Captain Carlos Benítez’s life changed when he became a father at 17. Forced to leave high school and start his first business, Masamba Burger, he didn’t imagine at the time that the experience would ultimately become a lifetime journey in entrepreneurship.
“I thought my life was over, but it was actually the opposite,” he tells Alberto Bacó Bagué in next Tuesday’s episode of the El Blueprint podcast.
Before turning a profit selling hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken sandwiches from a food cart next to a school in Bayamón, Benítez recalls going broke three or four times, experiences that taught him early on to never fear failure.
Benítez emphasizes the importance of studying the market, listening to customers, evaluating an investment and then taking the leap, while recognizing that no amount of analysis can completely eliminate risk.
That fearlessness eventually pushed him to take a leap of faith and become a certified pilot and aviation entrepreneur. Hardship knocked on his door once again, a times not knowing how he would continue meeting payroll. Through it all, Benítez credits his faith and his family’s support for his accomplishments.
After founding Benítez Aviation in 2011, he participated in the development of Puerto Rico FBO, a private aviation operation at Isla Grande Airport that opened new facilities in 2022 following an investment of approximately $20 million. In the podcast interview, he reveals the full details behind the turning point toward growth and success.
Benítez would later expand beyond aviation, branching into maritime experiences and ground transportation after recognizing that many of his existing clients were looking for those services as well.
Benítez emphasizes the importance of studying the market, listening to customers, evaluating an investment and then taking the leap, while recognizing that no amount of analysis can completely eliminate risk.
“Many people don’t want to fail because of their ego,” he reflected. His approach is to ask a different question: “What if I succeed?”
Learn more about Captain Carlos Benítez’s journey, lessons and entrepreneurial philosophy next Tuesday morning in El Blueprint, coming to YouTube, Spotify and here in Caribbean.Business.
In this wide-ranging El Blueprint interview, Alberto de la Cruz discusses the hard discipline of recognizing when it’s time to exit an investment and what founders can learn from losses that lead to lessons
