Before founding TeleUP Inc., Gustavo founded and grew DutchPhone Holdings Inc., a VOIP company, and sold Uniwear, an apparel company he launched during college. In Silicon Valley, he worked as a consultant and entrepreneur for Rotary Rocket, a space launch startup; Veridicom, a biometric startup; and vTraction, a former Rabobank venture capital company. 

Gustavo holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in International Business Studies from Maastricht University (The Netherlands). His thesis examines industry entry strategies. He also studied at Harvard Business School and conducted innovation management research as CFO and project leader of the Emerald nanosatellite project at Stanford University's Aeronautics Department. Gustavo has given back to the community by teaching undergraduates and MBA students as Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurial Finance at Pace University. Gustavo has also co-produced feature and short films. His latest film is "Tribes on The Edge", a documentary which depicts the struggles of indigenous tribes in the Amazon rainforest.