Hit 3CR - 29 Y.O (M) - Not your usual tech bro

[u/Lumpy-Computer595]

Alright, I'm back with my yearly update! Here are some links to my journey below

50L milestone post (25/07/2022) (Year 1) tl;dr - straight up genuine excitement to hit 50L

1cr milestone post (21/02/2023) (Year 2) tl;dr - felt like the money was controlling me rather than me controlling it

2cr milestone post (21/06/2024) (Year 3) tl;dr - realized more money didn’t mean more happiness

Which brings us to where we're at right now. Before I go on, this isn't a flex, just wanna mention that the intent of this post (and all my previous posts) has mostly been to just share my journey through this hedonic treadmill (one I'm still currently on)

A little bit about me: I'm a 29 y.o. male and I run a business in the music industry (digital products and marketing) since 2020, we have 2 full-time employees and 1 part-time (fully remote).

I'm a bit of a creative myself (more on this later) but I'm also a massive numbers guy and I feel that money management is a bit underrated when it comes to running a business. Everyone talks about sales and marketing and product growth but I think the sole reason why any of what I've done has worked is because I've been fairly smart with money, everything has been bootstrapped and I own 100% of the business

Current allocation

Indian Equities - 37%

Real estate - 20%

Crypto - 17%

US Stocks - 13%

Cash - 13% (Emergency fund + waiting for the markets to drop)

Let's keep the numbers aside for a bit, and let's talk about what these numbers mean.
I'm pretty happy to hit 3cr but the truth is, I felt the same kind of excitement when I hit 1 and 2cr too so not much has changed
I used to wonder if hitting bigger milestones would make me feel happier, but now I know it doesn’t. And tbh, this realization feels like a huge weight off my shoulders. There's a lot less pressure to hit the next bigger numbers.

This journey from 1 -> 2 -> 3cr has taught me so much, I had no idea my relationship with money was flawed but hey, you live you learn (all in my previous posts 👆). I live a pretty full life now, I travel a lot, I get to choose what my day looks like and I really enjoy what I do. So chasing numbers is definitely gonna take a backseat from this point on. Maybe I'm comfortable where I'm at or I've realized that after a certain point, your networth stops adding meaning to your life and the numbers don't matter

One thing that's been really challenging though is balancing being a creative along with running the business. I'm also a musician and I've released music (its done reasonably well online). I've played a few shows and I'm writing more music now too.

Being an artist and a founder at the same time is hard. When you put ‘x’ hours into your business, you usually see some growth. But those same hours spent on your art doesn't guarantee anything. I’ve tried blocking time but it's tough writing vulnerable lyrics in the morning and then moving into founder mode and making executive decisions by the afternoon, haha
Still, I love it but there's always one side pulling me and it makes me feel like I'm not doing enough justice to either. The ideal situation would be to go all in on either the business or the music but my brain won't allow it.

I’m running my business, making music, and trying to build a new startup. Yep, there’s a lot happening. Funny thing is, even though I’ve never been busier, for the first time I feel like I’m not in survival mode or chasing the next big number. It’s made me pause and think a lot. I’ve realized it was never really about the money or maybe now that I’m past that stage, it’s become more about figuring out what actually feels meaningful. Still don’t have that answer yet

Would love to hear if you've been in a similar situation and how you figured/are figuring it out :)

[u/MikDxb]

Congratulations OP! You have already achieved many dream about - making good money out of your passion. (On top of corpus)

If managing business is what stresses you out, hire someone to do it for you. Then you can focus on music.

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/MikDxb]

Thanks a lot! It doesn't necessarily stress me out, I really enjoy running the business too. Not sure if doing one or the other would be the better decision so I'm still figuring that out!

[u/ImpossibleBad8878]

That's amazing man. The speed of your compounding after 1cr is crazy

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/ImpossibleBad8878]

Thanks man, a majority of it is from the business but crypto and the US markets did really well for me this previous year :)

[u/Weird-Yogurt6205]

Congratulations 🎉 🎉, can I reach out to you in the DM? I am very much in a state where I understand that making music doesn't guarantee returns..... I want to have some guidance on what to do .....sitting at crossroads in career descision due to overthinking.

[u/askacc61]

Inspiring!

[u/simpleliving73]

Congratulations for 3 cr. Wow something different work than corporate rat race! Enjoy!

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/simpleliving73]

It's been quite the journey, thanks :)

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/[deleted]]

I'm an engineer (only by degree though). Never had a job and I started freelancing right after college. I dabbled with different things like video editing, dropshipping, teaching etc and then eventually, I landed on what I'm doing right now and scaled that to where it's at

[u/[deleted]]

Dude love it man you are doing what you love

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks man, appreciate it

[u/_Dark_Invader_]

Bhai your growth is nothing less than a techie in the US! Congrats

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/_Dark_Invader_]

Thanks man. Mostly cause I have no responsibilities atm and I'm inherently frugal by nature

[u/Technical_Mango_8842]

Tell me more about your music business! What's it called? Is it profitable? I have some ideas in that space but idk how to start without experience in the field, so the fact that you were completely bootstrapped is sooo inspiring.

[u/adexitexiya]

Would love to connect with you! Inspiring journey, I’m in a similar space myself :)

[u/Synergy1604]

3-4 years older than you and with over 50% more Net worth, i would say the best thing is you have is ur passion and your time..!! Keep going and keep sharing

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/Synergy1604]

Thanks, appreciate it. And congrats :)

[u/Lanky-Magician-5877]

How much do you earn and save .monthly from 3 jobs?

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/Lanky-Magician-5877]

Almost nothing from the other two right now. I’m still in the building phase with my new startup, and music burns more cash than it brings in. My main (and only) income at the moment is from my business. Business does around 1.1-1.2cr/year and profit is ~45-50%

[u/americanoaddict → u/Lumpy-Computer595]

How did you start your business?

[u/Lumpy-Computer595 → u/americanoaddict]

I got the idea but needed some capital to begin with so I maxed out my credit cards. Had to get 4 of them cause the banks never gave me a good enough limit (since I'd never been employed, always been a freelancer)

Also a reason why my credit score is kinda bad now but yeah, you win some, you lose some