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Hi, Everyone!
I’m Tom, I’m a blockchain consultant and (so far failing) entrepreneur. I’m looking for advice from more experienced minds and since I don’t have anyone to ask, I decided to give the forum a shot. It’s going to be a bit long but I wanted to give you as much info as possible to be able to understand my situation and what I'm asking for. Especially when I'm not sure if even I understand myself.
The background.
In 2017 (27yo at the time), my life took a significant turn when I learned about Blockchain and Fastlane. Both of these things were standing for the values so dear to me: independence, privacy, empowering an individual. I created an exit plan from my web development job and a few months after reading MJ’s book I quit and started my blockchain career as a freelancer/consultant.
I think I did ok on my own but no major successes though, well, mostly failures. I created two companies, both failed spectacularly but as a side effect I’ve built a pretty nice consulting career as Blockchain Consultant. It’s funny but I feel like these two big failures made me a really good consultant even though I’m a huge introvert.
I really enjoy building stuff on the blockchain. The problem is, there is no money in it at the moment. What I mean is, I don’t think there is true blockchain company in the world that is profitable right now and if so, there is only a handful of them globally. It's just so early, infrastructure isn't ready.
During the last 4 years I did the following in circles. Work as a consultant for a few months, make some money, quit consulting and co-found a company, fail, spend all my savings in the process, and go back to consulting. Right now, I’m at my third cycle where I started building another blockchain product.
Consulting makes me quite some money, and I didn't even plan for it. I was forced to make a living so I started freelancing on upwork. It turns out I'm really good at it and it'd make me a good living if I focused on it. The problem is it's almost the same as 9-5 job (still selling my time). Also, for one contract/client I enjoy working with, I get ten B.S. jobs that I hate.
The problem.
I truly believe in blockchain and I want to build products with it. I want to detach my time from my income but so far I’ve only succeeded in selling my time as a freelancer/consultant. I feel that my current way of doing things (make money on consulting and spend it on building products) is not working well for me. Building blockchain products take a long time especially if you work in small teams or alone. When I choose to decline contracts so I can focus on my product, I’m jeopardizing my progress with the consulting business. When I need to do consulting because my savings are gone I need to put extra effort to undo the damage I did previously. Also, when I work on a contract, I focus 100% on my client (I can’t help it) and that hurts (or even kills) my side hustle. As a result, I neither succeed in my business nor my consulting.
The question.
I’m torn right now. I want to focus on my blockchain project but I need income. I’m starting to think that I should change my focus to solving some common problems that people have no matter what it is or if it’s related to blockchain. Or maybe just focus on consulting since for some reason it’s quite easy for me. At the same time I’m thinking, what if that blockchain product will work? What if I can support myself doing what I really like?
I’m stuck, I don’t know which way to go and have no one to advise me. Hell, I don't even know if this is a real problem or I just got spoilt. I have no entrepreneurs around me and I’m so in my echo chamber that I feel like any outside voice would be refreshing. Feel free to write your thoughts, I could really use some honest feedback.
I’m Tom, I’m a blockchain consultant and (so far failing) entrepreneur. I’m looking for advice from more experienced minds and since I don’t have anyone to ask, I decided to give the forum a shot. It’s going to be a bit long but I wanted to give you as much info as possible to be able to understand my situation and what I'm asking for. Especially when I'm not sure if even I understand myself.
The background.
In 2017 (27yo at the time), my life took a significant turn when I learned about Blockchain and Fastlane. Both of these things were standing for the values so dear to me: independence, privacy, empowering an individual. I created an exit plan from my web development job and a few months after reading MJ’s book I quit and started my blockchain career as a freelancer/consultant.
I think I did ok on my own but no major successes though, well, mostly failures. I created two companies, both failed spectacularly but as a side effect I’ve built a pretty nice consulting career as Blockchain Consultant. It’s funny but I feel like these two big failures made me a really good consultant even though I’m a huge introvert.
I really enjoy building stuff on the blockchain. The problem is, there is no money in it at the moment. What I mean is, I don’t think there is true blockchain company in the world that is profitable right now and if so, there is only a handful of them globally. It's just so early, infrastructure isn't ready.
During the last 4 years I did the following in circles. Work as a consultant for a few months, make some money, quit consulting and co-found a company, fail, spend all my savings in the process, and go back to consulting. Right now, I’m at my third cycle where I started building another blockchain product.
Consulting makes me quite some money, and I didn't even plan for it. I was forced to make a living so I started freelancing on upwork. It turns out I'm really good at it and it'd make me a good living if I focused on it. The problem is it's almost the same as 9-5 job (still selling my time). Also, for one contract/client I enjoy working with, I get ten B.S. jobs that I hate.
The problem.
I truly believe in blockchain and I want to build products with it. I want to detach my time from my income but so far I’ve only succeeded in selling my time as a freelancer/consultant. I feel that my current way of doing things (make money on consulting and spend it on building products) is not working well for me. Building blockchain products take a long time especially if you work in small teams or alone. When I choose to decline contracts so I can focus on my product, I’m jeopardizing my progress with the consulting business. When I need to do consulting because my savings are gone I need to put extra effort to undo the damage I did previously. Also, when I work on a contract, I focus 100% on my client (I can’t help it) and that hurts (or even kills) my side hustle. As a result, I neither succeed in my business nor my consulting.
The question.
I’m torn right now. I want to focus on my blockchain project but I need income. I’m starting to think that I should change my focus to solving some common problems that people have no matter what it is or if it’s related to blockchain. Or maybe just focus on consulting since for some reason it’s quite easy for me. At the same time I’m thinking, what if that blockchain product will work? What if I can support myself doing what I really like?
I’m stuck, I don’t know which way to go and have no one to advise me. Hell, I don't even know if this is a real problem or I just got spoilt. I have no entrepreneurs around me and I’m so in my echo chamber that I feel like any outside voice would be refreshing. Feel free to write your thoughts, I could really use some honest feedback.
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