The roots of Mauricio Iván Quiroga-Pascal Ortega begin in Santiago, Chile, where he was born in 1969. He holds both Chilean and American citizenship, although he also considers himself Mexican. Following the tumultuous coup in Chile in 1973, Mauricio left his native country at the age of 4, living for a year in Honduras before settling in Mexico City, where he lived for 15 years, with a one-year interlude in Managua, Nicaragua. With the return to democracy in Chile in 1989, he moved back to Santiago, Chile.His passion for music manifested vibrantly and early, standing out as a bassist and co-founder of Mákina, an iconic band in the Mexican metal scene. With Mákina, he released his first album at the age of 14. He also co-founded Grupo Valkyria, a bold mix of metal with classical music and high technical skill. With this band, he won the “Yamaha - Band Explosion 88” contest in Mexico City, which led him to represent Mexico in the global final of the competition in Tokyo in 1989. After 33 years, in 2021, he released a new album with the original members of Valkyria called 8821. In Chile, he continued his artistic trajectory by founding the high-technique metal band Kraal.He was also a member of Protocosmic, a cosmic pop band with which he released one album. Finally, he co-founded The Shrink, a high-technique melodic metal band with which he released four albums.Mauricio practices what he defines as “Open Christian Faith”, maintaining the belief that there is a single church founded by Jesus and considering that all others are human creations. Thus, he periodically attends Christian congregations of various perspectives.In 1994, Mauricio completed his studies in financial and economic engineering at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, then expanded his global vision with an MBA from the University of Berkeley, California. During his postgraduate studies, in 1999, he founded his first company in Silicon Valley. From that experience, he has founded two other companies. He has developed an extensive career as a professor, imparting knowledge in advanced finance, financial artificial intelligence, strategy, and more, to undergraduate and postgraduate students. He has held CEO positions in various corporations and other advanced roles in the areas of Finance, Sales, and Strategy. He periodically provides pro-bono advice to foundations and also offers free math tutoring to underprivileged youth preparing for university entrance exams.In 2007, Mauricio was recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by Adolfo Ibáñez University in Santiago, Chile. His unique philosophical approach to business and entrepreneurship is reflected in his first book, “Openpreneur: Applied Happiness to Produce Value and Meaning”. In addition, he has contributed extensively to various fields of knowledge, being the author of 39 publications covering economic, financial, computer, political, historical, sociological, and philosophical topics.Today, Mauricio resides in Austin, Texas, United States, with his wife Andrea Langton, their children, Isabel and Matías, and their two cats Pinwy and Galileo.Read more about this authorRead less about this author