[akcreek]

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]

>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.

[rdbell]

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.

[eldavido]

The other thing I also try to keep in mind: you only get one shot at life.

You can spend that one shot obsessing over what others have, how unfair things are, and whine away the decades.

The other option is to realize some may have it better than you, others worse, but that's life, so make the best of it.

"Get busy living, or get busy dying."

[raydev]

> most people given opportunity to take $44k would quickly turn it into $0

Yes, because giving that much money to a kid and having it pay off also involves a lot of luck.

[fxtentacle]

That, or good parenting in the years before.

[johannes1234321]

Still needs luck, even the smartest kid can make a wrong bet or underestimate another market player.

[bsanr2]

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]

You think turning a 44k loan into multiple successful businesses is average?

[bsanr2]

>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]

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.

[czbond]

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]

> 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]

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.

[akcreek]

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.

[raydev]

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]

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.

[redsymbol]

Why?

How does it matter? Not meaning to challenge you in any way, just sincerely want to understand your thinking.

[purerandomness]

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!

[perl4ever]

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]

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]

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?

[Drdrdrq]

> 3. Pofit!

Was that "Profit!" or "Poof it!"? ;)

[Spooky23]

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]

> 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]

The conveniently skipped over "getting the initial 150k" is the part of your story that most likely contradicts "anyone can".