A Thank You, An Apology, and Everything In Between - edugate

If you’ve ever built a startup from scratch, you know it’s not just a business—it’s your identity, your obsession, and sometimes, your personal life’s biggest emotional rollercoaster.

That’s exactly what edugates was for me.

So first, a huge THANK YOU to everyone who believed in this crazy journey.

To those who invested in us, whether it was money, advice, or just the well-timed “Keep going, you got this” when we needed it most—you’re the real MVPs. Without you, there’s no way we would have made it as far as we did.

To the edugates team—you’re the definition of ride-or-die. You gave everything, even when things got messy (and oh, did they get messy). Your hard work, talent, and patience made the dream real, even when I was too caught up in it to see the bigger picture.

And now, for something that’s long overdue… I’m sorry.

When you pour everything into a startup, it consumes you. It becomes your entire world, sometimes at the expense of the people around you. I know that at times, I let that obsession take over. And if that ever hurt you, if I ever pushed too hard, or failed to see the impact of my actions on the people who mattered—I sincerely apologize.

The good news? I’ve changed. And I can confidently say, for the better.

Here’s the plot twist: In the final six months of edugates, we stumbled onto something that changed the game—ConversionSEO.

At first, it was just about ranking pages (because hey, more traffic = more success, right?). But we quickly realized that ranking isn’t the win. Converting is.

That realization was eye-opening. It took me from “How do we get more clicks?” to “How do we turn clicks into revenue?”

Fast forward to today, and I can tell you this:

Every mistake, every lesson, and every late-night panic attack made me a better marketer.

I fell in love with what I do again. And now? I’m building a team that feels like home—one that helps businesses scale in ways I never thought possible.

So to everyone who was part of edugates in any way—thank you.

Thank you for the belief, the nudges, the reality checks, and yes, even the failures. It all led to something greater.

And if you’re building something right now—if you’re in the trenches, wondering if it’s worth it—- trust me, it is. 

Yours truly,

António