Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Welcome to How I Broke Into Tech, a new interview series presented by Udacity, where we sit down with brilliant minds who threw out the rulebook on their paths to creating prolific careers in technology. Unconventional paths. Unstoppable careers. Listen to How I Broke Into Tech now!
In this episode, Udacity VP of Consumer, Jared Molton, sits down with Gustavo Trigos. Trigos is the Co-founder and CEO of Mentum, an AI-driven platform backed by Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI Fund) and Y Combinator. But his journey into AI was anything but traditional and that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Now he’s on a mission to reshape how industries approach strategic sourcing—proving that with the right mindset and grit, unconventional paths can lead to groundbreaking innovation and fulfilling careers in tech.
Video Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Meet Gus Trigos, CEO of Mentum
01:24 – Gus’s Background: Growing Up Globally
02:15 – First Step Into Tech: Making House Music at 13
03:55 – Music to Code: From Audio to AI
07:01 – Learning to Code: C++, Mods, and a Python Pivot
08:19 – Tackling Fake News: Gus’s First AI Project
12:06 – Discovering Udacity: A Scholarship That Changed Everything
12:54 – Career Breakthrough: Interning at BlackRock
14:57 – The YC Call: Choosing Startups Over Stability
18:40 – First Startup Idea: Fintech Infrastructure in LatAm
20:01 – Pivoting to Supply Chain: A Hard Truth and a Bigger Opportunity
25:01 – Agentic AI in Action: Real Use Cases
26:57 – Reconnecting to Mission: Impact at Scale
28:21 – Advice on Pivoting and Staying Flexible
29:33 – AI Opportunity Zones: Where Founders Should Look Next
30:14 – Habits of a High-Growth Leader
32:16 – How Mentum Hires: LLM Builders Wanted
34:34 – AI Myths Busted: What It Can and Can’t Do Yet
35:47 – Rookie Mistake: Building Before Validating
37:15 – Rapid Fire Round: Coffee, Debugging, and Coltrane
39:45 – Final Advice: How To Break Into Tech (Even If You’re Stuck)
42:04 – Resources and Reading Recs: Gus’s Book List
43:43 – Outro: Connect with Gus and Keep Learning
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Follow Gustavo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gustavoatrigos
Check out Mentum: getmentum.com
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Connect with us on social! 🌐
Instagram: instagram.com/udacity
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/school/udacity
Facebook: facebook.com/Udacity
X/Twitter: twitter.com/udacity
Forge your future in tech with Udacity! bit.ly/3EoBR3p
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Usage code for intro music: NEY05TTUHBL4981S
Welcome to How I Broke Into Tech, a new interview series presented by Udacity, where we sit down with brilliant minds who threw out the rulebook on their paths to creating prolific careers in technology. Unconventional paths. Unstoppable careers. Listen to How I Broke Into Tech now!
In this episode, Udacity VP of Consumer, Jared Molton, sits down with Gustavo Trigos. Trigos is the Co-founder and CEO of Mentum, an AI-driven platform backed by Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI Fund) and Y Combinator. But his journey into AI was anything but traditional and that’s what we’re going to talk about today. Now he’s on a mission to reshape how industries approach strategic sourcing—proving that with the right mindset and grit, unconventional paths can lead to groundbreaking innovation and fulfilling careers in tech.
Video Chapters:
00:00 – Intro: Meet Gus Trigos, CEO of Mentum
01:24 – Gus’s Background: Growing Up Globally
02:15 – First Step Into Tech: Making House Music at 13
03:55 – Music to Code: From Audio to AI
07:01 – Learning to Code: C++, Mods, and a Python Pivot
08:19 – Tackling Fake News: Gus’s First AI Project
12:06 – Discovering Udacity: A Scholarship That Changed Everything
12:54 – Career Breakthrough: Interning at BlackRock
14:57 – The YC Call: Choosing Startups Over Stability
18:40 – First Startup Idea: Fintech Infrastructure in LatAm
20:01 – Pivoting to Supply Chain: A Hard Truth and a Bigger Opportunity
25:01 – Agentic AI in Action: Real Use Cases
26:57 – Reconnecting to Mission: Impact at Scale
28:21 – Advice on Pivoting and Staying Flexible
29:33 – AI Opportunity Zones: Where Founders Should Look Next
30:14 – Habits of a High-Growth Leader
32:16 – How Mentum Hires: LLM Builders Wanted
34:34 – AI Myths Busted: What It Can and Can’t Do Yet
35:47 – Rookie Mistake: Building Before Validating
37:15 – Rapid Fire Round: Coffee, Debugging, and Coltrane
39:45 – Final Advice: How To Break Into Tech (Even If You’re Stuck)
42:04 – Resources and Reading Recs: Gus’s Book List
43:43 – Outro: Connect with Gus and Keep Learning
---
Follow Gustavo on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gustavoatrigos
Check out Mentum: getmentum.com
---
Connect with us on social! 🌐
Instagram: instagram.com/udacity
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/school/udacity
Facebook: facebook.com/Udacity
X/Twitter: twitter.com/udacity
Forge your future in tech with Udacity! bit.ly/3EoBR3p
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Usage code for intro music: NEY05TTUHBL4981S
