When I first arrived in Panama I worked in investments for a local bank. Within two years the bank was bought by HSBC, and I left shortly thereafter. I had received a bit of money from the buyout and was investing in local opportunities. Panama at that time was BOOMING. The country literally ran out of concrete at one point because so many buildings were going up.
In 2009 my partner, Lucas, was in real estate development. He was putting together a new project to build 250 homes for middle-class families outside of Panama City. He had the land and the expertise but was missing 50% of the capital. A mutual friend connected us, and I raised the money for his project.
This capital raise led to us beginning to meet frequently. During those conversations, we learned of our mutual interest in stocks, Warren Buffett, and investing in general. I eventually moved my office and began subletting space at his RE development company.
In 2011, Lucas had identified an industrial sales company that was for sale. He asked if I wanted to partner with him on the deal and that was the beginning of AH. We bought our next company 12 months later and were off to the races.
A few anecdotes from that initial partnership. We never wrote a shareholder agreement. We each own 50% of the Panama HoldCo and we agreed that whoever said no wins. We had to both agree in order to proceed forward. I do not recommend this to anyone else. It worked for us. I can count on one hand the number of times we have argued.
My business partner is the person I spend the most time with after my wife and kids. We have been working together for over 10 years now. We have done a ton of trips together and have hundreds of stories from these adventures. We always fly coach and almost always share a room when traveling to save expenses. That is just part of our DNA, being cost-conscious.
It has not always been easy. As I mentioned, we have argued. Those times were frustrating. But in the end, we are better together than apart. I was lucky to have found a partner to build this company with. I cannot imagine having done it alone.