Gastón Frydlewski, founder of Hickies, hated tying his shoes. He never liked to create bows using his shoelaces. To him shoelaces are funny and oftentimes ugly. With the thought that other people might have the same idea about shoelaces in mind, he created the startup Hickies with the help of his partner, Mariquel Waingarten.

"Have you noticed that all sneaker advertisements show shoes without the bows (even in the stores)? It's because shoelace bows are not attractive," says Gastón Frydlewski in an interview with Ideamensch.

Designed for active and fashion-conscious people, Hickies' responsive lacing system never lets its customers tie or untie their shoes ever again. By replacing the traditional shoelaces with the elastic "no tie" Hickies' shoelaces, people can experience the unbeatable combination of function, fit and fashion.

"Laces are also every parent's nightmare," said Frydlewski. "How many times have you found yourself trying to get your family out the door to go somewhere, only to have your kids fumbling with their shoelaces for so long," he added.

It all started when Frydlewski was 23 years old. Without money and experience, he tried to seek for investors who could help him turn his idea into a business. But because he was still too young and did not have the experience, he faced a lot of rejection. Most of them said his business idea was worthless and it was just "too crazy."

Instead of feeling negative towards what happened and withdraw from his dreams, he decided to use his failure as an opportunity to grow. He became more determined to gain the trust of those investors who looked down on him. It did not take long for him to get experience by landing his first job ever.

He applied as an investment banker in JPMorgan Chase and worked there for five years, from 2006 to 2011, in the Latin America M&A team. He worked in that financial company from the Buenos Aires and New York offices just for the sake of gaining enough experience to finally create Hickies. Aside from working in JPMorgan Chase, he also tried to broaden his horizons by working in Telefonica as part of its strategic planning and innovation team.

With Frydlewski's desire and passion and all the experiences he gathered through the years, his business startup idea has finally become a reality. All his failures and successes became his stepping stone to realizing his dream of having his own startup. With its increasing net revenue, Hickies is surely one of the most promising and hottest startups in Latin America today.