Why I do what I do

Why I built 3 “startups” in 4 months. No, I’m not nuts.

4 Weeks to Launch is an ongoing series about building passive income across multiple startups — a new startup every 4 weeks. Read the first post on 4 Weeks to Launch to get started, or subscribe for weekly updates. The latest startup, #3, is Hotel Tonight for weeklong vacation rentals.

Tl;dr

• Apps ready for app store
• Designed logo
• Site launched (extremevacationdeals.com)

Extreme Vacation Deals done!

I finished the Extreme Vacation Deals. 5ish weeks ago I didn’t know how to build a mobile app, and now it’s done for Android and iOS. Pretty awesome, even if I still have the database in Dropbox (can read about that here). We hooked up Slack so every time a customer “books” a property we get a notification and can complete the booking via email, PayPal, and manual processes. Most of my time last week went into building the landing page, designing the app logo, and tweaking the apps.

Tomorrow we submit to the App Store and Play Store! I’ll publish links to the apps once they’re approved, but for now, a little insight into why I am doing 4 Weeks to Launch.

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When I was 5 years old, I went through a phase where I would reply, “why and how?” to just about everything. Yeah, I was a fun kid. What fascinated me was how you can endlessly drill down with these questions, and down, and down. To this day I still get into the “why” mindset every few months and question everything. Why 4 Weeks to Launch? What keeps me going, even when sometimes I feel like I’m failing? Why blog; why publicly? Why care about passive income?

As much fun as it is to build multiple products, I know that I could build a higher quality product by focusing on one idea for a longer period of time. I also spend a lot of time updating 4 Weeks to Launch, further taking away from my product quality. And in truth, I don’t even like blogging. So why do all of this?

Why: 4 Weeks to Launch

Doing something difficult is rewarding. That deep sense of satisfaction from using willpower to accomplish a hard goal is the best feeling I know. The feeling of meaningful action.

I build a new product every 4 weeks because it’s hard. It’s hard to build something in a limited amount of time, with limited resources. But by doing so, it forces me to grow and to solve problems in new ways. This growth is crucial to all of us. Struggling, failing, and achieving are powerful experiences, and sometimes even scary. That’s why some leave their dreams on shelves; pretty things to look at but not to touch let alone fulfill.

Why: Blog

I blog to hold myself accountable. Publicly posting about my failures, progress, or lack of progress keeps me on task. Where I am sometimes weak in follow through, I delegate to a system that forces me to keep going, i.e. blogging. I feel guilty when I don’t work; not the nicest of motivators but it sure as hell works. I’ve made a public promise and despite no monetary progress so far, I want to keep that promise alive.

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Why: Passive income

Passive income is more than just money to me, it’s a milestone. Money is a means to wealth. Whether wealth is time with your kids or travelling the world, money can (typically) get you there. However why care about passive income since my personal definition of success/wealth is building products?

In a hyphenated word, self-mastery. Passive income to me means that I’ve beaten the system. To the world, our society, and to my mind, that means escaping the 9 to 5 rat race. Not trading time for money. That is meaningful to me. To have power over time. And it’s meaningful because I chose to give it meaning.

Self-mastery has been a personal goal for 10 years. It’s why I blog, why I build startups, why I focus on passive income. I want to beat the system and to have no master other than myself.

Everyone has his/her own purpose in life, but it’s up to you to decide what it’s going to be. Someone else’s purpose isn’t yours, just as much as your experiences aren’t others’. That extends to all the advice from parents and gurus and therapists. It’s what you put meaning into that defines you; what matters to you, is what matters.

I chose to work hard to get closer to my ideal self and self-mastery. This means building products. This means 4 Weeks to Launch…at least for now!

If you’re looking for inspiration:

• Watch my favorite (and the world’s fav) TED Talk
• Read Man’s Search for Meaning (I’m currently reading)
• Read Atlas Shrugged (I’m currently re-reading)

Question: What are you working towards, and why? Let me know by email, reply/comment, or phone.

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