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I was in college at the time, so student loans kept me afloat. I was definitely not using that money correctly, but I believed I was using it wisely. The first

I was in college at the time, so student loans kept me afloat. I was definitely not using that money correctly, but I believed I was using it wisely. The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. That was a large sum for them, but they believed they would see it again and they have always wanted to help my siblings and I in any way possible. It turned out to be one of their better investments as I did return that money and a percent of profits for years. After the first one I was able to continue self funding.

exterrestrial 7y ago
>The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. Thanks for being honest. It might help to put this in the first comment though.
- czbond 7y ago
  Why? Means little. You can put a $44k deal together, even if you're a college student with no connections. It takes vision, some hustle, and an action plan. You might not think you can, but I sure know many can (including you and others reading this). Most sellers are open to creative deals. No money down, seller financing (this applies to real estate and software).
  - raydev 7y ago
    > even if you're a college student with no connections. Unless you mean community college, just by virtue of being in college you are exposed to a network of people who have money.
    - czbond 7y ago
      Keep looking for excuses, you'll find them. I mean that in a firmly supportive way. I'm not suggesting every deal can find a team. If it was already cashflowing and has assets, it is much easier to put a deal together. Software startups, conversely, often have neither and compete in a non-local market.
- rdbell 7y ago
  Many people like to use examples like this to argue that people with family loans have an easy path to success. $44k is an excellent launchpad but the reality is that most people given opportunity to take $44k would quickly turn it into $0. I personally love hearing success stories like this and give full credit to people that can pull it off.
  - bsanr2 7y ago
    That's partly because most people will have baggage to attend to that a college student living off student loans would not, and will lack the safety net that parents who can loan you $44k represent. There's not much here to convince that his performance is any better than the average among people in his position.
    - cloverich 7y ago
      You think turning a 44k loan into multiple successful businesses is average?
      - bsanr2 7y ago
        >among people in his position That is, among college students without the baggage of full adulthood (debt, personal responsibilities, the mental and physical degradation that starts as early as your mid-twenties, and the risk aversion that comes with these things), and with the support of at least moderately wealthy parents and the affordances they bring: yes, there's not much here to show above-average performance. This individual received exceptional advantages which he certainly capitalized on, but there's no indication that he did so above the level of an average replacement. We owe it to ourselves to be realistic about prospects.
        cloverich 7y ago
        There's literally millions of college students in that position every year. Its absolutely not common for most of them to start _a_ successful business, let a lone several. I've worked at companies who had far more money, more connections, and more advantages, that ended up with less. OP's an outlier irrespective of their advantages. > the mental and physical degradation that starts as early as your mid-twenties Degrading in your twenties (in any meaningful sense) is _highly_ atypical.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  If you have some hustle anyone can raise that type of money. When I worked retail in college, a coworker was able to get $150k together to lease a 737 and crew for a couple of trips. He was then able to leverage his girlfriend’s boss (travel agent) to get some trips to Aruba and some other island. He netted enough to pay for his tuition, which was the goal.
  - raydev 7y ago
    > If you have some hustle anyone can raise that type of money. If you have hustle and unearned confidence and an existing reliable network, sure.
  - Can_Not 7y ago
    The conveniently skipped over "getting the initial 150k" is the part of your story that most likely contradicts "anyone can".
- redsymbol 7y ago
  Why? How does it matter? Not meaning to challenge you in any way, just sincerely want to understand your thinking.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - purerandomness 7y ago
    Because it answers a different type of question: What you would do if you wouldn't have to work for a living, for the next six months. While interesting, most of us can't relate to this situation. Having half a year worth of "fun money" to spend bootstrapping a business idea, or investng in one, is skipping the first step. It's like one of these "draw the rest of the fucking owl" jokes: How to become rich: 1. Get 44k 2. ??? 3. Pofit!
    - Drdrdrq 7y ago
      > 3. Pofit! Was that "Profit!" or "Poof it!"? ;)
    - perl4ever 7y ago
      You're saying $44K = rich, and that normal income = $88K. If you make $88K then you can have $44K to blow just by only spending $44K, like the people who only make $44K anyway. (Yes, yes, ignoring taxes)
      - Can_Not 7y ago
        I get $88K by working fulltime for $X months. Getting $44K _for free_ and then also having an entire fulltime of availability to work on a project is quite a gamechanger.
        perl4ever 7y ago
        How can you spend $44K on a project and live off of it at the same time, in the latter case where someone handed you the money? And if you are saving $44K per year, why can't you work for two years and then take one year off, having both $44K to live on and $44K to spend on a project? And finally, didn't this start with a $44K loan, not a gift?
- raydev 7y ago
  People are really upset with this comment because they think you're implying OP didn't do any work or that OP doesn't deserve it. It doesn't much matter to me whether OP has "earned" their position of power, only that they had an enormous boost early in their career. Just because $44k seems like pocket change to some people on this forum doesn't mean it's still an incredible amount of money that offers a fair amount of power on its own.
  - whytaka 7y ago
    I don't see how it's relevant at all. OP just explained what they did. Not to gloat but to explain their situation. What does it matter to you that they got help doing it? I have 44k to invest if I really believed in something and I come from very modest means with no family help. If the stars align, it's a possibility. That's all you should take from their comment.
- akcreek 7y ago
  Raising money from friends and family is certainly a common path to entrepreneurship, but it is far from the only. My original point was that acquisition entrepreneurship could be an option for someone with a broad skillset like the OP. How I funded the first one doesn't really impact that as everyone will have a different path and I simply took the one that was available to me at the time. If an existing path can't be found then it will have to be made. That could mean working and saving for a while, starting a side project with the goal of it becoming a profitable business, partnering with a friend and earning equity through sweat, etc.

exterrestrial 7y ago

>The first acquisition was funded by a loan from my parents for $44K. Thanks for being honest. It might help to put this in the first comment though.

czbond 7y ago
Why? Means little. You can put a $44k deal together, even if you're a college student with no connections. It takes vision, some hustle, and an action plan. You might not think you can, but I sure know many can (including you and others reading this). Most sellers are open to creative deals. No money down, seller financing (this applies to real estate and software).
- raydev 7y ago
  > even if you're a college student with no connections. Unless you mean community college, just by virtue of being in college you are exposed to a network of people who have money.
  - czbond 7y ago
    Keep looking for excuses, you'll find them. I mean that in a firmly supportive way. I'm not suggesting every deal can find a team. If it was already cashflowing and has assets, it is much easier to put a deal together. Software startups, conversely, often have neither and compete in a non-local market.
rdbell 7y ago
Many people like to use examples like this to argue that people with family loans have an easy path to success. $44k is an excellent launchpad but the reality is that most people given opportunity to take $44k would quickly turn it into $0. I personally love hearing success stories like this and give full credit to people that can pull it off.
- bsanr2 7y ago
  That's partly because most people will have baggage to attend to that a college student living off student loans would not, and will lack the safety net that parents who can loan you $44k represent. There's not much here to convince that his performance is any better than the average among people in his position.
  - cloverich 7y ago
    You think turning a 44k loan into multiple successful businesses is average?
    - bsanr2 7y ago
      >among people in his position That is, among college students without the baggage of full adulthood (debt, personal responsibilities, the mental and physical degradation that starts as early as your mid-twenties, and the risk aversion that comes with these things), and with the support of at least moderately wealthy parents and the affordances they bring: yes, there's not much here to show above-average performance. This individual received exceptional advantages which he certainly capitalized on, but there's no indication that he did so above the level of an average replacement. We owe it to ourselves to be realistic about prospects.
      - cloverich 7y ago
        There's literally millions of college students in that position every year. Its absolutely not common for most of them to start _a_ successful business, let a lone several. I've worked at companies who had far more money, more connections, and more advantages, that ended up with less. OP's an outlier irrespective of their advantages. > the mental and physical degradation that starts as early as your mid-twenties Degrading in your twenties (in any meaningful sense) is _highly_ atypical.
Spooky23 7y ago
If you have some hustle anyone can raise that type of money. When I worked retail in college, a coworker was able to get $150k together to lease a 737 and crew for a couple of trips. He was then able to leverage his girlfriend’s boss (travel agent) to get some trips to Aruba and some other island. He netted enough to pay for his tuition, which was the goal.
- raydev 7y ago
  > If you have some hustle anyone can raise that type of money. If you have hustle and unearned confidence and an existing reliable network, sure.
- Can_Not 7y ago
  The conveniently skipped over "getting the initial 150k" is the part of your story that most likely contradicts "anyone can".
redsymbol 7y ago
Why? How does it matter? Not meaning to challenge you in any way, just sincerely want to understand your thinking.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- purerandomness 7y ago
  Because it answers a different type of question: What you would do if you wouldn't have to work for a living, for the next six months. While interesting, most of us can't relate to this situation. Having half a year worth of "fun money" to spend bootstrapping a business idea, or investng in one, is skipping the first step. It's like one of these "draw the rest of the fucking owl" jokes: How to become rich: 1. Get 44k 2. ??? 3. Pofit!
  - Drdrdrq 7y ago
    > 3. Pofit! Was that "Profit!" or "Poof it!"? ;)
  - perl4ever 7y ago
    You're saying $44K = rich, and that normal income = $88K. If you make $88K then you can have $44K to blow just by only spending $44K, like the people who only make $44K anyway. (Yes, yes, ignoring taxes)
    - Can_Not 7y ago
      I get $88K by working fulltime for $X months. Getting $44K _for free_ and then also having an entire fulltime of availability to work on a project is quite a gamechanger.
      - perl4ever 7y ago
        How can you spend $44K on a project and live off of it at the same time, in the latter case where someone handed you the money? And if you are saving $44K per year, why can't you work for two years and then take one year off, having both $44K to live on and $44K to spend on a project? And finally, didn't this start with a $44K loan, not a gift?
raydev 7y ago
People are really upset with this comment because they think you're implying OP didn't do any work or that OP doesn't deserve it. It doesn't much matter to me whether OP has "earned" their position of power, only that they had an enormous boost early in their career. Just because $44k seems like pocket change to some people on this forum doesn't mean it's still an incredible amount of money that offers a fair amount of power on its own.
- whytaka 7y ago
  I don't see how it's relevant at all. OP just explained what they did. Not to gloat but to explain their situation. What does it matter to you that they got help doing it? I have 44k to invest if I really believed in something and I come from very modest means with no family help. If the stars align, it's a possibility. That's all you should take from their comment.
akcreek 7y ago
Raising money from friends and family is certainly a common path to entrepreneurship, but it is far from the only. My original point was that acquisition entrepreneurship could be an option for someone with a broad skillset like the OP. How I funded the first one doesn't really impact that as everyone will have a different path and I simply took the one that was available to me at the time. If an existing path can't be found then it will have to be made. That could mean working and saving for a while, starting a side project with the goal of it becoming a profitable business, partnering with a friend and earning equity through sweat, etc.