Entrepreneurship rarely starts with a perfectly crafted business plan — and Luis Derechin’s journey proves it.

In this episode of Inventive Journey, Devin Miller sits down with Luis to unpack more than 40 years of real-world entrepreneurship, beginning with a childhood hustle selling Mexican candy across borders and evolving into multimillion-dollar businesses, venture-backed tech, and global workforce strategy.

Luis was born in Mexico and raised in Southern California, moving fluidly between cultures at an early age. That cross-border exposure shaped his instinct for spotting opportunity. His first business ended in the principal’s office, but the lesson stuck: when there’s demand, someone will fill it — and smart entrepreneurs pay attention early.

As a young adult, Luis partnered with his father to build an import-export company, sourcing housewares from Europe and Asia and distributing them throughout Mexico. The business grew rapidly, only to be nearly wiped out during Mexico’s devastating economic crisis in the mid-1990s. Instead of walking away, Luis rebuilt — launching a direct sales organization that scaled even larger and taught him the realities of incentives, logistics, and leadership at scale.

In the early 2000s, Luis caught what many entrepreneurs recognize as “the tech bug.” He helped build what became Mexico’s first startup to raise U.S. venture capital, eventually relocating to the United States and serving in executive leadership through years of intense growth and, ultimately, acquisition. The experience exposed him to the pressures of venture funding, global teams, and the operational discipline required to survive in fast-moving tech environments.

Today, Luis focuses on nearshoring and offshoring strategy, helping companies avoid the costly mistakes he’s seen — and made — when building teams across borders. He’s also the author of a book detailing where companies go wrong and how founders can approach global expansion with clarity instead of shortcuts.

This episode isn’t about overnight success or startup hype. It’s about durability, reinvention, and understanding that entrepreneurship is a long game shaped by economic cycles, culture, and execution.

If you’re building, scaling, or expanding internationally — or recovering from setbacks — Luis Derechin’s story offers grounded, hard-earned insight you can apply immediately.

To learn more about protecting your ideas, brands, and innovations as you grow, visit lawwithmiller.com.

🎙️ Listen now and discover what four decades of entrepreneurship really teaches.