Everyone's racing to bolt AI onto everything, but Foreko co-founders Homero Ruiz and Alexis Rodas found the biggest opportunity in something almost boring: 76% of procurement teams are still running on spreadsheets. In this episode, they break down why they deliberately avoided fully automating decisions with AI, how a food truck's stock-out problem turned into a company, and why they think the real Silicon Valley advantage is knowing which advice to ignore. ⏱️ CHAPTERS0:59 – Welcome & Meet the Founders 1:32 – What Is Foreko? The AI Operating System for Procurement 2:11 – The Founders' Journeys: From Red Bull and Pepsi to Foreko 4:11 – Turning Experience Into Expertise 5:49 – Starting With Restaurants: Seeing the Problem First 6:52 – The Pivot to CPG and Why It Made Sense 8:29 – The Food Truck Story Behind It All 9:12 – Why They Said No to Full AI Automation 10:49 – Built at the University of Arkansas 13:59 – Growing Up in the Northwest Arkansas Startup Scene 16:05 – The Silicon Valley Reality Check 18:15 – From Idea to Paying Customers 19:58 – The AI Bubble, Patience, and the Tortoise-and-Hare Mindset 21:58 – The Five-Year Vision and Where to Find Foreko—🎙️ New founder stories every week — subscribe so you don't miss one. 🔗 https://startupjunkie.org/