Introduction

[MarcusRich]

Hello fastlaners,

I am a software developer, father, husband, and espiring/partial entrepreneur. I grew up in Chicago and in extreme poverty. I was fortunate to have an older sibling who was a programmer who got me into the field early and I developed a passion for it. I graduated college in 2011 and quickly became a victim of finally middle class entrenching myself in the slow lane. Fortunately, I am fairly skilled at my work and did side jobs and quickly out earned my need for things. When that happened I paid off all my debts and started to build up funding. From that position I started to invest in real estate. Recently sold an extra property that was not cash flowing particularly well for 2x what I put into it. (this housing market is nuts and I'm looking forward to the current administration causing so much destruction I can pick up some further property for cheap). I have enough money to not work but I still work 2 jobs (I tried to retire but my baggage makes it hard to not have an income other than dividends and cashflows). I am not sure exactly why I keep working other than I like having the money for investments and opportunities ready but really I think I am still harboring insecurities from being homeless as a child in Chicago. I have always dreamed of being an entrapenour and bring value to people that were in similar situations to myself. My site and apps to explain "McJobs" and "consumer traps" to children will be my first real attempts at giving value to people. I don't really know what else to say as I don't want to go to deep into my personal life. Excited to be on this journey with you all.

Regards,
Marcus

 

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[Nate_34]

Hello fastlaners,

I am a software developer, father, husband, and espiring/partial entrepreneur. I grew up in Chicago and in extreme poverty. I was fortunate to have an older sibling who was a programmer who got me into the field early and I developed a passion for it. I graduated college in 2011 and quickly became a victim of finally middle class entrenching myself in the slow lane. Fortunately, I am fairly skilled at my work and did side jobs and quickly out earned my need for things. When that happened I paid off all my debts and started to build up funding. From that position I started to invest in real estate. Recently sold an extra property that was not cash flowing particularly well for 2x what I put into it. (this housing market is nuts and I'm looking forward to the current administration causing so much destruction I can pick up some further property for cheap). I have enough money to not work but I still work 2 jobs (I tried to retire but my baggage makes it hard to not have an income other than dividends and cashflows). I am not sure exactly why I keep working other than I like having the money for investments and opportunities ready but really I think I am still harboring insecurities from being homeless as a child in Chicago. I have always dreamed of being an entrapenour and bring value to people that were in similar situations to myself. My site and apps to explain "McJobs" and "consumer traps" to children will be my first real attempts at giving value to people. I don't really know what else to say as I don't want to go to deep into my personal life. Excited to be on this journey with you all.


What did your brother do to inspire a love of coding in you? How did you start? What would you say to kids growing up in similar circumstances? Congrats on your success. I hope to read more about your story. Welcome to the forum. ~Nate

 

[Ronnie Bryan]

Hello fastlaners,

I am a software developer, father, husband, and espiring/partial entrepreneur. I grew up in Chicago and in extreme poverty. I was fortunate to have an older sibling who was a programmer who got me into the field early and I developed a passion for it. I graduated college in 2011 and quickly became a victim of finally middle class entrenching myself in the slow lane. Fortunately, I am fairly skilled at my work and did side jobs and quickly out earned my need for things. When that happened I paid off all my debts and started to build up funding. From that position I started to invest in real estate. Recently sold an extra property that was not cash flowing particularly well for 2x what I put into it. (this housing market is nuts and I'm looking forward to the current administration causing so much destruction I can pick up some further property for cheap). I have enough money to not work but I still work 2 jobs (I tried to retire but my baggage makes it hard to not have an income other than dividends and cashflows). I am not sure exactly why I keep working other than I like having the money for investments and opportunities ready but really I think I am still harboring insecurities from being homeless as a child in Chicago. I have always dreamed of being an entrapenour and bring value to people that were in similar situations to myself. My site and apps to explain "McJobs" and "consumer traps" to children will be my first real attempts at giving value to people. I don't really know what else to say as I don't want to go to deep into my personal life. Excited to be on this journey with you all.

Regards,
Marcus

Welcome Marcus, glad to have you here.

 

[MarcusRich]

Nate-

What did your brother do to inspire a love of coding in you?
At first he showed me the "banner" command in unix. Then he wiped up a quick text based game for me in a few hours and I was hooked. The fact he could make a computer game and I enjoyed it immediately made a big impact on me. Then he was also making six figures at the time Early 2000's and that was much nicer than the situation I was in.

How did you start?
My brother reclaimed an old unix box and let me have it. Naturally I didn't get good at programming until I was in my teen years but I was addicted to making things.

What would you say to kids growing up in similar circumstances?
Don't let the culture you're in define how for you can go and what you can do. Using race, age, religion, sex, etc as an excuse is a weak mindset that will keep you stuck in the hole.

 

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[Nate_34]

Thanks for the response, Marcus.

What an amazing experience to have had with your brother. I can see why it left such an impression. He must be very proud of you and your success.

Do you feel like your insecurities drove you to be successful? Do you feel like they keep you from being happy with what you've achieved?

I was homeless for a period of time as a child. I never spoke of it until I was in my mid-thirties. The shame of it was such a burden... I feel like I wasted a lot of energy carrying secrets and it placed a barrier between me and others. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to relax and accept that everything is "ok."

 

[MarcusRich]

Thanks for the response, Marcus.

What an amazing experience to have had with your brother. I can see why it left such an impression. He must be very proud of you and your success.

Do you feel like your insecurities drove you to be successful? Do you feel like they keep you from being happy with what you've achieved?

I was homeless for a period of time as a child. I never spoke of it until I was in my mid-thirties. The shame of it was such a burden... I feel like I wasted a lot of energy carrying secrets and it placed a barrier between me and others. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to relax and accept that everything is "ok."

Nate, I am sorry to hear we have had to deal with some similar struggles and I know the impact it had on me was very similar. I still talk to my wife about how it felt as a kid in inner city Chicago and not getting any help. Specifically I remember going a few days without food and being at school and not being allowed into the "free lunch" program because at my school it was a minority first program and even though being a young white kid in inner city Chicago is about the definition of being a minority that is not how the government saw it.

Anyway, before I get to deep into my history let me address your questions.
Firstly, absolutely, to a point. What I mean by that was it drove me to find a way to become throughly middle class. I was absolutely driven to find a "six figure" role and buy anything I wanted and have security. I was able to do that and did do some stupid things with money at first. However, knowing my mom is still living paycheck to paycheck I saw the trap and consumer debt for what it was. That was also around the time I read my first finance/role shattering book. While I wish it had been TMF it was Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Which I used a lot of RK's methods and advice to build my real estate portfolio and cash flow enough to no ever need a job. I still work as my past has created this toxic compilation to have free spending capital from working that I can invest to build my empire faster but I feel the loss of life force every day.

Your second question is really hard. Happiness is fleeting. I do not define my life by happiness or moments. I want to create an impact that justifies the suffering of my life. I feel like the insecurities around my past did give me this type of perspective and would probably qualify as preventing happiness to some extent. I enjoy Jordan Petersons academic works and he said something that really stuck with me. Everyone you know is going to die. Your life will contain profound suffering and pain. What really defines a life is the impact and value that made the suffering worth while.

I still think about that daily and heard it 4-5 years ago.

Now to expound a bit more on my mindset. I have a wife and son. Every day I get up and we are financially secure and that is a great feeling. Having f*ck you money has enabled me to leave a TON of stress at the door. That said, having felt what real hunger is I decided two things would be my life mission. The first would be to build an empire so that my son and any of his descendants provided I set up the structures and assets correctly will never know what it feels like to be hungry. The second is to make enough impact with kids in this situation that it changes from "I will never get out of this and I wish I had never been born" to "I can't wait till I am old enough to change the world and life unscripted "