Ricardo Jiménez is a Puerto Rico- and Barcelona-based writer, entrepreneur and active angel investor. Since 2014, he has performed direct investments in over 30 tech projects, including the Ethereum token launch. Jiménez, who was born in Spain, holds an MBA from Duke and is fluent in Spanish, English and conversational Indonesian. In his new book “Crash Course: A Founder’s Journey to Saving Your Startup and Sanity” he recounts his personal startup failure so that other entrepreneurs and business founders may learn from his mistakes as they chase their own business dreams. (Meryl Moss Media, 2024)

“Crash Course” – For every Miracle Mop, Bombas sock or Squatty Potty, there’s a Plushky. What’s a Plushky? It’s a stuffed, colorful plushie shaped like a country. For six years, from 2010 to 2016, then Austin-based entrepreneur Ricardo Jiménez engaged in a relentless pursuit to find the market, customers, distributors, investors, partners and sellers that would make his line of Plushkies the next big thing.

Given these cuddly plush stuffed toys can’t be found on shelves of any major retailers or on any online marketplace, we already know the ending of this story. Jiménez failed in his efforts to get others to see his vision that these toys would bring the children of the world together. But not every entrepreneur can be a Joy Mangano, Dave Heath or Bobby and Judy Edwards. In fact, nine times out of ten, entrepreneurs fail.

But is it truly the ending of his story or his Plushkies? Jiménez shares what it’s like to pour your heart, your passion and your financial resources into a dream and vision that few others see and, most excruciatingly, fail at it.

“There are enough stories about entrepreneurs who lived their American dreams, but what about those of us who put ourselves on the line, worked endless hours, did everything we could to give our companies life, and still faltered and lost our money without ever creating a true profitable enterprise? That’s not a story people usually want to hear, but I am convinced it’s important—maybe even more important than endlessly studying Cinderella-like success stories” – Ricardo Jiménez.

Have we been given a how-to on what it’s like to fail at a startup? In “Crash Course,” Jiménez asks: Can failure inform a different narrative of accomplishment, as opposed to success by mainstream measures? 

In his book, he offers advice on how to:

• Learn the most valuable information first. What do your customers want? What are they willing to pay? How are they going to use the product?
• Know your motives before you leap. Are you doing this for yourself or others? What is the number one driver of your decision to start a business?
• Trust yourself. Follow your heart and do not fear the outcome, he says. You are bigger than your company or your enterprise. Life comes first, business second.
• Learn when to let go. He shares the spiritual journey he took that led him to understand that sometimes the best thing to do is to let go.

Jiménez takes a clinical and honest approach of why his international toy company did not succeed, and he does not shy away from how his missteps, misguided decisions and mismanaged. He did not experience the classic happy ending of success; he lives in the real world. Accordingly, his book is for would-be entrepreneurs who want a clear-eyed vision of where they are headed and what they need to survive the journey. For those already on the entrepreneurial path, Jiménez shares the clarity, inspiration and self-understanding needed to decide whether to step off or continue the journey.

“Crash Course seamlessly merges spiritual wisdom and
business savvy, providing a lesson-packed road map
to prosperity with purpose.”

— Daven Michaels
New York Times Bestselling Author & CEO

“A game-changer for entrepreneurs, it redefines success
as a holistic journey in which the heart leads
and financial achievement is trusted to follow.”

— Grace Ramírez
Chef, Author, Entrepreneur and Global TV Personality