Saludos! Happy Friday, and welcome to Comprende, edition 076.

Andrés Pazmino understands the weight of starting over in a country that doesn't speak your language.

The Ecuadorian immigrant spent ten years navigating the corridors of power in New York politics before trading certainty for chaos, launching a startup with no mentor, no playbook, just trial and error.

Read on to discover how he built The Affila Group, a company bridging politics, technology, and Latino leadership, proving that entrepreneurship isn't just business, it's art.

So, depending on where you are in the world, grab your cafecito or cervecita and dive in. If you enjoy today’s edition, please forward it to your gente or share it online. Let’s keep growing this comunidad together. ☕️🍺

When Andrés Pazmino arrived in New York City at eighteen with $350 in his pocket and not a word of English on his tongue, his survival strategy was simple: collect empty bottles from the streets. Two decades later, he's advising Fortune 500 companies on cybersecurity, lobbying in the halls of Congress, and building tech solutions for Latin American supermarkets.

"I started recycling empty bottles on the floor so they'd give me 5 cents per bottle," Andrés recalls, his voice carrying both pride and disbelief at the distance traveled. "And now I'm where I am. So, the sky is the limit."

Born in Ecuador, Andrés immigrated to the United States three months after graduating high school. He came alone, "without anything, without speaking English, without having money", but carried something more valuable than currency: hope and an unshakeable determination to build a new life.

His path wasn't linear. It couldn't be. He started at Baruch College, taking English classes, then transferred to Hunter College to study nursing. After two semesters, he realized it wasn't his calling and pivoted to political science, eventually earning his degree with honors and adding a master's in public administration. Growing up with a single mother who wasn't a business owner, without access to entrepreneurial mentors, Andrés learned through what he calls "trial and error, day by day trial and error."

"That's the best way to learn," he says with a knowing laugh.

His decade-long career in politics and lobbying brought him into rooms he never imagined as a newly arrived immigrant. Walking through the corridors of the New York State Legislature, sitting across from senators and congressmen, securing millions in scholarships for students, passing laws, "It's a great personal and professional achievement," he reflects.

But Andrés felt the pull toward something more. Five years ago, he launched The Affila Group from his living room, merging his political expertise with a growing passion for technology and business. The company's name itself tells the story–derived from the Spanish afilar (to sharpen) and English "affiliate," representing both precision and partnership.

"Beyond being a businessman, I feel a lot like an artist," Andrés explains, a description that captures his approach perfectly. "We create solutions, we create platforms, and we help solve problems."

Today, The Affila Group operates at the intersection of government relations, strategic consulting, and cybersecurity, helping organizations navigate regulatory landscapes while protecting their digital assets. His clients range from nonprofits seeking public funding to Latin American supermarkets implementing AI-driven inventory management systems.

What drives him isn't just business success. It's bigger than that.

"In Latin America there is a lot of talent," he says with conviction. "There are people who do coding, people who do AI, and even people who do cybersecurity, but there are not many companies at a regional or continental level in Latin America [in this industry] that are led by Latinos."

This reality gnaws at him. American, European, and Israeli companies dominate the industries he’s in and the region he calls home. He wants to change that equation.

His philosophy on AI adoption reflects this cultural understanding: "It's not just a technology like ChatGPT that gives answers to your questions. It's a mindset, it's a way of thinking, and it's also a culture, it's a change of culture." He doesn't push clients to replace workers with technology but rather to empower them,"empoderar la labor que ellos tienen" [empower the labor they have].

When asked what advice he'd give aspiring Latino entrepreneurs, Andrés doesn't sugarcoat the reality: "Be resilient to uncertainty, day by day." The anchor, he says, is vision and belief that what you want to create will materialize with time.

"Claro que... toma tiempo" [Of course... it takes time], he adds. "And the most important thing is to be surrounded by good people, a good team." His voice softens: "Se necesita un pueblo" [It takes a village].

From collecting bottles on New York streets to shaping cybersecurity strategies across multiple continents, Andrés Pazmino embodies the Latino entrepreneurial spirit–resourceful, resilient, and relentlessly focused on lifting others as he climbs. The boy who arrived with nothing now builds platforms for an entire community to rise.

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