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FASTLANE INSIDER
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Hey Fastlaners!
After having had TMF on my to-read list for several months, I got around to listening to it on Audible.
Really liked the book for its sheer amount of information and straightforward tone.
A lot rang true with me. It opened my eyes to new things, confirmed some of my own thoughts, and it has enticed me to grab life and go for it.
I fully believe in deep-diving and submerging yourself in a community to internalize a mindset, so here's my introductions and some back story.
Nice to meet you!
After having finished college (I live in Europe), working a 9-to-5 job never seemed like an ideal option to me. Instinctively I felt I didn't want to give up my freedom. Consequently, I started freelancing as a software developer.
I ended up working with one client for several years – in hindsight the construction was more of a quasi-regular job – which gave me a good "view behind the curtains" of a company of three veterans launching their own products and earning riches I previously thought impossible. I earned some good savings, and together with two acquaintances decided to start our own company and try our hand at that.
Owning a company felt like a big step, and I'm really glad we decided to take the step and dive in. We worked on our own software package, aiming to launch it "sometime soon", and enjoyed ourselves along the way. The big problem was, of course, that we never did any customer validation. The project didn't bring in any money, and so we also started doing programming work in commission for others, while simultaneously working on our own stuff. "Sometime soon" crept further and further away. This is where doubts started creeping in.
I realized the company was being bifurcated more and more, effectively running two businesses (our own product vs. work for hire), and daily work slowly started to look more like working for a boss. I had read about passive income streams by then, knew that's where I wanted to take things (reading up a lot on customer development and such), but with our work-day split up like that we couldn't really get it to work. In the end, the product did launch and people were interested, but not enough to buy. Our value proposition just wasn't enough.
And right at that moment...a third party offered to buy us out. We took the chance, and I'm glad we did. I don't think we could've gotten the company to work as it was, I got good money out of the deal, and experience as an entrepreneur.
As of now, I'm working 4 days a week for the third party that bought us out. Honestly, it's a great company; the work is fulfilling, I get paid a fair amount and it's fun. In the meantime I got two kids, and the stability has been nice for the past two years. Zero regets. No complaining there. (Which is a deadly trap, I realize.)
And yet, an entrepreneur stirs inside me. I have always felt working 9-to-5 for someone else to earn more money than you to be a stupid deal. I have always been more interested in creating stuff myself than consuming the work of others (writing vs. reading, developing vs. gaming, and so on). And I want to do something meaningful for the world.
When I learned about passive income years, it felt like someone voiced, polished and systematized my thoughts. The same has happened with TMF (thanks, @MJ DeMarco!).
I don’t have any debts, I really don’t like spending money without good reason, but it isn’t going anywhere right now as well.
So, it's time to act. I'm not sure if I'm ready to quit my job right away, but I do see that if I don't get other processes rolling now, then when will I? The idea of spending another 10 years working for a boss may not seem like a bad deal (the work is fun), but it does seem like a waste of time that could've been spent way better. And if some of the success stories of people around here are true...let's say the freedom (and the numbers) are inspiring! ;p
For now, I'd like to get to know the community. Saturate my mind with the fastlane mindset and meet others (maybe find a mentor?). I'm sitting on some money I can use for new ventures and I have had some ideas in the past years, but customer validation isn't my strong point. I have my shortcomings, and I certainly made mistakes with our first company that I desperately want to avoid. Spending time here seems like a good defense to that.
But I'm beyond the point of we'll-wait-and-see.
I'm here to learn and take action.
Nice to meet you!
After having had TMF on my to-read list for several months, I got around to listening to it on Audible.
Really liked the book for its sheer amount of information and straightforward tone.
A lot rang true with me. It opened my eyes to new things, confirmed some of my own thoughts, and it has enticed me to grab life and go for it.
I fully believe in deep-diving and submerging yourself in a community to internalize a mindset, so here's my introductions and some back story.
Nice to meet you!
After having finished college (I live in Europe), working a 9-to-5 job never seemed like an ideal option to me. Instinctively I felt I didn't want to give up my freedom. Consequently, I started freelancing as a software developer.
I ended up working with one client for several years – in hindsight the construction was more of a quasi-regular job – which gave me a good "view behind the curtains" of a company of three veterans launching their own products and earning riches I previously thought impossible. I earned some good savings, and together with two acquaintances decided to start our own company and try our hand at that.
Owning a company felt like a big step, and I'm really glad we decided to take the step and dive in. We worked on our own software package, aiming to launch it "sometime soon", and enjoyed ourselves along the way. The big problem was, of course, that we never did any customer validation. The project didn't bring in any money, and so we also started doing programming work in commission for others, while simultaneously working on our own stuff. "Sometime soon" crept further and further away. This is where doubts started creeping in.
I realized the company was being bifurcated more and more, effectively running two businesses (our own product vs. work for hire), and daily work slowly started to look more like working for a boss. I had read about passive income streams by then, knew that's where I wanted to take things (reading up a lot on customer development and such), but with our work-day split up like that we couldn't really get it to work. In the end, the product did launch and people were interested, but not enough to buy. Our value proposition just wasn't enough.
And right at that moment...a third party offered to buy us out. We took the chance, and I'm glad we did. I don't think we could've gotten the company to work as it was, I got good money out of the deal, and experience as an entrepreneur.
As of now, I'm working 4 days a week for the third party that bought us out. Honestly, it's a great company; the work is fulfilling, I get paid a fair amount and it's fun. In the meantime I got two kids, and the stability has been nice for the past two years. Zero regets. No complaining there. (Which is a deadly trap, I realize.)
And yet, an entrepreneur stirs inside me. I have always felt working 9-to-5 for someone else to earn more money than you to be a stupid deal. I have always been more interested in creating stuff myself than consuming the work of others (writing vs. reading, developing vs. gaming, and so on). And I want to do something meaningful for the world.
When I learned about passive income years, it felt like someone voiced, polished and systematized my thoughts. The same has happened with TMF (thanks, @MJ DeMarco!).
I don’t have any debts, I really don’t like spending money without good reason, but it isn’t going anywhere right now as well.
So, it's time to act. I'm not sure if I'm ready to quit my job right away, but I do see that if I don't get other processes rolling now, then when will I? The idea of spending another 10 years working for a boss may not seem like a bad deal (the work is fun), but it does seem like a waste of time that could've been spent way better. And if some of the success stories of people around here are true...let's say the freedom (and the numbers) are inspiring! ;p
For now, I'd like to get to know the community. Saturate my mind with the fastlane mindset and meet others (maybe find a mentor?). I'm sitting on some money I can use for new ventures and I have had some ideas in the past years, but customer validation isn't my strong point. I have my shortcomings, and I certainly made mistakes with our first company that I desperately want to avoid. Spending time here seems like a good defense to that.
But I'm beyond the point of we'll-wait-and-see.
I'm here to learn and take action.
Nice to meet you!
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