I applied to Startup Perú 3 times.
They rejected me all 3.
With a similar application, I once ended up talking to people from Y Combinator in Chile. Then Rockstart did bet on us in Colombia. Years later, Forbes named GetLavado one of the best startups in Peru 3 years in a row. And finally, in 2024, Laundryheap acquired the company we had built.
Looks nice like that, in order.
Living it was something else.
The real story was a lot messier. There were rejections that hurt more than I wanted to admit. There were silences that made me doubt. There were moments when I felt that if an accelerator, a fund or a jury didn't pick us, maybe it was because what we were doing wasn't important enough.
That was one of my mistakes.
For years I cared way too much about someone on the outside saying: “yes, this matters”.
- An accelerator.
- A fund.
- A ranking.
- An event.
- A press piece.
- An award.
And I'm not going to pretend I'm above it: when that validation shows up, it feels good. Really good. We all like being told we're doing something valuable.
The problem starts when that validation becomes your fuel.
Because if you need someone to clap for you to keep going, the day they don't invite you, don't accept you, don't write about you or don't answer you, you start looking at your own path with suspicion.
And if your startup depends on that emotionally, you're toast.
Real validation almost never comes with a stage
Sometimes it looks like:
- A customer who comes back.
- A paid invoice.
- A customer who sells more thanks to your system.
- A user who writes to you because they need the service again.
- A team that sticks around when leaving would be easier.
What hurt, and what actually mattered
Startup Perú rejected me. But customers kept showing up.
YC didn't take us. But we kept selling.
Forbes recognized us. Nice, sure. But it didn't cover payroll.
Rockstart opened a huge door for us. But we still had to go out and sell, collect, screw up, fix it and survive.
Laundryheap acquired us. But the exit didn't fall from the sky. It came after years of doing things that don't look great on LinkedIn: chasing payments, adjusting prices, dealing with angry customers, cleaning up operations, surviving the pandemic, rebuilding the team and making calls that don't always get celebrated.
External validation helps, but it shows up late
Over the years I figured out something simple: external validation helps, but it shows up late.
And if you wait for it to show up before you believe in what you're building, you probably won't last long enough to see it.
I'm not saying don't apply to competitions. Apply.
I'm not saying don't look for investment. Look for it, if it makes sense.
I'm not saying don't celebrate awards or rankings. Celebrate them. They're hard to get too.
But:
- Don't confuse recognition with traction.
- Don't confuse applause with a market.
- Don't confuse likes with customers.
The validation that matters most is less glamorous:
someone pays, comes back and recommends you.
Everything else can help. It can open doors. It can give you energy. But it doesn't replace the basics.
The day everything changed
For years I wanted someone important to say: “yes, this matters”.
Today I think the real shift happened when I stopped waiting for those words and started looking at something else:
- Whether the customer came back.
- Whether the team held up.
- Whether the business held up.
Maybe that was the day GetLavado started growing for real.
Not when they accepted us.
Not when they gave us an award.
Not when they wrote about us.
But when we stopped asking for permission to keep building.
