Dário Carrasquinho - “We live in a world where everybody is an expert on something”
Dário has launched $DACC aiming to share his insights and curiosities. As an optimist by nature who is unsure of what the future holds for him, Dário keeps his strong values in sight, “success for me is being happy, strong, and healthy. That’s my north star”. Learn more about this “Passionately Curious Homo Sapiens” below 👇
Dário got his start as we all do, after being rejected 2 years in a row from a math degree. “It derailed my plans a bit, but I was enjoying my bachelor’s in management so much that I wasn’t too upset.” Throughout his university career, he felt an itch to join various student groups and business associations, getting hands-on experience with operations, HR, and strategy. The diversity of experiences sparked an epiphany about himself and his career: “I’m a generalist, I don’t like specializing.” Nearly 3 years later, Dário finds himself in a role which affords him many different responsibilities. “We live in a world where everybody is an expert on something. And really, which true expert entitles themselves as an expert?”
Despite his Portuguese roots, Dário has always longed to get to know Europe. “I applied for Erasmus once I could and got an opportunity to study at VU Amsterdam.” The experience broadened his vew of the world, and cemented his yearning to travel and work abroad. “It’s very cliché, but it was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” Now armed with a Bachelor’s degree in management, time abroad, and a renewed sense of adventure, Dário went on to get slapped in the face by Covid-19. “I barely got in a month of traveling before having to lock-down back in Portugal,” he laughed, “but it led me down a different path.”
Dário resourcefulness bloomed during lockdown, where he conceived his first startup by noticing how his expensive university textbooks were collecting dust on his bookshelf. “I wasn’t re-reading them, and so many students can’t afford these kinds of books.” So he and his friends created a business that lets students rent books to other students. “We started adding real value to people’s lives.” Naturally, the project wasn’t without its hitches, but the team is still working on fine-tuning the business model.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, Dário was hired as a business strategy intern at Build Up Labs in July of 2020 and he didn’t waste a second. By October, Dário had become an entrepreneur in residence, and co-founded Wiser. “The idea was to create a platform where anyone could have 1-on-1 conversations with vetted professionals to get unstuck quicker.” They had trouble treading water so they pivoted the model. “Wiser is now a white-label platform for companies to allow their people to efficiently book calls within their organisation's internal network, without the fear of an unsuccessful journey and the usual back and forth emails needed to connect with someone who might be able to help.”
Today, Dário is now the growth manager at Tap My Back. This software empowers companies to create a continuous feedback culture and build stronger teams, by having employees publicly recognize their peers for their managers and colleagues to see. The platform even integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams seamlessly – because no one needs another platform to worry about. We asked him how this project is different from the last. “It’s a company at a different development stage with different challenges, however, I still get to wear many different hats to find the user’s “‘aha moment” and that’s what I love.”
Dário is unsure of what the future holds for him, but his goals are always the same. “Keep on being successful, which for me is whether or not I’m happy, strong, and healthy. That’s my north star”. We asked Dário for one final piece of advice, for any aspiring entrepreneurs or despairing mathematicians: “Seek discomfort, get out of your comfort zone and try to always be uncomfortable, that’s how you optimize for growth”. Dário also wanted to give a few suggestions considering the current market conditions: “Buy Bitcoin and Ether, please don’t lose your private keys and DYOR. Not financial advice! Always wanted to say that.”
$DACC
🤝Supporters: 6
🪙Tokens in Circulation: 7,684.00 $DACC
💰Market Value: $768.40
