Founder Name: Marcos Ocasio (He/Him)

Role in the organization: CTO & Head of Engineering 

 

I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. While young, I taught myself HTML and ran a video games news website that taught me a lot about collaborating with others. This also served as a gateway to a career in software development. But before that, I got a bachelor’s degree in computer science and a master's degree in software engineering. 

At work, my first major shift in perspective came when I learned about user centric approaches to software design. I became an advocate of the approach and drove wider adoption with my peers at Microsoft’s consulting services group. Over the next 12 years, I continued to assimilate user centricity in design, iterative approaches and design thinking. 

But the nature of consulting business demands that you move from project to project. So, I could not see the consequences of my design decisions play out in the long run. That part of me remained unfulfilled in the career I had at the time. 

My family and I were in Puerto Rico when hurricane Maria hit in 2017. I experienced firsthand the devastation caused by the hurricane. I saw the impact of living in an island with very brittle infrastructure. I noticed that not everyone suffers equally, the poor and marginalized suffer more. 

I wanted to create a startup that would allow for both my long-term involvement with my design decisions and do good for humanity. It was difficult to leave a high-paying job with a top software company. With the support of my family and finding the right team, I was able to make the jump. I left the corporate world to start making something big and impactful with a group of friends I trust. We, at Caravel Labs, believe that software is key to solving the world’s toughest problems. 

I still play video games and enjoy any good game regardless of genre, mostly on my Steam Deck. I also love nature. Hiking is one of my favorite pastimes and I would love to one day hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail in eastern United States.   
 

Marcos Ocasio | LinkedIn