Hey Fastlaners,
I’m starting this progress thread not to pitch a product, showcase fake vanity metrics, or ask for hand-outs. I’m starting it because two years ago, a book from this forum shattered my reality, and 1.5 months ago, a single reply from MJ DeMarco redirected my entire strategy.
I want to document the full spectrum of building an enterprise from scratch—not just the code and marketing, but the mental shifts and the invisible (internal) process that dictates everything happening in the material world.
Here is the raw story, where the execution stands today, and the lessons learned along the way.
At 21, I was living in Canada, broke, smoked out on cannabis every single day, facing a $7,000 tuition debt I couldn't pay as an international student, and getting rejected from basic jobs.
My wake-up call came when my girlfriend at the time left me to move forward with her life. I realized I was living like a zombie. I quit drugs overnight and picked up reading—which was hell at first. 15 minutes of reading made my brain physically tired.
I moved back to Guadeloupe for 6 months, reading a book every two days. That’s when I hit The Millionaire Fastlane. It was a complete cognitive shock. I told my family, "I found the algorithm to freedom," and as usual, they thought I was crazy.
Shortly after, I met a successful female entrepreneur in Paris. After a long conversation, she told me something that stung: "You have many boxes open in your mind, but when I look inside them, they are all empty."
She was right. I had desire, but zero specific, high-leverage knowledge.
I enrolled in a tuition-free university program in France in Applied Mathematics & Computer Science to build real engineering capital. But I fell into a classic trap: the university script. I started telling myself, "I'll finish my Master's, get 5 years of corporate experience, and then I'll start a business." I had buried the urgency.
Then came my FTE.
I was interviewing for an apprenticeship linked to an Airbus contractor. The engineer kept moving the goalposts. First, he told me to master C++. I built a project in C++. Then he said, "Not enough. You have 6 weeks to master full-stack security, databases, and application observability—and by the way, Master's students are competing for this."
I was reading MJ’s Unscripted at the exact same time. Suddenly, the pattern hit me like a sledgehammer: I was playing the obedient horse chasing a carrot dangling from someone else's stick. I was burning myself out just to prove my worth to a gatekeeper who viewed me as cheap labor.
My mind snapped: "F*ck you, bitch. Never again will I let another human being dictate my value or hold the keys to my future."
I walked away.
1.5 months ago, I joined this forum and asked a fundamental question about entry barriers for software. MJ DeMarco replied, pointing me toward Marketing and Customer Service as the true moats.
I went full aggressive on marketing:
The Market Invalidation (Mom Test):
Initially, I assumed tutors needed a tool to generate custom lesson plans faster using AI.
I scraped thousands of comments across tutoring agencies, tutor forums, and parent groups, and conducted direct interviews. My initial hypothesis was completely wrong.
Tutors don't care about AI lesson generation—LLMs already do that for free in seconds. The REAL, unvarnished pain is this: The credibility gap and the inability to prove long-term retention to parents.
Most independent tutors are trapped at the bottom tier ($15–$20/hr), competing against college students and race-to-the-bottom platforms. Meanwhile, elite tutors command $35, $50, or $80+/hr because they deliver undeniable, certified outcomes.
Because parents can't see what happens between exams, average tutors get treated like commodity homework-sitters, leading to high parent churn (after 6–8 weeks) and keeping them locked at student-level rates ($15–$20/hr).
Current Roadmap:
Execution is only the material output of what happens internally. If your internal state is chaotic, your business will reflect that chaos.
Here are the core internal micro-processes that keep me anchored:
I’d love to open the floor and get feedback from entrepreneurs who have walked this path:
I’ll be updating this thread regularly with real execution data, beta feedback, and breakthroughs.
Let’s build.
— Jey
I’m starting this progress thread not to pitch a product, showcase fake vanity metrics, or ask for hand-outs. I’m starting it because two years ago, a book from this forum shattered my reality, and 1.5 months ago, a single reply from MJ DeMarco redirected my entire strategy.
I want to document the full spectrum of building an enterprise from scratch—not just the code and marketing, but the mental shifts and the invisible (internal) process that dictates everything happening in the material world.
Here is the raw story, where the execution stands today, and the lessons learned along the way.
1. THE ORIGIN & THE FTE (F*ck This Event)
At 21, I was living in Canada, broke, smoked out on cannabis every single day, facing a $7,000 tuition debt I couldn't pay as an international student, and getting rejected from basic jobs.
My wake-up call came when my girlfriend at the time left me to move forward with her life. I realized I was living like a zombie. I quit drugs overnight and picked up reading—which was hell at first. 15 minutes of reading made my brain physically tired.
I moved back to Guadeloupe for 6 months, reading a book every two days. That’s when I hit The Millionaire Fastlane. It was a complete cognitive shock. I told my family, "I found the algorithm to freedom," and as usual, they thought I was crazy.
Shortly after, I met a successful female entrepreneur in Paris. After a long conversation, she told me something that stung: "You have many boxes open in your mind, but when I look inside them, they are all empty."
She was right. I had desire, but zero specific, high-leverage knowledge.
I enrolled in a tuition-free university program in France in Applied Mathematics & Computer Science to build real engineering capital. But I fell into a classic trap: the university script. I started telling myself, "I'll finish my Master's, get 5 years of corporate experience, and then I'll start a business." I had buried the urgency.
Then came my FTE.
I was interviewing for an apprenticeship linked to an Airbus contractor. The engineer kept moving the goalposts. First, he told me to master C++. I built a project in C++. Then he said, "Not enough. You have 6 weeks to master full-stack security, databases, and application observability—and by the way, Master's students are competing for this."
I was reading MJ’s Unscripted at the exact same time. Suddenly, the pattern hit me like a sledgehammer: I was playing the obedient horse chasing a carrot dangling from someone else's stick. I was burning myself out just to prove my worth to a gatekeeper who viewed me as cheap labor.
My mind snapped: "F*ck you, bitch. Never again will I let another human being dictate my value or hold the keys to my future."
I walked away.
2. THE MATERIAL PROCESS: 85% BACKEND (STEALTH MODE) & MARKET TRUTHS
1.5 months ago, I joined this forum and asked a fundamental question about entry barriers for software. MJ DeMarco replied, pointing me toward Marketing and Customer Service as the true moats.
I went full aggressive on marketing:
- Over 30 days, I synthesized 20+ foundational marketing books (Ogilvy, Hopkins, Schwartz, Kurtz, Dunford, Kennedy).
- Using data analysis principles from my degree, I cross-referenced core concepts, stripped away the fluff, and built my own execution masterclass.
- I built 85% of the backend architecture for a proprietary B2B STEM Pedagogical Telemetry Infrastructure.
The Market Invalidation (Mom Test):
Initially, I assumed tutors needed a tool to generate custom lesson plans faster using AI.
I scraped thousands of comments across tutoring agencies, tutor forums, and parent groups, and conducted direct interviews. My initial hypothesis was completely wrong.
Tutors don't care about AI lesson generation—LLMs already do that for free in seconds. The REAL, unvarnished pain is this: The credibility gap and the inability to prove long-term retention to parents.
Most independent tutors are trapped at the bottom tier ($15–$20/hr), competing against college students and race-to-the-bottom platforms. Meanwhile, elite tutors command $35, $50, or $80+/hr because they deliver undeniable, certified outcomes.
Because parents can't see what happens between exams, average tutors get treated like commodity homework-sitters, leading to high parent churn (after 6–8 weeks) and keeping them locked at student-level rates ($15–$20/hr).
Current Roadmap:
- Oct 15 – Nov 15: Source a cohort of 20 beta-tester STEM tutors for a 30-day trial.
- Nov 15 – Dec 15: Live testing phase, stress testing, gathering feedback on willingness to pay.
- Jan 2027: Official commercial launch.
3. THE INVISIBLE PROCESS: MENTAL & SPIRITUAL ALIGNMENT
Execution is only the material output of what happens internally. If your internal state is chaotic, your business will reflect that chaos.
Here are the core internal micro-processes that keep me anchored:
- Disidentifying from Thoughts: Ever since my 2021 wake-up call, I sit in complete silence every morning and evening for 15–20 minutes. I don't "meditate to feel good"—I observe thoughts rising and falling without identifying with them. It destroyed my reactive ego, my explosive anger, and my need to "prove" myself to others.
- Constructive Imagination (Release Your Brakes! by James W. Newman): The conscious cortex only processes ~40 bits of information per second, while the emotional/subconscious brain processes 11 Million bits. Every decision is made emotionally and rationalized logically later. I use targeted visualization and daily emotional alignment—not as "magic," but to re-wire my nervous system to feel the emotion of the goal achieved before it manifests physically.
- The Power of the Micro-Process: True success isn't an event; it's the compounding of unglamorous micro-processes. If you ignore the daily discipline, any sudden success will vanish just as fast as it came.
4. COMMUNITY DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
I’d love to open the floor and get feedback from entrepreneurs who have walked this path:
- Beta Sourcing: For those who built B2B SaaS/Infrastructure, what was your most effective, non-spammy strategy for getting your first 20 active beta testers on board?
- Architecture & Hosting: Any hard-learned lessons regarding server infrastructure and data telemetry hosting when scaling early user tracking?
- Daily Rules: What is ONE marketing or mental rule you strictly apply in your daily execution?
- Your Micro-Processes: What is the daily micro-process that keeps you locked into the Fastlane when the material world isn't showing immediate results yet?
I’ll be updating this thread regularly with real execution data, beta feedback, and breakthroughs.
Let’s build.
— Jey
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