S3 E6: From Immigrant to Iconic CTO: How Elias Torres Co-Founded Drift, Built a $1B+ SaaS Unicorn, and Disrupted B2B Tech

A first generation LatinX immigrant, Elias Torres was born in Nicaragua. Growing up in a communist country, he had little resources, even food. Thirty years ago, he came to the US, and hasn't looked back, living the American dream and graduating from Harvard with an MS in Computer Science. He's married with 3 teenagers, and is currently learning a new stage of parenthood. When he's not being Dad or CTO, he enjoys disconnecting while he is kite surfing or sailing. Torres strives to find balance in building a successful company as an entrepreneur with not forgetting his roots, and increasing opportunities for people of color in the US. Five years ago, He and his co-founder figured out that teams needed to increase the effectiveness of their go to market strategy. Today, everyone wants to do things in real time... not during the 9 to 5. So he set out to build a revenue acceleration platform, and did so quickly, given that this was the 4th company the founders built together. This is the creation story of Drift.Linkshttps://www.drift.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/eliast/Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts Amazing tools we use:If you want the best publishing platform for your podcast, with amazing support & people - use Transistor.fmWant to record your remote interviews with class? Then, you need to use Squadcast.Code Story uses the 1-click product ClipGain, sign up now to get 3hrs of podcast processing time FREECredits: Code Story is hosted and produced by Noah Labhart. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, Google Play, Breaker, Youtube, or the podcasting app of your choice.Our Sponsors:* Check out Cash App and use my code CASHAPP10 for a great deal: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/mt82fpxl #CashAppPod. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Prepaid debit cards issued by Sutton Bank, Member FDIC. See terms and conditions at https://cash.app/legal/us/en-us/card-agreement. Cash App Green, overdraft coverage, borrow, cash back offers and promotions provided by Cash App, a Block, Inc. brand. Visit http://cash.app/legal/podcast for full disclosures.* Check out Plaud AI and use my code CODESTORY for a great deal: https://plaud.aiAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy