Differences That Make A Difference

by Pedro David Espinoza, Jorge Luis Titinger

How inclusion has been proven to have direct, measurable effects on stability and success in businesses, both publicly traded and privately held, including but not limited to the technology industry. Differences That Make a Difference focuses on the power of diversity, innovation, and disruption, by narrating anecdotes and research from Fortune 500 CEOs, public service leaders, and academics. Pedro David Espinoza Jorge Titinger interviewed more than 100 leaders on 4 continents to share how companies and entrepreneurs can take tangible steps to create a culture of belonging, prepare for the future of work, and retain the world's best talent.
Statistical research to support the premise, as well as relational information provided by interviews with business and public policy leaders known as contributors. 
Reed Hastings, Nancy Brown, Liliana Gil Valletta, Eric Schmidt, Michelle K. Lee, Dan Schulman, Claudia Edelman, Gaby Natale, Steve Westly, James Lattin, Laszlo Bock, Steve Bennett, Tim Hwang, Ernestine Fu, Tina Seelig, Lindred Greer, David Hornik, Frank Baxter, Tim Draper, Carl Guardino, Mitch Barns, Jessica Mah, Silvina Moschini, Joe Simitian, Rebeca Hwang, Margaret Neale, Charles Holloway.
Foreword by Pat Gelsinger (Intel CEO). Introduction by Anita Sands (ServiceNow Board Member)
"As one of the few Latina directors of a publicly traded company, I know how important inclusion is. This book is a convincing argument that companies that make inclusion a priority, are more successful, innovative, and valuable." -- Nina Vaca, Board Member of Cinemark
"Pedro Espinoza and Jorge Titinger have expertly compiled a rich and impressive collection of voices whose messages showcase the cultural temperature of diversity and inclusion today. Through these stories, Pedro and Jorge analyze the best practices from around the world to make it clear that, while we've come a long way, we still have much more work to do." -- Stacey Ferreira, CEO of Forge
"Great business books distill a wide range of brilliant experiences and insights into light bulb moments and actionable steps for the reader. For leaders who want their businesses to thrive, being able to actualize differences as a competitive advantage is imperative. This book, from Jorge Titinger, one of the most thoughtful CEOs I know, and his brilliant young entrepreneur co-author Pedro David Espinoza,  is a nightstand essential for any leader who wants to build a business to thrive in the 21st century." -- Coco Brown, CEO of The Athena Alliance 
"It has long been recognized that inclusion and diversity are good for business, are good for the bottom line, and to empower a positive and rewarding culture for all.  In this book Pedro David Espinoza and Jorge Titinger have provided a compelling and actionable review of the issues, risks, opportunities and strategies to successfully address them.  They bring this to life with compelling insights and experiences from leaders who had successfully employed inclusion and diversity to innovate, empower and build leading organizations. A must read for the twenty-first century leader." -- Bill Coleman, CEO of Veritas
"Differences That Make a Difference is a must read for anyone who wants invaluable examples from passionate leaders who realized that embracing diversity and inclusion can be a strategic advantage for successful organizations." -- John Cleveland, CHRO of Seagate 
"Differences That Make A Difference by Pedro David Espinoza and Jorge Titinger gives readers a spectrum of near rapid-fire opinions and thoughts about inclusion and diversity from an eclectic range of corporate and nonprofit leaders. Interesting food for thought." -- Jason L. Ma, CEO of ThreeEQ

Genres: Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

Published July 12, 2019

About the author

Pedro David Espinoza
Founder & CEO of Pan Peru USA
30 Under 30 – NextGen Presented by Goldman Sachs
40 Under 40 – Negocios Now Presented by BMO
HITEC 100 – Hispanic IT Executive Council

Pedro David Espinoza is a TED speaker, entrepreneur, investor, and author. In 2014, Pedro became the Founder & CEO of SmileyGo, an app that helped companies invest smarter. SmileyGo indexed the data of 1.5 million NGOs in addition to having users in 30 countries. Incubated at SkyDeck, his software startup gained funding from 1517 Fund, Frank Baxter, Jack Larson, and Berkeley Haas Seed Fund. In 2017, Janet Napolitano awarded Pedro The University of California Entrepreneur Winner. In 2018, Pedro founded Pan Peru USA, a venture that empowers women to become entrepreneurs. With the support from Fortune 500s, Pan Peru has empowered 100 female entrepreneurs. In 2019, Pedro wrote a book with Jorge Titinger with contributions from Eric Schmidt, Reed Hastings, and Dan Schulman. Pedro's book – Differences That Make A Difference – attracted 100 CEOs as contributors such as Pat Gelsinger who wrote the foreword. His book received the 2020 Best Business Book Award by Latino International.

Educated at Berkeley, Stanford, and Harvard, Pedro interned as a mechanic during high school. In 2010, Pedro launched his music singles on Apple, Spotify and Amazon. Pedro is the Founder & General Partner of PDE Ventures, a venture capital fund that has 20 startup investments such as Robot.com, Mocafi and Happioh. He is a limited partner at venture capital funds such as Cortado Ventures, GoodLight Capital, and 1Flourish Capital. In 2021, The Silicon Valley Business Journal recognized him as a Latin Business Leadership Honoree.

In 2016, Pedro became a distinguished keynote speaker. Microsoft, Google, and Meta are some of the companies he has given speeches. Pedro has given 300 keynotes by sharing his immigrant entrepreneurial story. In 2020, he became a lecturer at Tecnologico de Monterrey to teach entrepreneurship and engineering. In 2024, Pedro's second book – The Real ROI: Return on Inclusion – included contributions from 50 prominent CEOs, such as Michael Dell, John Hennessy, and Shellye Archambeau.

Pedro has been profiled in Forbes, Nasdaq, Yahoo Finance, CBS, Univision, GlobeNewswire, Telemundo, Hispanic Shark Tank, Times of Israel, KRON-TV, Hispanic Executive, Latin America Reports, Al Día News, and Latino Leaders Magazine. In 2017, The Voice of America named Pedro "The Robinhood of Technology”. Pedro serves on the board of directors of Notre Dame de Namur University, CuriOdyssey, Melzi Surgical, Silicon Valley Tech Academy, ActAware, synergEV, Hertz Peru, GESA, and Institute for International Medicine.

In 2017, Pedro gave his TED Talk – Build the Bridge – sharing his American Dream story having 22,000 views. In 2020, Pedro joined the Silicon Valley Leadership Group as the VP of Business Development. In 2021, Pedro was elected as the Vice Curator for Global Shapers in Palo Alto by the World Economic Forum. In 2022, Pedro got accepted to the LinkedIn Creator Accelerator Program as a Technology & Innovation Awardee having 22,700 followers. Later, he became the CMO of Ever Medical Technologies to lead the marketing team. In 2023, Pedro received the NextGen 30 Under 30 Award presented by Goldman Sachs. Later, Pedro was appointed to the Advisory Board of 1t.org of the World Economic Forum. In 2024, Pedro received the Silicon Valley 40 Under 40 Award presented by BMO. Pedro’s Pan Peru has given 10,000 children access to STEM education and reforested 15,000 trees. In 2025, Pedro joined the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) as Vice Chairman of Autoespar. Pedro has received recognition for his success, he has received the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 HITEC 100 Awards - which features the 100 most influential Latinos.