Above: Mario Cruz, right, at Startup Grind. Photo: Carolina Wilson.

Knight Foundation supports Startup Grind Miami, part of a global community, to expand South Florida’s network for entrepreneurs.

Mario Cruz, co-founder and CTO of Choose Digital, grew up wanting to be a lawyer—until he discovered he hated writing.  Now an entrepreneur and technologist, he shared his startup story Tuesday night at Venture Hive thanks to host Startup Grind Miami.

Choose Digital, which Cruz founded with CEO Stephen Humphreys in 2011, is a digital marketplace that allows members to redeem points or miles for the latest music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks and eBooks.

The Miami-based company has allowed companies such as SkyMall, Marriott and United Airlines to include digital content as part of their sales and marketing strategies.

Cruz said that his startup success could be attributed in part to a rule he coined when considering who to have on his team: “No heroes; no zeros.”

“The zero doesn’t do anything and the hero is the guy that always comes in last minute and saves the day, but then he can’t go on vacation because no one knows the code,” Cruz said. “I tell people I want solid team players to do the work because heroes always get you burned. They always deliver, but they’re not scalable.”

Carolina Wilson is a Miami-based freelancer writer.