Everardo J. Barojas M.
Met 2024-07-10 11:00 at Red Tree House, Culiacán 6, Condesa, Mexico City, Mexico.Everardo and I sat in a tea restaurant in Condessa, with the “siren of scrap metal” trucks in the background. https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/the-siren-of-scrap-metal/ But if you actually give them something to dispose of, they usually make you pay them to take it. Then they sell it.
He grew up here (south of Mexico City) but went to a British high school. Now lives in Michoacán. Just got back from UK where he’s godfather to an old friend’s son.
Always into fixing bicycles and cars. His first car was an old broken beater that someone was going to sell for $300. He made a deal with his dad to have it if he could fix it, so that was his first car, and taught him a lot. Fixing bikes is so simple. Give him a bike that's been on the street for 20 years, and he'll have it fixed in 30 minutes.
He gave me advice on finding a good frame with a perfectly horizontal top tube (a style I love). Surly comes from Quality Bicycle Products QBP. The decision to go all steel was against the grain at first, but now there are a bunch of great manufacturers building steel bikes. Like Rivendell https://www.rivbike.com/ or 80s Bridgestone frames from Japan. Aim for standard parts, not so custom, so easy to mix and match the pieces.
He got into industrial design, then designed a car shop for a prison.
Got into rock climbing until he had a huge accident, falling from 25 meters into a bush, and almost died. Changed his outlook on life, how money things don't really matter.
Got a PhD in Germany then founded one of the first Bitcoin exchanges in Mexico in 2012. Learned sales by necessity by reading books. Interesting balance of not letting rejection bother you, but taking feedback seriously.
If you're working all the time, when are you making money? If always focused on checklists, when do you have time for strategy?