Fired, broke, and out of options

Mike Barrett’s career story took an abrupt turn in 2009 when he found himself jobless and in debt, with no safety net, while scraping by to pay his mortgage and support four kids during one of the most difficult job markets in the 21st century.

At 45 years old, he had been working in the outsourcing and nearshoring space when he recognized fundamental differences with his employer’s leadership. He gave a three-month notice of resignation, planning to use that time to find his next opportunity. He was fired on the spot.

With no savings, no retirement fund, and about $30,000 in personal debt, Barrett faced a choice: find a job or create one.

“I was very scared. And the only thing I knew how to do was this whole outsourcing nearshoring thing.”

Barrett wasn’t an engineer. He’d never written a line of code. What he had was a network, a feel for what executives needed, and the ability to earn trust through a strong ethical compass and a genuine desire to serve the customer.

A phone call that changed everything

During his time in the industry, Barrett had grown close to Mario Di Vece — a project manager in Mexico, 20 years his junior. He called Mario not to pitch anything, but just to say he was leaving. What Mario said stopped him cold.

“He said, ‘Well, I’m leaving also, and I’m going to start a company. I’m going to do software engineering from Mexico.’ And he goes, ‘What are you going to do, Mike?’ And I said, ‘I’m going to sell software engineering from Latin America.’ So we decided to do it together over a phone call.”

Barrett borrowed $30,000 from his mother to clear his personal debt, then put $5,000 into the company to get it off the ground. “I just became an animal,” he said. “A selling, marketing and sales animal.”

Keeping the lights on

Unosquare’s first wins didn’t come from a brand or a marketing machine. They came from relationships — people who trusted Barrett enough to give him a shot.

The first client was MedAssets, a publicly traded healthcare company, contracted to hire three software testers. The deal was signed, but Barrett had no laptops, no desks, and no cash. So he called the CTO with an unusual request