But as with all existing players, there's always room for competition. Just look at Tinder disrupting the dating scene when there were already big names like POF, OkCupid, etc.
I created an IOS app that gives on-demand relationship advice. Would love to hear the HN community's thoughts! I tried to keep the UI very low friction so people could get value immediately.
Go to your local library or BN and learn everything you can about sales/marketing. Work for free. Under promise over deliver. Build up your portfolio. Ask for referrals.
Your skills mean nothing if you can't sell your skills.
He worked his ass off in an I.T firm, became good friends with the CEO...and helped grow that company. He made Director in 2 years. I think what bothers him is that he busted his ass to make that company big, and made his boss SUPER wealthy. So although he's making good money, if it was his own firm, he would've been a millionaire by now.
1) True, if it had been his own firm, he would have been a millionaire. But would he have known enough about his business at age 23 to create that same firm? I'm betting he has learned a huge amount in the last two years -- that he's much wiser and more savvy now than he was before he started this process. That wisdom will make him much better positioned to someday build his own empire than he would have been had he jumped the gun and started building without it. That's an advantage that very few 25-year-olds have.
2) OK, so his boss is a millionaire and he isn't. But what he will find as he earns more money is that there is no amount of money that is "enough." Say he goes out on his own and makes as much as his current boss does. Now he's a millionaire, but now he finds himself envious of multi-millionaires. And what he doesn't realize is that those multi-millionaires are envious of people who have hundreds of millions, and the people with hundreds of millions are envious of the people with billions... and on and on. It never ends. There is never enough.
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.
Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.
I think this is where he fits in. When him and his wife were making only 40K combined, they carpooled to work, lived in a 700sqft apartment, barely went out, etc. Now that they got some money, they bought a decent house ($250K), 2 cars, and they started paying off loans etc. He said even though they make $250K, his monthly expenses are over $7-8K. His whole thing is that he wants to be "financially free". I think his business ideas all are focused on MAKING MONEY, hence why he keeps failing.
At first I thought maybe work didn't seem fulfilling, and he wanted to run his own business. Running a business can be extremely rewarding, so I thought this was his plan. However, if he's only after money, then he might just be chasing a pipe dream.
If he's making millions, he'll probably be buying exotic cars, and feel like a failure because he can't buy a yacht. Then he makes tens of millions, has his new toy yacht, but feels like a failure because he doesn't own a private jet.
With his current income, he should be able to live quite well. You said, he wants to be financially free. If that's his goal, why is he racking up $8k in monthly expenses? It seems like he wants to live a lavish lifestyle, that's always above his means.
Even at 8k a month, he should be putting away 50-75k a year. That alone is a pretty impressive rate. It definitely sounds like he needs to figure out what "financially free" means to him, and realize it generally is impossible to reach that in a couple years. He should be happy with how quickly he WILL reach that.
He always talks about how he wants to be "free". And he's not "free" yet. Even though he makes money, he still has debt (school loans, mortgage, car payments, daycare, etc etc)..
I'm surprised no one here has said it yet. But your friend is actually quite smart. While he and his wife are making 250K now, there is no guarantee they will be making this much in 10 years. My wife and I had pretty high student loans ... we are doing a somewhat decent job getting these paid off. Sadly, because of all the debt, our net worth is pretty low even though we are in our 30s. Unlike your friend who is lucky/smart enough to earn such a high salary in a place where a decent house costs 250K, my wife and I would need just under a million to get a decent house.
tldr. 250K isn't that much these days when you factor taxes, child care, housing costs and student loan replayments.
