Javier Lorenzana: Startup Failure to Social Media Star and Building Influence that Lasts – E616

"People will judge you whether or not you do social media, whether you are yourself, or whether you do the craziest things. So you might as well make it work out. At the moment I saw it working out, I thought I had to do the most crazy thing I could think of that was still me. I'm not a psychopath, I still care about what people think, but it's more about being comfortable with that feeling. They're going to talk regardless, so you might as well do something cool." - Javier Lorenzana, former EdTech founder

"There were days when I wasn’t sleeping or eating. I was losing weight, and when you start laying off some of the core employees who’ve been with you from day one, me and my co-founder at the time started fighting a lot about the direction and what to do next. It was a very unpleasant memory and feeling. It feels like you’re dragging it out longer than it needs to because you have this responsibility. But once you come to terms with it, that’s when it starts to get a bit better and you can sit with yourself more. That’s when we ended up sunsetting, and after everything, I still took it hard on myself. I guess that was the start of everything that happened next." - Javier Lorenzana, former EdTech founder

Javier Lorenzana, former EdTech founder turned content creator, joins Jeremy Au to revisit their first meeting during an On Deck podcasting course and trace his journey from startup building to social media success. They discuss the creation and shutdown of his pandemic-born company Upnext, the personal and professional fallout that followed, and how he rebuilt confidence through fitness, self-work, and creative risk-taking. Javi shares how his founder mindset shapes his content strategy, why authenticity is his biggest growth lever, and how he measures long-term success through influence and connection rather than vanity metrics. Their conversation covers building product market fit for a personal brand, handling public scrutiny, and creating viral formats that blend entertainment with personal values.