyond. Thanks to Camilo for inspiring other founders and startups. 👏