
Javier Agüera
Co-founder & CEO of Pandora's Way | 5x Founder | Social Change | Educator | Spanish Tortilla Connoisseur
New York, NY, US
About
I'm convinced that most human communities have lost the tools they once had to help individuals navigate big, pivotal life transitions. I envision a future where we do better, and I'm committed to building products, ventures, content, art that gets us an inch closer to it.
Currently co-founder and CEO of Pandora's Way. We help parents guide their children into digital adolescence by re-imagining the process of getting their first phone into a rite of passage.
We're hiring and fundraising, say hi if it you are purpose-driven and it piques your curiosity!
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And a quick TL;DR about my past journey...
- At age 16, I co-founded the first European Android phonemaker, which later pioneered FirefoxOS. Its successor Blackphone (acquired by Silent Circle) competed heads-on with Blackberry and was named Invention of the Year by TIME Magazine. Its third incarnation, Barbara, is currently a established player in the edge industrial IoT space.
- I've bootstrapped less successful ventures trying to fight fake news (Neupic) and bringing tablets to hospitality and healthcare (TabSolutions). I learnt quite a lot from our mishaps.
- I'm a generalist who gets into rabbit holes easily. I've learnt quite a bit about how to build teams, set up global supply chains, create value for individuals and large orgs alike, designing products across the digital and analog realms, hardware to software, and doing more with less.
- I love teaching business ethics and human-centered design; have advised startups, non-profits and government; and I invest a tiny bit in impact-driven companies.
- I'm an open book... except for my Spanish tortilla and sangria recipes ;)
Ask me about
Work experience
- October 2023 – present
Ganas Ventures
Deal Partner - October 2023 – present
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Executive Education Workshop Instructor - May 2023 – present
Sandbox
Board Trustee - April 2023 – present
Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Affiliate - Institute for Rebooting Social Media - April 2022 – present
Pandora's Way
CEO & Co-Founder - May 2017 – present
Barbara IoT
(Non-exec) Co-founder / Advisor - July 2012 – present
Nobu Ventures & Advisory
Angel Investor & Startup Advisor - September 2017 – June 2024
International Bar Association
eyeWitness to Atrocities - Advisory Board - January 2023 – May 2024
Sandbox
Governance Council - September 2022 – April 2023
Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University
Assembly Fellow - Institute for Rebooting Social Media - June 2021 – September 2022
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Teaching Fellow - January 2022 – June 2022
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
SERC Scholar - August 2016 – November 2019
Snips.ai (Acquired by Sonos)
VP Strategic Alliances - April 2015 – January 2018
Future Lighthouse
Member of the Board - March 2013 – December 2017
Neupic
Co-founder & Member of the Board - March 2015 – April 2016
Silent Circle
Chief Scientist, Devices - January 2014 – March 2016
Blackphone (Acquired by Silent Circle)
Chief Scientist & Co-founder - December 2008 – April 2014
Geeksphone SL
CEO & Co-founder - March 2012 – February 2013
European Commission
Adviser to Neelie Kroes, Vice President and Commissioner for Digital Agenda - December 2011 – September 2012
TabSolutions
CTO / Co-founder
Education
- Present
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Bachelor of Science (BSc), Telematics Engineering - 2020 – 2022
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Master of Science - MS, Design, Engineering & Management (IDM)