Hi everyone,
I'm a 50 something year old computer consultant. Not currently self-employed, though I've done that in the past. I used to be a pretty well paid self-employed contract programmer years ago. I was a programmer, contract programmer, manager, director, and then ended up doing non-programming, but still technical work when my wife and I wanted to change geographical regions and I went back to consulting. Years ago, I was involved in a startup, but that came crashing down when the CEO played things too conservatively before the dot com crash. Based on our competitors valuations and my options at the time, I lost tens of millions in money on a company that he never took to the market. The one good thing about that experience though, was that I was high enough and early enough in that company to see how a startup with hundreds of millions in funding was run and the mistakes the CEO made when companies tried to buy us for LOTS of money and he wouldn't even talk to them. He played the all or nothing game and lost. I currently analyze and design large systems for sales trending and analysis.
I'm not in love with the IM world and BRO marketing as MJ calls it. So, while I spent too much time there, trying to figure out what I should do on the internet, I never did buy in as far as producing things that I couldn't sell in good conscience. At the same time, I can still see the power of using social and other online channels to build something legitimate. I have no issue with that at all.
I've known for quite a while, that a productocracy with CENTS type controls is the way to go, but never felt I knew what niche or type of products or services I should concentrate on. Like MJ's restaurant example in Unscripted , I'd look into some things, mostly info product businesses to scale my time, and it seemed like the sharks were already swimming there. So I action faked and really didn't keep putting the effort into defining what I want to do and more importantly, defining real opportunities worth pursuing. I keep coming back to info which seems to always have a sinking margin or tech which always demanded too much of my own time to scale. Basically, I analyzed too long and didn't make any moves at all. Stupid, I know. After reading Unscripted , I'm much more open to looking outside of tech and info.
I have little experience with creating physical products, don't have a lot of cash because of some expensive missteps that I made helping immediate family. Huge lesson learned. I've been digging out of that hole, but it's time to re-build my freedom. I've had a whole lot of experience with my FTE lately and I've realized that there really is no alternative for me. I'll bust if I don't take control of my life again. My parents are deceased and my kids are grown so the fears and excuses that stopped me from taking as many risks as I used to when I was younger have almost all disappeared.
Right now, I'm working on identifying my CENTS type business. I'd rather not have a service that I can't easily scale. I'm getting older. I can feel the stress of not having total control and dealing all day with idiots who really don't understand our systems. I love to work. I can still outwork many, but I do need to see that whatever I'm going to build is going to fit my criteria. I realize that I just don't scale and I've given up too much of my time.
I'm not here expecting anyone to solve my issues, but I was pretty impressed with MJ's line of reasoning in Unscripted . It paralleled many of my own thoughts, but he went deeper in his analysis. So I followed it up by coming here again. I had actually been here a few years ago, but didn't follow through. I assumed it was just another WF. When TMF came out, I just figured it was a get rich quick scam book based on the title and didn't bother reading the book. Now, I've read Unscripted , checked out a number of threads, found myself impressed with the tone of the site, and have found this to be what I was looking for all along. Actual business. No excuses. No IM circle jerk. Some real players. Lots of good thoughts. I like that. As long as I don't end up wasting time here, I'll be good.
I'm a 50 something year old computer consultant. Not currently self-employed, though I've done that in the past. I used to be a pretty well paid self-employed contract programmer years ago. I was a programmer, contract programmer, manager, director, and then ended up doing non-programming, but still technical work when my wife and I wanted to change geographical regions and I went back to consulting. Years ago, I was involved in a startup, but that came crashing down when the CEO played things too conservatively before the dot com crash. Based on our competitors valuations and my options at the time, I lost tens of millions in money on a company that he never took to the market. The one good thing about that experience though, was that I was high enough and early enough in that company to see how a startup with hundreds of millions in funding was run and the mistakes the CEO made when companies tried to buy us for LOTS of money and he wouldn't even talk to them. He played the all or nothing game and lost. I currently analyze and design large systems for sales trending and analysis.
I'm not in love with the IM world and BRO marketing as MJ calls it. So, while I spent too much time there, trying to figure out what I should do on the internet, I never did buy in as far as producing things that I couldn't sell in good conscience. At the same time, I can still see the power of using social and other online channels to build something legitimate. I have no issue with that at all.
I've known for quite a while, that a productocracy with CENTS type controls is the way to go, but never felt I knew what niche or type of products or services I should concentrate on. Like MJ's restaurant example in Unscripted , I'd look into some things, mostly info product businesses to scale my time, and it seemed like the sharks were already swimming there. So I action faked and really didn't keep putting the effort into defining what I want to do and more importantly, defining real opportunities worth pursuing. I keep coming back to info which seems to always have a sinking margin or tech which always demanded too much of my own time to scale. Basically, I analyzed too long and didn't make any moves at all. Stupid, I know. After reading Unscripted , I'm much more open to looking outside of tech and info.
I have little experience with creating physical products, don't have a lot of cash because of some expensive missteps that I made helping immediate family. Huge lesson learned. I've been digging out of that hole, but it's time to re-build my freedom. I've had a whole lot of experience with my FTE lately and I've realized that there really is no alternative for me. I'll bust if I don't take control of my life again. My parents are deceased and my kids are grown so the fears and excuses that stopped me from taking as many risks as I used to when I was younger have almost all disappeared.
Right now, I'm working on identifying my CENTS type business. I'd rather not have a service that I can't easily scale. I'm getting older. I can feel the stress of not having total control and dealing all day with idiots who really don't understand our systems. I love to work. I can still outwork many, but I do need to see that whatever I'm going to build is going to fit my criteria. I realize that I just don't scale and I've given up too much of my time.
I'm not here expecting anyone to solve my issues, but I was pretty impressed with MJ's line of reasoning in Unscripted . It paralleled many of my own thoughts, but he went deeper in his analysis. So I followed it up by coming here again. I had actually been here a few years ago, but didn't follow through. I assumed it was just another WF. When TMF came out, I just figured it was a get rich quick scam book based on the title and didn't bother reading the book. Now, I've read Unscripted , checked out a number of threads, found myself impressed with the tone of the site, and have found this to be what I was looking for all along. Actual business. No excuses. No IM circle jerk. Some real players. Lots of good thoughts. I like that. As long as I don't end up wasting time here, I'll be good.
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