This is way overdue. I've been contributing here and I felt that this was important to write my first post and update my execution to keep myself accountable.
My FTE
1/15/24. That is the day I had a FTE moment. I am coming from an engineering background. The startup that I worked for went down due to external business factors. I've been working the past 10 years building various engineering skills (mechanical, electrical, software). Before my eyes, everything crumble down because I did not have control and I did not care/understand the market and meeting the needs of the customers. My pathetic hope was that I would get my first million from a successful exit and become a full-time entrepreneur not knowing what that looks like.
My wife introduced me to the Millionaire Fastlane, and it was life-changing. I was finally able to see the hamster wheel that I was stuck in. It was the answer to all the frustrations that I had while I was on the slow lane. During this time, I took the freelancing job at a local university lab to support my family. The process of delivering the prototype to the lab confirmed to me that I will always be a slave to time if I don't meet the CENTS commandment. I rejected the offer to join the team for a new spin-off startup, I instead found a lower commitment, low stress job that thankfully pays just enough to keep my family afloat. I am thankful for my wife who is also a partner on this journey and supports the new path 100%
Since last May
I am starting my business from my unfinished basement. I've been spending 2-3 hrs a day (usually 9pm-midnight) dedicated for my fastlane advanture. This is what I've been working on
I finally listed my charm on the market. The product isn't perfect and has some kinks, but I wanted to test the market first. I'm eager to see how the market responds and learn about running ads, SEO, and optimizing website traffic.
This journey may take 5 years or 10 years before I see the fruition. That's okay.The last 6 months feels like a dream. There has been so many ups and downs but I can say for sure that I am in this 100%, and I am learning to enjoy every bit.
So here is the first update. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. There were many nights that I felt really discouraged and alone. I am learning a lot from you all and look forward to contributing to the community.
My FTE
1/15/24. That is the day I had a FTE moment. I am coming from an engineering background. The startup that I worked for went down due to external business factors. I've been working the past 10 years building various engineering skills (mechanical, electrical, software). Before my eyes, everything crumble down because I did not have control and I did not care/understand the market and meeting the needs of the customers. My pathetic hope was that I would get my first million from a successful exit and become a full-time entrepreneur not knowing what that looks like.
My wife introduced me to the Millionaire Fastlane, and it was life-changing. I was finally able to see the hamster wheel that I was stuck in. It was the answer to all the frustrations that I had while I was on the slow lane. During this time, I took the freelancing job at a local university lab to support my family. The process of delivering the prototype to the lab confirmed to me that I will always be a slave to time if I don't meet the CENTS commandment. I rejected the offer to join the team for a new spin-off startup, I instead found a lower commitment, low stress job that thankfully pays just enough to keep my family afloat. I am thankful for my wife who is also a partner on this journey and supports the new path 100%
Since last May
I am starting my business from my unfinished basement. I've been spending 2-3 hrs a day (usually 9pm-midnight) dedicated for my fastlane advanture. This is what I've been working on
- Habitual changes:
- Take care of my body. Healthy eating and regular exercise
- Read regularly
- Plan and execute on the short-term goals [shoutout to GoalSumo.com for helping me structure my thinking and execute]
- Manage business ideas and prioritize on top 2-3 ideas
- I try to write down every time I recognize a need and evaluate the idea based on a metric (which I still update as I learn more)
- Perspective changes
- How to change self-centric thinking to others-centric thinking. Getting rid of "I want to work on cool technology" attitude. Start thinking about "I want to build something that will help people"
- Be thankful for each day
- Stop caring about how I would be perceived and focus on what I can provide
- Execution:
- I've been prioritizing 3 projects and learning AI landscape
- My top project is a simple charm that was targeting a niche market.
- It requires small initial investment (~$100). it costs me $0.40 (selling for $7)
- short hands-on time (~3 min. I was able to write a software to automate a lot of tedious steps and use equipment at a local maker space)
- I am not sure how big the market is going to be. I honestly do not care too much about how big the market is at this point. I just needed to go through the process to learn how selling a product looks like.
- I am also working on 1 hardware / 1 software project but I still need to identify what the product exactly look like and figure out how I will test the market.
- Also trying to look at the newest AI models that are coming out and think about how they can be applied in different untapped markets.
I finally listed my charm on the market. The product isn't perfect and has some kinks, but I wanted to test the market first. I'm eager to see how the market responds and learn about running ads, SEO, and optimizing website traffic.
This journey may take 5 years or 10 years before I see the fruition. That's okay.The last 6 months feels like a dream. There has been so many ups and downs but I can say for sure that I am in this 100%, and I am learning to enjoy every bit.
So here is the first update. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you. There were many nights that I felt really discouraged and alone. I am learning a lot from you all and look forward to contributing to the community.
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