The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success
  • SPONSORED: GiganticWebsites.com: We Build Sites with THOUSANDS of Unique and Genuinely Useful Articles

    30% to 50% Fastlane-exclusive discounts on WordPress-powered websites with everything included: WordPress setup, design, keyword research, article creation and article publishing. Click HERE to claim.

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 90,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

New 18 year old entrepreneur here!

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Hey everyone,

I have been lurking around the forum for about a week now. I have been getting to know some of you from your posts and teaching myself some great new things in the process. The wealth of information here is amazing. I hope that I can both contribute and find answers to questions on these forums (I have no doubt about both :cheers:
).

To start off, I live in Schaumburg, Illinois...about 20 minutes outside of Chicago. The craziest coincidence that baffled me while I was lurking through this forum (and checking out MJ's Myspace page) is that MJ went to the same high school (James B. Conant) that I graduated from a week and a half ago! Truly a small world. I want to move to Arizona when I am all done with college (I know...I am a mini MJ haha). The main reason I want to move there is because my grandma lives in a beautiful Scottsdale subdivision right next to Pinnacle Peak. I love AZ more every time I visit (should be out there this August I think...I'm preparing for the 110 degree mark already).


JOBS:


I started working when I was thirteen years old because all I wanted to do was buy myself a car when I turned 16. My first place of employment was the River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst, IL as a Caddie. I met a lot of prominent business men during my three summers at River Forest. I learned things that you can never get out of a classroom. And at the end of it all, I purchased the 1997 Eagle Talon Tsi I had always wanted with my own cash:

NFrontRight.jpg

When I finally turned 16 I wanted to get out into the real workplace. I held many jobs in retail/sales. I worked at: IKEA
Express for Men
The Great Indoors (Commissioned flatscreen sales)
TCF BANK (I learned a lot at this job)


During November 2006 while I was employed at The Great Indoors, I came out to Scottsdale to visit my grandmother. I took a trip over to Scottsdale Infiniti to check out my (affordable) dream car, a 2003 Nissan 350z. Once I drove it, I couldn't leave AZ without it:

l_253027e5e7ef74d89d9fc9c9ff56a0f3.jpg

I realize that I was an idiot to waste money on these cars a few years back, but I didn't know better. I was 16 at the time and all I saw was my mojo growing :iamwithstupid:.


I never regret anything though. And having the cars was a little taste of paradise. I was in the Jr. Fastlane I guess you could say.

The 5th and final place that I work at and worked at last summer is the Chicago law firm Bollinger Ruberry and Garvey (www.brg-law.net). My mom is an attorney and she is good friends with Mr. Ruberry. He has taken me under his wing and I have learned things that most people need to go through four years of college and three years of law school to learn.

I love learning. I read constantly. If I don't know something, I internet ninja search it and I find it out.

SCHOOL:

As I previously stated I just graduated from James B. Conant High School. I was planning on going to Villanova next year (my neighbor is an Alumni and he wanted me to go as well, I will get into more detail about him later) but I decided I didn't want to go that far away. I decided a bit too late though because I had already turned down Indiana University and UofI at Champagne.

Everything worked out though and I will be attending the University of Iowa in August of 2008.

BUSINESS VENTURES:

Even as a little kid I was always setting up companies. Law mowing services, tattoo "parlor" (sharpie markers), lemonade stands, etc etc. These were the best because they were Tax sheltered haha.

My serious business ventures are a Non-for-profit organization on environmental awareness (website currently under construction), and an investment website (which is also in development). The non-for-profit has already turned a profit though from the 300 tee-shirts I sold out in the first hour I had them at school. The money is going back into the company for server space and more tee-shirts/ prize giveaways. I am also working on getting grants from the state to award to great volunteers for college.

I have a million other ideas for eBusinesses, and not just "Oh, this might work ideas." I am constantly brainstorming.


FUTURE PLANS:

-Rule the world. (Kidding, haha)

On a more serious note, I plan to build my online companies while I am in college. If the companies do well enough to allow me to being investing in real estate, then I will do that straight out of college. If the companies tank, then I plan on getting my law degree and working in a corporate firm until I build the proper equity to get the hell out of the firm and into commercial developments in real estate.

The reason I like real estate so much is because of my neighbor, Robert. Robert is a very, very successful individual. He and his father in-law started a business that mass packages things like golf-balls, gum, razors, and other various companies.

Robert is a close family friend of ours. He is the nicest guy I have probably ever met. He is not at all arrogant. He is always willing to teach me and help others. I have a great respect for him.

Robert is 43 now, and he owns a Commercial Real Estate company here in Chicago. It started off as something small to keep him busy because he was retired. After a couple of years though, the company has done very well. This is one of the major reasons I want to get into Commercial Real Estate developments. I love it.

I apologize for the extremely lengthy introduction. I was trying to be as personal and descriptive as possible :smxG:. I am very glad I found these forums and I thank MJ for starting them. I look forward to talking to everyone here and having a great time :cheers:.

Very Truly,

-Alex
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

australianinvestor

Bronze Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
22%
Aug 4, 2007
467
104
Australia
That's one of the best intro's I've seen so far. As I'm sure you're aware, there is a reputation points system here which results in the speed limit signs underneath our usernames.

You've got some instant speed from me for your well-written intro.

Welcome to the forum :)

Daniel.
 

Analyzer

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
28%
Aug 31, 2007
244
69
Portugal, Europe
Great intro :eusa_clap:

Seems like your real goal is to work with/learn from your friend Robert. Why dont't you try to start that now? (possibly while at the same time going to college, developing the online projects, etc.). You're obviously very motivated so I'm guessing Robert would be happy to have you working with him.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Runum

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
101%
Aug 8, 2007
6,222
6,309
DFW, Texas
Welcome to the fastlane. Great intro. ++++speed.:fastlane:
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Great motivation you have there. Keep it up and soon it'll pay itself. Welcome to the forum! Make sure to checkout www.Fastmentors.com :Welcome:

Thanks Talkintoy! I will be sure to keep up my motivation. I am checking out the site as we speak. Looks great. I will be sure to keep myself updated within our network.

Thanks again :seeya:

That's one of the best intro's I've seen so far. As I'm sure you're aware, there is a reputation points system here which results in the speed limit signs underneath our usernames.

You've got some instant speed from me for your well-written intro.

Welcome to the forum :)

Daniel.

Thanks for the welcome Daniel :). Glad you liked the intro, I was worried about the length originally haha.

My friend's Dad lived in Sydney until he was 35. He is a hairstyling entreprenuer. He moved to Britain to cut and teach for Mario Triccoci, and finally moved here back in the early 1980's. He has a couple salon's now in the Chicago area. I want to visit Australia in the future! Beautiful place you live in!

Great intro :eusa_clap:

Seems like your real goal is to work with/learn from your friend Robert. Why dont't you try to start that now? (possibly while at the same time going to college, developing the online projects, etc.). You're obviously very motivated so I'm guessing Robert would be happy to have you working with him.

I am looking very much into investing in a property in Iowa while I am at school. This way I can rent it out to students, have a positive cash-flow while in school, and then finally sell it after 4 years of appreciation (depending on market conditions of course).

Depending on how things pan out during and after college I may very well end up working exclusively with Robert, if the company is still around. I have a good feeling it will be because he loves the line of work he is currently in.

Welcome to the fastlane. Great intro. ++++speed.:fastlane:

Thanks for the welcome Runum! I'm looking forward to getting to know you and everyone else better :cheers:.

-Alex
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Welcome, and agreed that that deserves some speed... +++

Thanks JScott. I really appreciate all of the contributing you do here on the forums. I was just reading through some of your older posts on commercial real estate and some inquiries you had on market conditions for appartment purchasing. SteveO's responses helped a lot too. I am now going to pick up:

"How to Buy and Sell Apartment Buildings" by Eugene and Stephen Vollucci

and

"The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings" by Steve Berges

I plan on reading them both on the train to and from work during this summer, and whenever I have downtime here at the office (currently I have a bunch of downtime because I am waiting for some insurance policy docs to come in for doc prep).

Thanks for the welcome, and I am sure we will have a lot to talk about! :cheers:

-Alex
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Yankees338

Bronze Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
8%
Jul 24, 2007
1,800
149
33
NJ/MD
Welcome! As a fellow teenage entrepreneur, I'm very glad to have ya aboard here!

My goals are very similar to yours as well; I'm planning on starting up a website this summer (just getting started with it now, actually), and then I want to eventually sell it off to begin my RE investing career, or use my cashflow to fund investments.

Hit me up on AIM sometime (Yankees338). I'd be glad to chat with you.
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Welcome! As a fellow teenage entrepreneur, I'm very glad to have ya aboard here!

My goals are very similar to yours as well; I'm planning on starting up a website this summer (just getting started with it now, actually), and then I want to eventually sell it off to begin my RE investing career, or use my cashflow to fund investments.

Hit me up on AIM sometime (Yankees338). I'd be glad to chat with you.

Hey Yankees338! Cool to see that you are heading down the same path. Who knows, maybe we will share interests in some ventures in the future? I have some great business ideas for now with little overhead (very necessary at our age)...and I have two grand business plans that involve quite a bit more overhead for when I am older and have more money to invest.

I'm not on AIM as often as I used to be, but I will add you to my buddy (theREALalejo).

-Alex
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
You're always welcome to come visit! ;-)

Daniel.

Thanks :thumbsup:! I'm sure if Travis and I end up heading out to visit Australia sometime soon, we will definitely be getting in touch with you and the other members of TFLTM to meet up and hangout!

-Alex
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
446%
Jul 23, 2007
38,201
170,449
Utah
Welcome to the forum Alex and thanks for the great intro. Good old James B Conant .... that is where my nightmare started, and thankfully ended.

I used to deliver pizza for Vinces Pizza on Wise Road a good 15 years ago. They still there? The owner was a tool -- I'd offer him marketing advice and he'd retort "When you own a pizza place, you can do that, until then, be quiet" ... I'm sure he was thinking, "What's with this punk giving me business advice?"
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Thanks for the welcome MJ! I cannot wait to get out of here either. I love the city of Chicago itself (I don't have any deadweight here in Chicago like you had in your story), but I need to be someplace with a little more scenery.

I remember getting Vince's Pizza when I was little. But they closed down awhile ago (should have listened to your advice :smxB:). There is a Sir Nick's Pizza there now.

Look forward to getting to know you better.

Thanks again for giving me a new haven to come hangout. :cheers:

-Alex
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

lightning

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
35%
Aug 24, 2007
542
188
41
Northern, NJ
Welcome to the board Alex!!!! :) That was the best intro I have seen in a while! It is awesome you have attained the direction and drive you have at only 18, I only wish I had done the same (I lost a couple of precious years back then due to not knowing what I know now!!). It sounds like we would get along well, i was very similar to you at 18-19 (huge ambitions and a thirst to learn). The only difference is, I didnt realize the things you did (about it being foolish to waste money on cars and the like as a teenager) until my early 20's, lol. When I was 24, I sold my own dream car (a bright red, 6-speed ram-air 99' Trans AM) to get some seed money and start investing. I am happy to say that as much as I miss that car, it was by far the best thing I have done for myself to date. :)

Best of luck with your goals! Look forward to seeing ya around here! :)
 

veli

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
5%
Jun 11, 2008
74
4
Welcome Alex. I'm new to this site myself, but I must give you credit for your intro. I love reading about others experiences/thoughts/plans no matter if they are successful or not. I wish you all the best in the future. Work hard, and you will be rewarded :)
 

G_Alexander

Does it Cash Flow?
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
941%
Jun 7, 2008
473
4,449
Welcome to the board Alex!!!! :) That was the best intro I have seen in a while! It is awesome you have attained the direction and drive you have at only 18, I only wish I had done the same (I lost a couple of precious years back then due to not knowing what I know now!!). It sounds like we would get along well, i was very similar to you at 18-19 (huge ambitions and a thirst to learn). The only difference is, I didnt realize the things you did (about it being foolish to waste money on cars and the like as a teenager) until my early 20's, lol. When I was 24, I sold my own dream car (a bright red, 6-speed ram-air 99' Trans AM) to get some seed money and start investing. I am happy to say that as much as I miss that car, it was by far the best thing I have done for myself to date. :)

Best of luck with your goals! Look forward to seeing ya around here! :)

Thank you for the compliments Mike! It does indeed sound like we would get along well. It's a good thing we both sold our cars to get on our entreprenurial fastlane tracks, but you have to admit they were fun while they lasted :cheers:.

I noticed in your introductory post that you were interested in a wide range of investments (ecommerce, real estate, stock market). Have you concentrated on one more than others, or are you equally interested in all of them?

Best of luck with your goals as well! I'm sure we will have many great times here on teh boards :smxF:!

-Alex

Welcome Alex. I'm new to this site myself, but I must give you credit for your intro. I love reading about others experiences/thoughts/plans no matter if they are successful or not. I wish you all the best in the future. Work hard, and you will be rewarded :)

Hey Veli,

Thank you for the compliment as well. And best of luck to you as well :thumbsup:.

See you around!

-Alex
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Sega Saph

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
74%
Dec 17, 2021
82
61
Russia
Oh, Man. Alexander, thank you so much for sharing. Your intro was so inspirational and now we can see how men can become a millionaire. It was a long journey i suppose, but really successful (recently red your post about buying orange Lambo). If you guys want to connect the dots in your life (like me), look closer at this story and be happy.

Huge cheers to community and founder of forum! Peace.
 

DavidePaco00

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
116%
Jul 27, 2022
189
220
Hey everyone,

I have been lurking around the forum for about a week now. I have been getting to know some of you from your posts and teaching myself some great new things in the process. The wealth of information here is amazing. I hope that I can both contribute and find answers to questions on these forums (I have no doubt about both :cheers:).

To start off, I live in Schaumburg, Illinois...about 20 minutes outside of Chicago. The craziest coincidence that baffled me while I was lurking through this forum (and checking out MJ's Myspace page) is that MJ went to the same high school (James B. Conant) that I graduated from a week and a half ago! Truly a small world. I want to move to Arizona when I am all done with college (I know...I am a mini MJ haha). The main reason I want to move there is because my grandma lives in a beautiful Scottsdale subdivision right next to Pinnacle Peak. I love AZ more every time I visit (should be out there this August I think...I'm preparing for the 110 degree mark already).

JOBS:


I started working when I was thirteen years old because all I wanted to do was buy myself a car when I turned 16. My first place of employment was the River Forest Country Club in Elmhurst, IL as a Caddie. I met a lot of prominent business men during my three summers at River Forest. I learned things that you can never get out of a classroom. And at the end of it all, I purchased the 1997 Eagle Talon Tsi I had always wanted with my own cash:

NFrontRight.jpg

When I finally turned 16 I wanted to get out into the real workplace. I held many jobs in retail/sales. I worked at: IKEA
Express for Men
The Great Indoors (Commissioned flatscreen sales)
TCF BANK (I learned a lot at this job)


During November 2006 while I was employed at The Great Indoors, I came out to Scottsdale to visit my grandmother. I took a trip over to Scottsdale Infiniti to check out my (affordable) dream car, a 2003 Nissan 350z. Once I drove it, I couldn't leave AZ without it:

l_253027e5e7ef74d89d9fc9c9ff56a0f3.jpg

I realize that I was an idiot to waste money on these cars a few years back, but I didn't know better. I was 16 at the time and all I saw was my mojo growing :iamwithstupid:.


I never regret anything though. And having the cars was a little taste of paradise. I was in the Jr. Fastlane I guess you could say.

The 5th and final place that I work at and worked at last summer is the Chicago law firm Bollinger Ruberry and Garvey (www.brg-law.net). My mom is an attorney and she is good friends with Mr. Ruberry. He has taken me under his wing and I have learned things that most people need to go through four years of college and three years of law school to learn.

I love learning. I read constantly. If I don't know something, I internet ninja search it and I find it out.

SCHOOL:

As I previously stated I just graduated from James B. Conant High School. I was planning on going to Villanova next year (my neighbor is an Alumni and he wanted me to go as well, I will get into more detail about him later) but I decided I didn't want to go that far away. I decided a bit too late though because I had already turned down Indiana University and UofI at Champagne.

Everything worked out though and I will be attending the University of Iowa in August of 2008.

BUSINESS VENTURES:

Even as a little kid I was always setting up companies. Law mowing services, tattoo "parlor" (sharpie markers), lemonade stands, etc etc. These were the best because they were Tax sheltered haha.

My serious business ventures are a Non-for-profit organization on environmental awareness (website currently under construction), and an investment website (which is also in development). The non-for-profit has already turned a profit though from the 300 tee-shirts I sold out in the first hour I had them at school. The money is going back into the company for server space and more tee-shirts/ prize giveaways. I am also working on getting grants from the state to award to great volunteers for college.

I have a million other ideas for eBusinesses, and not just "Oh, this might work ideas." I am constantly brainstorming.


FUTURE PLANS:

-Rule the world. (Kidding, haha)

On a more serious note, I plan to build my online companies while I am in college. If the companies do well enough to allow me to being investing in real estate, then I will do that straight out of college. If the companies tank, then I plan on getting my law degree and working in a corporate firm until I build the proper equity to get the hell out of the firm and into commercial developments in real estate.

The reason I like real estate so much is because of my neighbor, Robert. Robert is a very, very successful individual. He and his father in-law started a business that mass packages things like golf-balls, gum, razors, and other various companies.

Robert is a close family friend of ours. He is the nicest guy I have probably ever met. He is not at all arrogant. He is always willing to teach me and help others. I have a great respect for him.

Robert is 43 now, and he owns a Commercial Real Estate company here in Chicago. It started off as something small to keep him busy because he was retired. After a couple of years though, the company has done very well. This is one of the major reasons I want to get into Commercial Real Estate developments. I love it.

I apologize for the extremely lengthy introduction. I was trying to be as personal and descriptive as possible :smxG:. I am very glad I found these forums and I thank MJ for starting them. I look forward to talking to everyone here and having a great time :cheers:.

Very Truly,

-Alex
Welcome!

I f You really wanna build a serious company, I would suggest You not going to college right now, You woluld have too many distractions and You won't put in enough time to build the business.

I You want to build a business in the real estate market, You should spend time working in an agency at best, studying how the market functions.

Learn how to sell ( iI sugget reading 100 Million Offer ) and how to run a business.

Don't waste time in college 4 years if You know You wanna be an entrepreneur.

Davide
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

More Intros...

Top