Good evening. I'm an engineer from the Southern US. Like most of you, I had a good chunk of the Unscripted/Fastlane philosophy floating around in my brain even before reading the books, but the books just tied it all together. Like most millennial Americans, I was conditioned early to seek success in institutions, and it's been a lifelong process breaking that habit. The Idiocracy-state of the country has helped.
My first attempt to break free and be my own man was an algorithmic trader I made in 2011. It was a technical success on Intrade, but the founder of the website died on Everest and the website imploded. I could not get the trader to work on the US equities market, and I eventually just had to move on with life. In hindsight an endeavor like this probably needed a bigger team than 1, and it violated the N of CENTS -- I wasn't adding anything to the world, just trying to digitally clip coins essentially.
My second try was making a ballistics app for iOS in 2017. I did this in college for project credit, but also tried to commercialize it. The product was excellent (as an engineer and prior professional shooter I have oodles of domain knowledge). Unfortunately it also violated the N of CENTS -- most shooters just want to blast at some cans and really don't need or care to be all that accurate.
My third try was an onramp from the slow lane where I scored domain knowledge into a fastlane. At this point in life I had a family to take care of, but knew I would want to return to entrepreneurship one day. So while working for the man, I got my PE license (needed to practice engineering on your own), and slowly built my little LLC. When you do work on the side, make yourself known as a business owner, and do great work in a sea of shitbags, you tend to get more 'luck'. That's what happened. I've had to take on some partners in the process, but I am now at the head of a company that grossed low 8 figures last year. I'm really lucky to have the spouse I do -- she's been willing to make do with Spartan conditions while I build my business and investments. I couldn't have done this with the stress of huge debts.
I am remaining monogamous right now to this biz, and jotting down my 'good ideas' for a time when my company requires a bit less of my TLC to make it run just right.
My motto? It pays to be a winner and it sucks to suck.
Thanks in advance for the warm welcome and useful knowledge. Ask away if you have questions.
