User Power
Value/Post Ratio
122%
- Apr 16, 2019
- 9
- 11
Hello everyone,
I'm a guy from Romania and I always liked to defy people's expectations about me. I guess that's how I got to where I am now... which is having a decent life by any Western standard, 2 young kids, just a little debt and some time to spare.
You see I grew up a fat kid in a poor family in a very poor communist country. The only thing I could appreciate while growing up was reading books and having a computer before everyone else.
I was going to the school in my neighbourhood and somehow in 7th grade I decided to go to the best high school in town, mainly because it had computer classes. By this time, the communist regime fell and I wanted to study computers. So I did the unthinkable, I prepared for the tough admission and got in!
I expected to find a lot of like minded kid there, but no! Many were just normal high school kids, mainly from richer families. This is where I learned about networking, appearances, and that you can choose how to respond to anything that is coming at you. I also dreamed of starting my own software company, although I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I found a few kids that were doing graphics and we worked to make some demos. Just for fun.
While on the last year, I decided I would not be fat anymore. So through a combination of not eating so much and playing sports, I lost about 50 pounds and became "normal" - and boy was I ecstatic! My parents bought me my first suit at this point, and I liked how people saw me differently. I was building confidence.
Next up I got into a good university to study Electrical Engineering, all paid by the government. All I knew was some math, some programming, how to look nice and clean, and how to back it up with confidence.
Long story short, I also started studying really seriously and landed an opportunity to study abroad. At least that's what the typical good student dreamed of, as a way out of the country. This was immediately after the dot com crash, and there was little opportunity as a software guy in Romania. So I went to a Western European country, studied and landed a job, which soon proved very disappointing. I had just met THE SCRIPT...
Meanwhile in Romania, things were heating up, a lot of American and European companies setting up shop, so I felt left out. For the first time in my life I felt that I was on the wrong side of the equation. I also stumbled upon Rich Dad Poor Dad and it opened my eyes to some basic principles.
So I decided to get back to my country, to follow the opportunities. No plan whatsoever. Housing market already topping up, just like in the US. I believe I was lucky when it all came crashing down, as I had no job, no debt, and I had just inherited a small apartment.
I was a Wantrepreneur at this point, I was looking for schemes, but nothing was particularly working out, so finally after a few months I gave up and got a job. This was more than 10 years ago, and I had learned a bit about accounting and how things worked behind the scenes. I was still dreaming of my software company, but still had no plan, no idea what it would be. Maybe gaming?
Anyway, I was again lucky to have a job that did not consume all of my time, and I started learning more business related skills. Also got married, had kids... I could only dream of such a life when I was in high school! (remember? I was the poor & fat kid)
But the past 2 years, I think the "crisis" hit me -- is this all there is to it? Am I back on the SCRIPT? I ran away from it only to find it again? I started trying a few more "wantrepreneur" schemes, but without much focus. And some day about a week ago I found the Fastlane book and it hit me like a brick.
Now I narrowed it down to ONE application that I want to launch. It's a better issue tracker and I will give it my full effort.
I'm a guy from Romania and I always liked to defy people's expectations about me. I guess that's how I got to where I am now... which is having a decent life by any Western standard, 2 young kids, just a little debt and some time to spare.
You see I grew up a fat kid in a poor family in a very poor communist country. The only thing I could appreciate while growing up was reading books and having a computer before everyone else.
I was going to the school in my neighbourhood and somehow in 7th grade I decided to go to the best high school in town, mainly because it had computer classes. By this time, the communist regime fell and I wanted to study computers. So I did the unthinkable, I prepared for the tough admission and got in!
I expected to find a lot of like minded kid there, but no! Many were just normal high school kids, mainly from richer families. This is where I learned about networking, appearances, and that you can choose how to respond to anything that is coming at you. I also dreamed of starting my own software company, although I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I found a few kids that were doing graphics and we worked to make some demos. Just for fun.
While on the last year, I decided I would not be fat anymore. So through a combination of not eating so much and playing sports, I lost about 50 pounds and became "normal" - and boy was I ecstatic! My parents bought me my first suit at this point, and I liked how people saw me differently. I was building confidence.
Next up I got into a good university to study Electrical Engineering, all paid by the government. All I knew was some math, some programming, how to look nice and clean, and how to back it up with confidence.
Long story short, I also started studying really seriously and landed an opportunity to study abroad. At least that's what the typical good student dreamed of, as a way out of the country. This was immediately after the dot com crash, and there was little opportunity as a software guy in Romania. So I went to a Western European country, studied and landed a job, which soon proved very disappointing. I had just met THE SCRIPT...
Meanwhile in Romania, things were heating up, a lot of American and European companies setting up shop, so I felt left out. For the first time in my life I felt that I was on the wrong side of the equation. I also stumbled upon Rich Dad Poor Dad and it opened my eyes to some basic principles.
So I decided to get back to my country, to follow the opportunities. No plan whatsoever. Housing market already topping up, just like in the US. I believe I was lucky when it all came crashing down, as I had no job, no debt, and I had just inherited a small apartment.
I was a Wantrepreneur at this point, I was looking for schemes, but nothing was particularly working out, so finally after a few months I gave up and got a job. This was more than 10 years ago, and I had learned a bit about accounting and how things worked behind the scenes. I was still dreaming of my software company, but still had no plan, no idea what it would be. Maybe gaming?
Anyway, I was again lucky to have a job that did not consume all of my time, and I started learning more business related skills. Also got married, had kids... I could only dream of such a life when I was in high school! (remember? I was the poor & fat kid)
But the past 2 years, I think the "crisis" hit me -- is this all there is to it? Am I back on the SCRIPT? I ran away from it only to find it again? I started trying a few more "wantrepreneur" schemes, but without much focus. And some day about a week ago I found the Fastlane book and it hit me like a brick.
Now I narrowed it down to ONE application that I want to launch. It's a better issue tracker and I will give it my full effort.
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