Every entrepreneur's journey is different. For many Americans, that journey doesn't begin with a large investment, but with passion and belief in themselves. 

Across the country, people are turning secondhand finds into the first steps toward their dreams. OfferUp is proud to play a small part in these stories, helping people connect with the tools, resources, and materials that can turn a passion into a full-time business.

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From $5 and a can of coke to the Super Bowl Stage: Villa’s Tacos 

Victor Villa has been an entrepreneur since he was seven years old, pulling his elderly neighbors' weeds for whatever they could pay — five dollars and a can of Coca-Cola. Today, Victor is the founder of Villa's Tacos, a proudly Mexican, handmade blue-corn taco restaurant with three Los Angeles locations, a Michelin Bib Gourmand award for three consecutive years, and a cameo on one of the biggest stages in the world: Bad Bunny's iconic Super Bowl halftime show. But the road here was anything but easy.

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Maria, the grill that started it all

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Victor launched Villa’s Tacos at 25 with, as he puts it, “nothing much more than a grill.” That grill, a secondhand Santa Maria-style mesquite grill he found on OfferUp, became the foundation of everything.

Covered in rust and long out of use, the grill had been sitting locked away when Victor found it, but he immediately saw what it could become. He sandblasted it, repainted it with high-temperature paint, and brought it back to life. He named her Maria.

From his grandma’s backyard, with a canopy, a few tables, and his family by his side, Victor started making tortillas, grilling and chopping meat, and assembling every taco himself on Maria.

Rent was late. Bills were overdue. His daughter had just been born. But the moment he sold his first taco, he knew he had something.

Maria was there through all of it — the early morning setups, the wins, the hard days, and the loss of his grandfather, Alberto, who passed while Victor was out working. Today, the restaurant is dedicated to him.

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Built on love and hustle

What makes Villa's Tacos special is the feeling. "Everything we cook, con mucho amor, with a lot of love," Victor says. For him, entrepreneurship was never just about the money; it was always about the "hustle, the heart and the grit,” from pulling weeds as a kid to bussing tables to betting on himself when buying that first grill. His advice to young entrepreneurs? Don’t give up. "You got this. It's not going to be easy; in fact, it's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done. But if I could do it, you can do it too. Don't give up."

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OfferUp: a small business owner's secret weapon

Villa’s Tacos eventually expanded into catering, and Victor needed two bar tops for a pop-up event. Renting them would have cost $1,500, but he found both on OfferUp for $500, and now he owns them. “There’s no end to what you can use OfferUp for,” he says.

The same resourcefulness that led him to Maria and to making tacos in his grandma’s backyard is still driving him today, and eventually, the world took notice. In February 2026, Victor was chosen by Bad Bunny to represent his community during the Super Bowl LX halftime show, standing behind a Villa’s Tacos grill as the global superstar performed on one of the world’s biggest stages.

From a secondhand grill in his grandma’s backyard to the Super Bowl stage, Victor Villa has come a long way.

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