Feeling like I was forced into an environment not for me

[giagwe]

Mini rant / seeking advice

I am a 21 y/o male at a prestigious US university. In high school I was incredibly entrepreneurial working on various side hustles and making good money doing it. I surrounded myself with a likeminded online community and everyday felt exciting and like a new challenge.

Im now about to start my last year of college studying CS and I am itching for that community and hustle oriented culture I got into during high school, it seems everyone around me just wants to enter the corporate rat-race and not try to embark on something more challenging and creative.

Whats bothering me the most right now is I havent really hustled / made good money in years and im trying to find the root cause of this. I think a lot of it has to do with the environment (college) im in and also some personal struggles which made me feel like earning money was pointless / mute.

Im now at a point of my life (21 y/o) where earning money / financial independence is critical but im less financially independent than I have ever been.

I have several hard skills (programming , sales , people skills , hustling) that I think im very strong at and just want to get back to hustling / working for myself and managing a small team.

 

[markp5]

@giagwe I was in the same studies and met three unique guys who stood out from the rest. These three guys were bold to take on the challenge of starting their own business and had higher risk tolerance. They did things that was considered risky and crazy.

1. Guy worked mcdonalds and in his free time started multiple businesses that ended up failing, until one business took off and now he became a multi-millionaire.
2. Second guy, loved crypto back when it was $5 per bitcoin and he rejected good software job offers to work a $15 at a crypto mining company. I asked him why he chose to work for the cheapest paying offer and he responded, "Aren't we suppose to do what we love?". It shocked me that others were applying out of fear and he was applying out of love and curiousity.
3. Third guy had been working on a video game since he was 14. His degree in aerospace engineering was to help him build better video games. He launched his game in college and it made him 7 digits profit. Which he later used to make another game that got him 8 digit profit.

Basically, these 3 guys all had something in common which was ambition & focus. They didn't let what other people's opinion sway them from their goal. They kept to it and were rewarded by their integrity.

 

[brokenandconfused]

@giagwe A lot of comes down to just starting. You have lots of desirable skills, so I would advise you just to start. There's plenty of AI assisted tools that will help you streamline your idea, find a target audience, and build your product. Happy to be a resource for you, as well. Also, check out if your school has a startup incubator or something of the sort. Good luck on your journey!

 

[enoch27]

@giagwe Entrepreneurship is all about translating a "vision" into a viable, sustainable, and scalable business.

You apparently do not yet have that "vision" because you haven't yet put on your "Jobs To Be Done" glasses.

Maybe read the book by Ulwick and google "INC5000 list of fastest growing companies."

The economy is a mixed bag of hot and cold. Disruption and innovation where opportunity lives.

Once you have your glasses sorted out, you should go out and sample the world. What "thorny" problem is the world waiting for you to sort out?

Like an industry, get yourself into the kitchen. Only then will your glasses let you see opportunities. And one, or more, will gel into a "vision" for you to work on.

You'll also want to pick up some "soft" people skills. The people holding the bags of money are very often less technical and more people oriented.

A successful entrepreneur can adapt to different settings of people skills, business skills, and technical skills. You typically need to at least understand the need for all three.

An entrepreneur is like a conductor or restaurant chef. You don't have to master all the skills. You need to know how to hire, retain, and motivate the "right" people to translate your vision into a working business.

So now that you know how little you actually know and understand, time to get out there and start to fail small, fail fast, and fail often. It's called learning.

And apply your expertise and skills to bridge all those gaps and overcome the many obstacles to get you from point A to point B.

Point A is where you are today and point B is the destination of your Vision.

Now you're ready to draw up your map and start your entrepreneurial journey.

Let the fun begin!

 

[sam2853]

@enoch27 All your answers are really awesome and never get enough upvotes imo

Edited for typos

 

[enoch27]

@sam2853 Thanks for the positive feedback!

There is a well known saying attributed to Thomas Edison: "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.

Most people prefer to ignore the perspiration part. Tenacity and "grit" is a basic requirement and an understanding that this particular journey may lead to a dead end.

Explorers can't be sure what lies on the other side of the mountain but they are driven to find out...

Not everybody has the nature to be an explorer, many will always be armchair explorers.