You can't be what you can't see.

Belsasar Lepe (Bel) is the Co-Founder and CEO of Cerby, an identity security company. He previously co-founded Ooyala, a video platform company.?

While still well shy of 40, he's already been in the tech industry for nearly two decades, starting at Google as a teenager. Reflecting on being a two-time Hispanic founder himself he said, "It blows my mind there aren't more.” The work ethic of his parents and other migrant workers in Southern California during his childhood has always contrasted with the low Hispanic representation he saw in the Silicon Valley.?

Rather than blame any individuals or institutions for this gap between the Hispanic population in California compared to the higher echelons of tech, he believes "You can't be what you can't see.” His path to success is a story of both looking up to examples, and his commitment to being an example himself.?

Bel's first examples were his parents, who worked as migrant field workers on the West Coast before settling down in Southern California. While they didn’t have high paying jobs, they did aspire for their children to live the American Dream. In elementary school, his parents worked two, three, and sometimes four jobs in order to provide him and his brother with an upper-class education. The combination of elite opportunities and the work ethic he grew up in produced extraordinary results. Bel was both the national champion in the 1,500 and 800 meter races in track and also valedictorian from one of the top prep schools in the country.

Following high school, Bel followed the path of his older brother Bismarck, who entered Stanford University when Bel was 11. From the center of the first internet boom in Palo Alto, Bismarck phoned back to Bel, “this Internet thing is going to be big, you should learn how to code.” The following semester Bel enrolled in programming classes at the local community college. As the end of high school approached, Bel focused less on sports and more on the path he saw for himself in technology.

Bel was accepted into the Stanford class of 2009. But before he started, his brother helped him to get an interview for an internship as a sales tool engineer at Google, where Bismarck worked. Once school started, he continued working as an engineer for the next 18 months, until he left Google to start a video platform company called Ooyala with his brother Bismarck and another friend from Google, Sean Knapp.? The day they left Google, they went to their new office and didn't leave for 35 days; eating, sleeping, eating, showering without going home. After three months of burning the candle at both ends, trying to go to school while starting a company, he dropped out of Stanford.?

Ooyala raised the first two rounds of funding pretty easily before the 2008 financial crisis hit; the company barely survived. Fighting back over the next several years, Ooyala sold to Telstra for over $400M USD.?

Bel is currently CEO and co-founder of Cerby, an Identity Security company. As leader of a startup he believes, "Who you hire is an expression of your values." Both Ooyala and now Cerby have benefited from hiring far more Hispanic employees than the average Silicon Valley company, attracting the best and brightest from an overlooked population. His co-founder Vidal Gonzalez is a three time founder originally from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Bel doesn't believe a single person's story can be the sole example that will inspire the next generation of Hispanic entrepreneurs. Each person's path is full of contingent events: the support of amazing friends and family, access to the right schools, and business that almost died in the 2008 crash. That said, the more people, from students to venture capitalists, see clear examples of success, the more they "pattern match" for people like Bel. Asked what advice he has for the young people from his hometown that regularly reach out on Linkedin, "Great work speaks for itself."