Long time lurker after reading TMF . I wanted to start a thread to keep myself accountable this year and hopefully have a thread that is both a sounding board and a track record for this coming year.
My background: I am 28. I have spent the last 5.5 years working as a trader here in NYC. I have had decent success as a trader (culminating with a near seven figure year last year) but was never satisfied with the lifestyle nor the fact that I was a mere employee. Well that satisfaction did come to a head at the close of this year where after a big political/legal fight with my bank, I parted ways leaving a good 2017 PnL behind which I wasn't comp'd for (still being resolved). After how I was treated even after making money for this organization for the last 5 years I realized all I was was a wage slave (albeit a highly paid one). I vowed to figure out a way to make it on my own and actually walk the talk. Not to mention its emasculating having to think about vacation days.
What I am exploring: There are a few things I am exploring. I decided that I have 3 (relative) advantages as a new entrepreneur vs. others who might be in the same starting square as I am.
1. I understand the risk taking process having successfully done it for 5+ years.
2. I can code and am good with tech.
3. I have a decent bankroll to bet with (nothing to write home about but I have mid six figure to sustain a full sprint towards my own gig as well as test ideas). With no dependents and a lifestyle that can quickly be contracted I feel its a relative advantage vs. the guy/gal with children etc.
So how am I going to use these advantages. Here is what I am doing:
1. I am going on a cross world slog doing recon for physical product trading.
While I have traded pieces of paper, I have never traded actual product (either as a risk taker or an agent). What I mean by physical products is anything from fruits to garments. I plugged into some family connections and will be in Dubai and SE Asia doing recon with people who have done very well shipping all sorts of groups (everything from stock t-shirts to condensed milk). I also have a family contact who is looking for financial modeling help for his RE biz out there which could be a nice freelance gig that pays my monthly nut (extending that bankroll more for more business bets).
2. I have spent the last 3 weeks (as I had down town while dealing with lawyers and planning my trip) setting up mock shopify stores, playing with Facebook ads ( invested a nominal amount to send traffic to a faux-drop ship site and play with the different ad types), and just vacuum in information from blogs, youtube etc. I always found marketing fascinating and while I don't love the drop shipping model (nor do I like these "biz coaches") even if not profitable it will be a good training group for future endeavors.
3. I have streamlined my life to make that bankroll last. I have made a determination that I will not take a job this coming year (2017). The way I see it I have 2 paths: 1) I achieve self sustainable income in which case this year is a success 2) I fail and just live off of savings for one year. That isn't ideal but wouldn't be financially devastating and I always have the fall-back option of business school/going back to finance (YUCK YUCK YUCK).
I will post an update once a week or whenever something notable happens (or whenever you guys want to talk!). Right now I am leaving for the cross world slog in Jan 1st so what I am focusing on is as follows:
a) Doing more research into internet marketing (especially with a physical product angle): For this I am now actually going to reverse engineer which shopify stores are actually working. I am using software on the web to look at traffic of sites that are clearly drop shippers on Facebook to see what sort of stuff is working and see if I can do something in that field.
b) I am reading and exercising. While dealing with lawyers and getting f**k'd (sorry no better term) of a 7/near-7 figure check this year is never fun, on a personal level I haven't felt better. I finally wake up without stressing about some minute trade/deal/strategy issue and have spent the last few weeks working out hard, not eating take out and cooking, and doing tons of reading. Hell, this has motivated to get on the fastlane even more....I won't be able to do the wage slave life after this freedom!
c) Odds and ends before I leave. Moving retirement accounts out, ideally closing the chapter on this legal fight with ex-employer and getting on that plane with a clear slate and a open future.
Really hope to share this journey with you guys this year and contribute more to this group. The future is both exhilarating and terrifying.
My background: I am 28. I have spent the last 5.5 years working as a trader here in NYC. I have had decent success as a trader (culminating with a near seven figure year last year) but was never satisfied with the lifestyle nor the fact that I was a mere employee. Well that satisfaction did come to a head at the close of this year where after a big political/legal fight with my bank, I parted ways leaving a good 2017 PnL behind which I wasn't comp'd for (still being resolved). After how I was treated even after making money for this organization for the last 5 years I realized all I was was a wage slave (albeit a highly paid one). I vowed to figure out a way to make it on my own and actually walk the talk. Not to mention its emasculating having to think about vacation days.
What I am exploring: There are a few things I am exploring. I decided that I have 3 (relative) advantages as a new entrepreneur vs. others who might be in the same starting square as I am.
1. I understand the risk taking process having successfully done it for 5+ years.
2. I can code and am good with tech.
3. I have a decent bankroll to bet with (nothing to write home about but I have mid six figure to sustain a full sprint towards my own gig as well as test ideas). With no dependents and a lifestyle that can quickly be contracted I feel its a relative advantage vs. the guy/gal with children etc.
So how am I going to use these advantages. Here is what I am doing:
1. I am going on a cross world slog doing recon for physical product trading.
While I have traded pieces of paper, I have never traded actual product (either as a risk taker or an agent). What I mean by physical products is anything from fruits to garments. I plugged into some family connections and will be in Dubai and SE Asia doing recon with people who have done very well shipping all sorts of groups (everything from stock t-shirts to condensed milk). I also have a family contact who is looking for financial modeling help for his RE biz out there which could be a nice freelance gig that pays my monthly nut (extending that bankroll more for more business bets).
2. I have spent the last 3 weeks (as I had down town while dealing with lawyers and planning my trip) setting up mock shopify stores, playing with Facebook ads ( invested a nominal amount to send traffic to a faux-drop ship site and play with the different ad types), and just vacuum in information from blogs, youtube etc. I always found marketing fascinating and while I don't love the drop shipping model (nor do I like these "biz coaches") even if not profitable it will be a good training group for future endeavors.
3. I have streamlined my life to make that bankroll last. I have made a determination that I will not take a job this coming year (2017). The way I see it I have 2 paths: 1) I achieve self sustainable income in which case this year is a success 2) I fail and just live off of savings for one year. That isn't ideal but wouldn't be financially devastating and I always have the fall-back option of business school/going back to finance (YUCK YUCK YUCK).
I will post an update once a week or whenever something notable happens (or whenever you guys want to talk!). Right now I am leaving for the cross world slog in Jan 1st so what I am focusing on is as follows:
a) Doing more research into internet marketing (especially with a physical product angle): For this I am now actually going to reverse engineer which shopify stores are actually working. I am using software on the web to look at traffic of sites that are clearly drop shippers on Facebook to see what sort of stuff is working and see if I can do something in that field.
b) I am reading and exercising. While dealing with lawyers and getting f**k'd (sorry no better term) of a 7/near-7 figure check this year is never fun, on a personal level I haven't felt better. I finally wake up without stressing about some minute trade/deal/strategy issue and have spent the last few weeks working out hard, not eating take out and cooking, and doing tons of reading. Hell, this has motivated to get on the fastlane even more....I won't be able to do the wage slave life after this freedom!
c) Odds and ends before I leave. Moving retirement accounts out, ideally closing the chapter on this legal fight with ex-employer and getting on that plane with a clear slate and a open future.
Really hope to share this journey with you guys this year and contribute more to this group. The future is both exhilarating and terrifying.
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