?? From Coffee to Tech to Real Estate: My Journey from Entrepreneurship to Dell to Entrepreneurship

Hello LinkedIn family!

As I sit to write this, my heart is full of nostalgia yet buzzing with the excitement of new beginnings. I’ve decided to leave my beloved role at Dell to dive back into full-time entrepreneurship and investing. While this (loved and amazing) chapter closes on May 3rd, I'm eager to share the story of how I got here—and where I'm heading—with you.

Chapter 1: A New World for me Eight Years ago, I was an entrepreneur in the coffee industry of Argentina, far from the tech-savvy corridors of corporate America. My transition began with a life-changing opportunity to join Dell as an MBA intern from Duke University. I always thank Naoko Garcia , who interviewed me and gave me the offer. At Dell, everything was new, different, and exciting. I was (very) fortunate to land in the best team possible, guided by leaders like Erik Day , Burt Powers , Iris Hickenbottom , and Erin Randig , who guided me to have the best and most impactful experience I can imagine.

Chapter 2: The Birth of an Idea During my internship, I worked on what would later become the Dell Expert Network. The idea was simple yet ambitious: connect Dell with tech experts and consultants who work with small businesses. After presenting my project, I received the most exciting news from Iris: Erik Day wanted to offer me to return full-time to turn this idea into reality. I returned to North Carolina for a year to complete my MBA, excited about the next chapter in Austin.

Chapter 3: Making It Real In 2018, I rejoined Dell full-time, committed to launching the Dell Expert Network in the U.S. Under the leadership of Burt Powers, I had the lucky pleasure to work with (and learn from) the most amazing core team daily, to name a few: the DCN leader Buck Baldwin , Manisha Chhabria , Chris Lillie , and Bryan Roberts . This was one of the times that I enjoyed the most (it was the perfect definition of working with ambiguity and owning 100% of your day).

Chapter 4: Growth and Gratitude A year later, I had the (big) fortune of joining Mobolaji S. 's team—a leader who not only lifted me in my professional abilities but also stood by me (and helped me a ton) during personal hardships. I consider Mobolaji my good friend, and I look forward to continuing that friendship. I enjoyed all these years of doing meaningful, impactful work while having a blast.

Chapter 5: The Story Repeats After Dell Expert Network was fully launched (and growing double digits every month), Mobolaji and I launched the Dell for Startups program (Dell for Entrepreneurs back then), repeating the success story as DEN continued to grow. When I look back today on my two programs, they have a global presence and generate more than half a billion dollars in revenue. I couldn’t be more grateful to Dell for this opportunity. ?

Chapter 6: A Fond Farewell to my Team Today, I really want to thank (a million thanks) to my amazing direct reports: Alicia Bowling Marcus DeVane YJ Lin Kelly Riggen Laura Ball Esther Zhi Akshay Joshi Carson Lindauer Erin Sutter Tatum Treadwell Gina Vaidya Joy Patterson, MBA . I hope to have impacted a little tiny fraction of what you have impacted and inspired me.

Epilogue: Looking Ahead, I am incredibly excited to return to full-time entrepreneurship and investing (in the active real estate and Proptech space; more details to come), and I will return to spend time in my coffee business.

Here’s to new beginnings and all of you who made my story at Dell one for the books!

Stewart Talapati Steven Henriquez Sai Ram Prayaga Gurdev Singh shvaita deovanshi Megan Wright Ainsley Stephens Margaret K. Tony Harder Karolina Danilovic Ingrid Garces Jamie Wright (Troxell) Charlie Wolff Aaron Welker Savyna R. Adeola Adeosun Luciane Trarbach John Howard Cynthia Reque-Teran

With deepest gratitude and excitement for the future,