✍️ Being a Foreigner, a Founder, and Not Going Broke in the Process (A Personal Reflection)

As a Mexican living in Poland, I’ve had to learn how to manage my money wisely, dealing with two currencies, two tax systems, and an economic landscape that’s constantly shifting.
From inflation in both countries to the uncertainty of entrepreneurship, there are a lot of variables I can’t control.
But one decision was always in my hands: creating stability so I could build with freedom.

This post is not financial advice, nor am I here to give you expert tips.
It’s not a technical guide or a magic formula.
It’s a personal reflection on the mindset shifts I’ve made around money since I decided to found Food22.

If you’re on a similar path, building something of your own, living far from home, or just trying to gain more control over your money, I hope this resonates with you.

Being a founder means facing a lot of important decisions.
Some are about product, team, or funding.
But others, the ones we often overlook have to do with something much more personal and structural:
your finances.

How do I sustain myself while the project grows?
How do I avoid burning through my savings too fast?
How do I keep going without giving up on what I want to build?

For a while, I lived with that pressure constantly on my shoulders.
Until I made a choice: to take control of my finances proactively.
Not out of fear, but out of the awareness that if I’m okay, I can create better.

Here’s what that looked like:

• Learning how to invest with intention

• Saving strategically

• Building an emergency fund so I don’t operate in survival mode

• Looking for alternatives beyond the traditional system

• And starting to design a system that brings peace of mind as I build Food22
  

It’s not magic. It’s not about being rich.
It’s about having just enough structure to sustain what you’re building without betraying yourself in the process.

This post is just the beginning.
In a few days, I’ll share the tools I currently use to protect my money, invest from Europe and Mexico, and generate passive income without overcomplicating it.

But before I share the “how,”
I wanted to make sure I was clear about the “why.”

I’m learning how to build Food22 without losing myself in the process.
If you're on a similar path, I share what I’m discovering along the way.
👉 https://bit.ly/whatilearnedthisweek

Until next time,
Juan