From Entrepreneur To Software Engineer Back to Entrepreneur...

[camden]

Hey Fastlaners,

First and foremost, what a place! I absolutely love this forum, this might be the purest place on the internet.

I read The Millionaire Fastlane maybe 12 years ago or more and a couple of times in between. I've also read Great Rat Race and Unscripted . Been a long time member of the forum (possibly under another avatar) but only popping my head in once in a blue moon before going back to my 'pursuit of happiness' so please accept my lurker status justification.

After years of learning, building, leading, failing forward, and leveling up, I’m finally stepping into the arena again.

My entrepreneurial journey started back in 2008 when I launched a window cleaning business as a young twenty-something. Within two years, that grew into a contract cleaning company with large commercial clients and a 12-person team. After another 2 years, I exited selling the company for 5 figures.

Back then, I got tired of the constant hand-holding and unreliability that came with running a cleaning crew. I craved working with more capable, self-driven people.

Anyway, I was young and naïvely assumed, “If I can do that, surely tech will be just as easy.”
(Spoiler: it wasn’t.)

From 2012 to now, I’ve been on a deep dive into business, technology, and marketing. I chased a few shiny objects early on, internet marketing, web design, failed SaaS ideas, but found something real in the intersection of business systems, marketing psychology, and digital products. I became obsessed with the idea that I could build something digital, plug in a system, and extract money on autopilot. That obsession never left.

Meanwhile, I studied music production at university, where I funded my life by becoming the top-rated handyman on TaskRabbit in West London. When I moved out of London (no TaskRabbit coverage), I built my own Stripe-powered booking system that let me complete jobs and then charge cards post-job, keeping control of reviews, payments, and client experience.

Then COVID hit. I took the opportunity to build a recording studio (we're talking professional specification here) and taught myself to code, properly. From there, the rabbit hole deepened.

Fast forward: I won a bursary, trained as an electrician, completed the full qualification stack, and went from zero to most qualified on the team in just over two years.

That’s when a pivotal opportunity landed. A friend who got me into web design years prior landed a client who wanted to scale their MVP into a production grade web app. I joined as a developer… but quickly became the one bringing order to the chaos. Systematizing, structuring, leading.

Soon I was project lead, managing the dev team, designers, and marketers — and, ironically, my friend’s boss. It was a tough call to accept that role. I actually turned it down three times… but the offer kept increasing, and eventually, logic outweighed loyalty.

My impact was immediate, but many of the client’s initiatives were sporadic and ungrounded, with no clear strategy or path to sustainability... which is why I’d been hesitant to take the role in the first place. I improved what I could, and eventually convinced the client to pursue a more realistic opportunity that actually had the potential to become a viable business.

Over time, I found myself avoiding client interactions altogether. It became clear there was little value in trying to reason with someone so well-resourced they no longer had to make grounded decisions. Eventually, the client got frustrated, and we agreed I’d focus purely on tech and development while they took the reins elsewhere.

Honestly, I was fine with that. I took the role knowing it was a no-win situation, but someone had to steady the ship.

So currently, I remain the architect, tech lead, and primary problem solver. The client still relies on me, albeit reluctantly. For me, the real reward has been the team. Being able to bring clarity, consistency, and a culture they could actually thrive in. What's even nicer is that every one of them has said the same thing - it’s time I captain my own ship!

So here I am.
At a crossroads.
Ready to commit to my own vision.

My Struggle Right Now.

The better I’ve gotten at engineering and architecture, the more it has muted my entrepreneurial fire.

I used to act fast, test ideas, iterate. Now I overthink. I see how things should be done and it stops me from just doing them.

The curse of knowing too much.

I’ve spent the last decade learning marketing, coding, systems, team management, sales - but not shipping. The perfectionism has crept in. I’ve been building someone else’s vision, holding back my own.

That changes now.

I’m here to surround myself with other action-takers — to share what I know, learn what I’m missing, and commit to finally building and owning my own product again.

If you’ve battled the curse of technical overthinking…
If you’ve felt the weight of perfectionism kill momentum…
Or if you’ve gone from founder to passenger…

Let’s connect.
This time, I’m in it for me.

Thanks for reading!

P.S If anyone is enjoying Claude Code as much as me or wants to nerd out on just how much of a game changer this thing is in terms of product development and turnaround, feel free to reach out, comment or message me.

 

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