A business is only as good as its values and its mission. At Factored, we value transparency. Transparency is what each and every one of us offers our colleagues when we communicate our opinions and ideas, and it is what we always receive in return. Our CEO, Israel Niezen is perhaps the biggest supporter of transparency at Factored and wanted to share his personal story of immigrating from Latin America to the United States and why he thinks that hard work, intelligence and tenacity transcend borders.
Here’s Israel sharing his story…
I wanted to share a bit of a personal note for people who wonder why I do what I do. 33 years ago, my courageous mother immigrated with my siblings and I to the USA in search of better opportunities. Immigrating to another country is very difficult. We had to leave our family, our friends, our home, our music, our food, and our traditions behind. We had to start from scratch and work very hard to accomplish our objectives in our new home.
The photo below was taken around that time. I am the one on the left with the pink shirt and 90’s surfer haircut.
Intelligence, Passion and Talent Are Global
Back in those days, great training, education, and career opportunities were not globally distributed; those opportunities were concentrated among the very small percentage of people who, out of sheer cosmic coincidence, were fortunate enough to be born in a few select countries. If you wanted to seek those opportunities, you had to uproot your entire life, leave your friends and family, and be one of the fortunate few to get legal immigration visas.
Human intelligence, passion, and talent has always been equally distributed around the world, but opportunity was concentrated in just a few places. The great news is that technology and remote work are the greatest equalizers in modern human history and are rapidly removing such geographic disparities. This is allowing the best talent to find the best opportunities ANYWHERE.
Our Mission At Factored
Through our work at Factored, I will dedicate the rest of my career to ensuring that the benefits of technology are more equally distributed around the world. Our current mission is to ensure that the most talented humans anywhere in Latin America have access to best-in-class training and work opportunities, and that together we continue to build a world-class company that is changing the world’s perception of what Latin Americans are capable of.
Our work is now being recognized by top US companies and the foremost experts in Data Science, Data Engineering, Analytics and AI. We are successfully adding great value to our US clients’ teams and our engineers’ careers without forcibly moving any of our engineers or analysts away from their homes, their families, their friends, and ultimately their happiness.
We will not rest until we make the biggest positive impact to as many talented individuals as we can, accelerating their career opportunities to levels they formerly could only dream of. Remote work is definitely here to stay. We are making a significant contribution to our communities in Latin America while helping top US tech companies access the goldmine of technical talent in the region, and in their own time zone.
The American Dream Is Alive and Well
This post would not be complete without acknowledging my family’s immense gratitude to our adopted home, the good old USA. After decades of hard work, perspiration, and education, this amazing country has allowed us the opportunity to build a fantastic life that we are very grateful for, and the opportunity to give back to this great country like generations of other immigrants have done for centuries.
The American Dream is still alive and well for most who work hard and make smart decisions. Yes, there are a few things we still need to fix (healthcare, education, and gun culture, to name a few), but it is still the land of opportunity. Don’t believe those who try to spread fear and hatred about immigrants in a country of immigrants. This is still a great country, built by great people, from all over the world. Diversity always wins!
