What's up my Fastlane fam! I've had this "forum intro" on my to-do list for a couple weeks, so here goes!
First off, I'm very excited to be a part of this community. Shout out to MJ for sharing his life/soul saving insights and to all the others I see participating in the threads and helping people out. It reminds me of my jiu jitsu school... where you slowly level up, get beat up and learn your lessons, then pass them on to the lower belts.
I'm 34 years old, live in Orlando, and work in tech/real estate right now. I do UX/UI for a few startups (as a contractor/freelancer), and work as a real estate agent. For real estate, I do my own deals, but also work with a developer to help him with sales and marketing. I build websites for him, and help him with random odds and ends that come up during development. He's also teaching me how to develop. He does single family homes, and townhomes (www.samsaradowntown.com - a sample of his work).
As far as my other habits, I stay on top of my health. I eat super healthy, workout every day, I do jiu jitsu, yoga, get 8 hours of sleep per night, meditate, journal, etc.
I started my first business when I was 16, back in 2000. It was an online store that sold car stereo equipment, and was called.... "BadAss Audio." I still love that name. It was a dropshipping model, but it wasn't easy back then like it is now. We had to shut it down pretty soon after we created this awesome website and got our first few orders. We tried to sell the website, but couldn't really find any buyers at the time.
When I was in college, I worked for a couple real estate investors (one in Orlando, another in Tallahassee) doing bird-dogging and door-knocking. I learned some stuff about the business and saw how much money there is to be made in real estate.
After graduating with a finance degree from FSU, I worked as a valet for about a year. On the side, a friend and I worked on this concept to improve on the FSBO buyer/seller experience. But we had no clue what we were doing, and didn't really push it forward hard enough. Then I finally got my first "real job," a 9-5 at a local tech company (web hosting). I was doing graphic and web design.
Then I jumped to another company, doing the same thing, but for a golf marketing company. They had an interesting subscription model, where they build, host, and manage websites for golf courses.
I took a larger bet when I left the golf company and went to work for a meal-planning SAAS ...STARTUP (sorry MJ haha) because they were willing to give me a little equity. I worked there for the past 4 years, but we hit some road bumps and had to lay everybody off (including myself) except for the CTO and a couple overseas developers. It's still cash-flow positive, but we can't rehire until we raise more money. I learned a ton about what it takes to start a tech company and make it successful. It can be brutal.
Last year, I fell into the trap and started a side-gig Shopify store doing jiu jitsu t-shirts because I saw some online guru clown. I actually still get a lot of compliments on the couple shirts I made (attached). I shut it down pretty quickly when I realized it was going to take more work than I had time for.
So now I've got one foot in the tech industry doing UI/UX, and the other foot in the real estate industry doing some sales and marketing. I've read a ton of books (check my attachment... action faking or nah?). I've taken courses. I have a pretty broad and diverse skillset that (I think) makes me pretty potent as an entrepreneur. That includes graphic design, web/app design, SEO, branding, internet marketing, photography, videography, customer service, sales, project management, financial modeling and all that fun spreadsheet stuff, etc etc. I'm pretty familiar with the idea of prototyping and validating ideas because of all my time spent in the "startup" world.
After reading MF and now Unscripted , I feel like I've been given a second chance. I've read so many business books, but these really hit the mark for some reason. Maybe it's the no-BS writing style MJ has.
My biggest goal/dream was always to be an entrepreneur, but I still had/have some mindset issues and bad habits to iron out. So I'm here to figure out how I can get help, give to others, and start walking the path to the promised land. I realize now I have a solid framework in my head, and I need to be on the lookout for problems/opportunities.
Part of me thinks I should leverage my knowledge of technology and really attack the real estate game. Get an awesome website going, content marketing (blog and social media), run ads to landing pages, make sure all my processes run smoothly, systematize everything, etc. But for some reason.... I'm holding back. I don't want to be just another real estate agent. So I'm a little lost. Working as a UI/UX designer doesn't scale unless I create some kind of product or SAAS business. I have a couple ideas that I thought would be cool, one is A/B testing for fashion (think: your girlfriend asking "what should I wear") that returns results in under 10 minutes. The other is a house swapping website for remote workers.
So I feel a little lost, but I'm trying to stay focused and keep to the principles in the book.
Cheers! I look forward to participating and getting to know everybody.
Alex
First off, I'm very excited to be a part of this community. Shout out to MJ for sharing his life/soul saving insights and to all the others I see participating in the threads and helping people out. It reminds me of my jiu jitsu school... where you slowly level up, get beat up and learn your lessons, then pass them on to the lower belts.
I'm 34 years old, live in Orlando, and work in tech/real estate right now. I do UX/UI for a few startups (as a contractor/freelancer), and work as a real estate agent. For real estate, I do my own deals, but also work with a developer to help him with sales and marketing. I build websites for him, and help him with random odds and ends that come up during development. He's also teaching me how to develop. He does single family homes, and townhomes (www.samsaradowntown.com - a sample of his work).
As far as my other habits, I stay on top of my health. I eat super healthy, workout every day, I do jiu jitsu, yoga, get 8 hours of sleep per night, meditate, journal, etc.
I started my first business when I was 16, back in 2000. It was an online store that sold car stereo equipment, and was called.... "BadAss Audio." I still love that name. It was a dropshipping model, but it wasn't easy back then like it is now. We had to shut it down pretty soon after we created this awesome website and got our first few orders. We tried to sell the website, but couldn't really find any buyers at the time.
When I was in college, I worked for a couple real estate investors (one in Orlando, another in Tallahassee) doing bird-dogging and door-knocking. I learned some stuff about the business and saw how much money there is to be made in real estate.
After graduating with a finance degree from FSU, I worked as a valet for about a year. On the side, a friend and I worked on this concept to improve on the FSBO buyer/seller experience. But we had no clue what we were doing, and didn't really push it forward hard enough. Then I finally got my first "real job," a 9-5 at a local tech company (web hosting). I was doing graphic and web design.
Then I jumped to another company, doing the same thing, but for a golf marketing company. They had an interesting subscription model, where they build, host, and manage websites for golf courses.
I took a larger bet when I left the golf company and went to work for a meal-planning SAAS ...STARTUP (sorry MJ haha) because they were willing to give me a little equity. I worked there for the past 4 years, but we hit some road bumps and had to lay everybody off (including myself) except for the CTO and a couple overseas developers. It's still cash-flow positive, but we can't rehire until we raise more money. I learned a ton about what it takes to start a tech company and make it successful. It can be brutal.
Last year, I fell into the trap and started a side-gig Shopify store doing jiu jitsu t-shirts because I saw some online guru clown. I actually still get a lot of compliments on the couple shirts I made (attached). I shut it down pretty quickly when I realized it was going to take more work than I had time for.
So now I've got one foot in the tech industry doing UI/UX, and the other foot in the real estate industry doing some sales and marketing. I've read a ton of books (check my attachment... action faking or nah?). I've taken courses. I have a pretty broad and diverse skillset that (I think) makes me pretty potent as an entrepreneur. That includes graphic design, web/app design, SEO, branding, internet marketing, photography, videography, customer service, sales, project management, financial modeling and all that fun spreadsheet stuff, etc etc. I'm pretty familiar with the idea of prototyping and validating ideas because of all my time spent in the "startup" world.
After reading MF and now Unscripted , I feel like I've been given a second chance. I've read so many business books, but these really hit the mark for some reason. Maybe it's the no-BS writing style MJ has.
My biggest goal/dream was always to be an entrepreneur, but I still had/have some mindset issues and bad habits to iron out. So I'm here to figure out how I can get help, give to others, and start walking the path to the promised land. I realize now I have a solid framework in my head, and I need to be on the lookout for problems/opportunities.
Part of me thinks I should leverage my knowledge of technology and really attack the real estate game. Get an awesome website going, content marketing (blog and social media), run ads to landing pages, make sure all my processes run smoothly, systematize everything, etc. But for some reason.... I'm holding back. I don't want to be just another real estate agent. So I'm a little lost. Working as a UI/UX designer doesn't scale unless I create some kind of product or SAAS business. I have a couple ideas that I thought would be cool, one is A/B testing for fashion (think: your girlfriend asking "what should I wear") that returns results in under 10 minutes. The other is a house swapping website for remote workers.
So I feel a little lost, but I'm trying to stay focused and keep to the principles in the book.
Cheers! I look forward to participating and getting to know everybody.
Alex
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Attachments
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
Nott zua vuu
