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Cristian Sanchez-AguileraNew York

Hi, I'm Cristian.

I'm a founder, seller, and product builder. I like turning problems I've lived through into software that is genuinely useful.

My running notebookOne note from the current chapter
Note 01Waiting
How I got here

This site is my running notebook

The work, the career story, how I build, and what I'm learning along the way.

Read my story Browse what I'm building
Cristian · New York, NY
2,000+public GitHub contributions
19broke into enterprise SaaS
43Syntri discovery and demo calls
9paying Syntri users

Connect with me here! :)

LinkedInX
01

The ecosystem

What I'm building.

Nine projects built around one sequence: get in, perform, build, compound relationships, and distribute what you own.

02

The throughline

I dropped out after one semester.
By 19, I was selling enterprise software.

Then I started building the tools I wished I'd had.

I never followed a clean path into technology. I left college after one semester because I was learning faster by doing the work than sitting in class.

Before tech, there was freelance copywriting, overnight freight, commission sales, door-to-door conversations, and a lot of rejection.

Then at 19, I broke into enterprise SaaS.

Varonis showed me how large organizations buy. Swap put me inside an early-stage team where the GTM motion was still being figured out. DataSnipper gave me a real number to carry every month.

Along the way, I kept writing down the problems sellers dealt with every day. Syntri started as my attempt to fix them.

Read the full story
01
Early online workFreelance

Started earning online before I had a conventional career, including a first paid copywriting project through Upwork.

02
Direct workHome Depot + commission sales

Overnight freight and door-to-door sales taught me consistency, rejection, and how to speak to strangers.

03
VaronisEnterprise SaaS

Broke into enterprise cybersecurity sales at 19 and learned how complex organizations are prospected and bought into.

04
Swap0→1 go-to-market

Moved into founding GTM and learned what selling looks like when there is no inherited playbook.

05
DataSnipperExecution

Carried quota selling audit automation and hit or exceeded target in 7 of 9 full-quota months.

06
SyntriFounder · product + go-to-market

Turned problems I experienced as a seller into an AI-native BDR operating system, then took it into discovery calls, demos, pricing, onboarding, and paid use.

Syntri logo03 / Syntri · founder loop

Selling is part of the product work

The customer and the product stay in the same room.

Syntri started as the software I wished I had while working as a BDR. Building it meant more than writing code.

I had to find people with the problem, get them on calls, run demos, understand what they cared about, handle objections, talk pricing, close customers, onboard them, and return to the product whenever reality disagreed with my assumptions.

A confusing demo can expose a bad workflow. An objection can expose weak positioning. A closed customer can validate an idea. Actual usage can prove that even a good pitch was solving the wrong problem.

The loop in practiceSeven moves. One continuous conversation.

Scroll through the section and each stage will stay with you long enough to read.

Stage 01 / 07Discover

Find out whether the problem hurts enough to matter.

Customer → product → customer
One founder loop

I carry the work across both sides.

01
Customer-facingFind the problem, make the promise, earn the next conversation.

01Discovery

02Demos

03Pricing + closing

04Onboarding

02
Product-facingTurn the signal into a better product and a tighter distribution loop.

01Product strategy

02Engineering

03Shipping

04Distribution

04

Operating system

How I build.

Five principles keep the work close to the problem, the customer, and the decision that comes next.

01/ 05

Find the repeated problem.

The best product ideas I’ve found haven’t started in a brainstorming document. They show up while doing the work and noticing the same friction over and over again.

Friction
Friction
Friction
Decision
02/ 05

Get it in front of people.

A clever product theory is still a theory. Demos, objections, confusion, and actual usage tell me more than another week polishing in private.

Product
Customer
Product
03/ 05

Ship the useful core.

I’d rather build one workflow that genuinely changes someone’s day than ten features that look good in a launch video.

Ideas
Cut
Cut
Core workflow
04/ 05

Keep product and GTM close.

The person hearing the objection shouldn’t be ten layers away from the person fixing the product. Early-stage companies move faster when that loop stays short.

Customer
Sales
Product
Engineering
05/ 05

Earn complexity.

Start simple. Add automation, agents, infrastructure, and process when reality justifies them—not because the architecture diagram looks impressive.

Core
Usage
Evidence
System
Between

Personal notes

The stuff that doesn't fit in a résumé.

Twenty small facts from the notebook behind the work.

Running notebook / 20 factsNo filter
01 / 20

Combat sports

Kickboxing and Taekwondo as a kid. Boxing now. BJJ and Muay Thai are next.

02 / 20

My first $45

I made my first $45 at 16 writing a TikTok script for a cannabis business owner.

03 / 20

The commute soundtrack

Alex Hormozi in the car, on the commute, basically anywhere. I’ve been taking notes since 16.

04 / 20

5 a.m. daily

The gym starts before the rest of the day gets a vote.

05 / 20

Quiet inputs

Meditating, reading, journaling, and learning about space.

06 / 20

Work-life balance?

Go away, stinky work-life balance people. I like long hours when I’m building something I care about.

07 / 20

The quarter test

Some of my best risks started with a coin flip telling me to go for it.

08 / 20

The standard loadout

Monster. AirPods. MacBook. You’ll usually find all three with me.

09 / 20

Parallel play

I love working beside my girlfriend at the gym or a café.

10 / 20

Freedom with a point

I want financial freedom so I can pursue bigger goals and help more people.

11 / 20

Two shelves

Albert Camus on one. Vagabond on the other.

12 / 20

Anime edits

Sometimes the motivational speech is an anime edit.

13 / 20

Favorite fictional character

Batman. Obviously.

14 / 20

Long fasts

I like doing multi-day fasts.

15 / 20

Game theory

I’m fascinated by the moves people make when every choice changes the board.

16 / 20

Temporary seasons

Good or bad, every period ends. That makes me appreciate it while I’m in it.

17 / 20

The long game

I want to collect enough lessons to become wise and useful as my body gets older.

18 / 20

No retries

I think a successful life is getting what you actually want out of it. There are no retries.

19 / 20

The rabbit hole

I’m really into psychology and neuroscience.

20 / 20

Sixth-grade decision-making

I broke my arm riding a motorcycle while trying to record myself for Snapchat.

05 / Writing

Essay / 10 min

I dropped out. Then I broke into tech at 19.

The unconventional path from overnight freight and direct sales to enterprise SaaS, founding go-to-market, and building Syntri.

I got my first interview while I was still knocking doors. By fall, I was selling cybersecurity in New York City.

Read the essay

Building something difficult?

Let's talk while it's still messy.

I'm interested in emerging products, AI-native software, developer tools, and the stage where somebody still has to figure out how the product becomes a business.Email me
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