Whoever coded your website has an error on the navigation bar. The icon has a mismatched background. Pretty standard website. I hope you’re not AI washing your startup. Seems like a template. Good luck to you and your journey.
My business partner and I were 23 and submitted a multi million dollar govcon bid in a foreign country.
We had never done international business before but we were confident we could figure it out in the long shot event that we won.
Fast forward a bit, through multiple rounds of talking to COs and clarifying our numbers, and they awarded us the bid.
We had to fly out to Germany and live over there for two months and I am pretty sure I lost a couple of years off my life due to the stress, but we got it done. We hired 17 employees and 4 contractors to complete the contract.
We had some funny meetings with old government workers, they told us they were expecting some executives to walk in and when we showed up their face was priceless. They were nervous at first but after we showed we knew our stuff they were at ease.
We have had that contract for 5 years now and are going to re win it soon. But that contract was the catalyst for multiple other million dollar contracts and I’m glad we took the risk. Our company is in a great place now and we can travel as much as we want, which was our goal when we started.
We got started when my business partner found a fema contract for his landscaping business. That started us looking into government contracts and the rest is history.
You really just need an LLC and then you register on a website called Sam.gov if you’d like to take a look at my profile, feel free.
We teamed up with David from War Dogs to help other people do this, it’s the community I always post in.
Very interesting, thanks the reply, appreciate it! Will check out your profile.
Also, if I ever land a govcon, I will contact you again and thank you lol
Holy crap, you’re the guys he partnered with from war dogs academy? I just listened to his soft white underbelly interview and heard about you guys. Congratulations on the success. I’m trying to get there with trading and it’s a field where 95% fail and is super stressful. My dream too is just to get to the level where I can travel. Cheers!
Honestly, a lot of trial and error. We made a ton of mistakes along the way. It was basically the old trial by fire method of learning.
Going back I definitely wish we had some kind of resource to lean on, but hey we made it!
I wish! But no, I lived with two of my buddies. When I wasn’t making calls for the main business I had a pressure washing business. It was just a pressure washer and my car, but it enabled me to pay rent and pay for food!
K-Town, ansbach, Vilseck, and a few more around the south. We mainly fly into Frankfurt because that’s where our managers are!
Edit: Sorry I realized I didn’t answer your question I thought you said where. We do commercial laundry.
Okay crazy! Thanks for the answer.
What was the deal?
You secured a multimillion dollar deal for commercial laundry from the gov in germany?
I didnt quite get that.
So we operate troop collection points in 7 U.S. bases throughout Germany. The soldiers can come in and drop off their kits and we process them, have trucks come and pick up cages filled with everything, and then the contractors launder and return them for pickup.
My old professor, who sold his $60million company he helped start, said something along the lines of:
“everyone says to be an entrepreneur, you must ‘risk it all’ to see success. However, in my experience, you really really want to reduce the amount of risk you have. Zero risk on doing something is better because you have everything to gain and nothing to lose - exactly what an entrepreneur wants”
So I suppose it’s better to lower your risk than have this mentality of “risking it all”
So because the commenter's professor sold a company for a lot of money, everyone should hear the commenter's ridiculously obvious and not at all responsive point that minimizing risk is good?
I don’t see your point, then. Nothing I said had anything to do with the professor’s finances or work history, so I don’t see why you think I “missed” that fact
My point is that the question is, “what’s a big risk you took?” and the commenter’s comment was “actually it’s better to not take risks, holding upside equal.” That’s utter inanity.
Former programming instructor and current founder here.
I love teaching. It was the most rewarding job I ever had. If at some point in the future, I'm older with a family and a good exit behind me I'd love to teach again. It would have nothing to do with the money, just simply something I enjoy deeply. I imagine that professor is in the same boat.
The CFO of my company likes to teach as a hobby, he gives 2 classes each semester at my local university.
He doesn't do it for the money obviously , he enjoys passing all the knowledge for the future generations.
Left my corporate job without having any idea on what to do next. I am 24 and single, so figured if I cannot stomach taking a risk now, I will most likely work 9-5 for the rest of my life.
Indeed. When I quit my corporate job and started my own company, the primary motivation was getting control of my time and health so I can be around for my kids. I have lost over 80 pounds, reducing risk to health, and indirectly, long term risk of my human capital.
Took a $70K credit card loan during COVID, started an e-commerce company, made profits and paid the loan in 1.5 years and then sold it to my competitor on the 2 year mark for $250K, with COVID ending i started to see a very negative trend in sales, so i got out just in time (Amazon discovered my niche and started selling all of my products). Paid off the rest of my house and car with that money, i am currently debt free.
Taking a 55k loan to buy 50% of a cell phone repair store when I had never owned a business or repaired a cell phone. Best decision I ever made though. Luckily I was young and dumb enough to do it
Gave a guy a cashiers check for a few hundred grand to buy a house unseen and got a deed from a hillbilly that he obviously just typed up in word, with multiple misspellings.
Got to the house and met the water company to turn on the water and first thing he says "yall fix all dem leaks?"
10k in plumbing repairs later and got water. 100k in other repairs and now bringing in over 100k/year from it.
The county sent me the deed certified so I guess it worked out
Not luck I took a risk to buy it based on photos and people's word. Took risk there wasn't a contested deed and all above board. US marshals siezed the property and it sat for 8 years
It's on atv trails I the mountains. It's only 4bd but will be 6 at some point. 1 bd was converted into master closet and other had water damage in basement so need to refinish. Its pretty huge with a pool.
Other house I have in same area is 11bdrm and rents for 100 more per night. Not nearly as nice but a lot better and cheaper than a hotel if you have friends
Started my company in an old school Ivy-league industry, got sued by my previous employer under false non compete terms in Deleware (the lawsuit got expedited). I had to reach out to 500 lawyers with my sob story being just 11 months out of college and needing 2-3 lawyers to fight my case. Everyone was telling me they needed $50k by the following week to represent me. Luckily one lawyer took me on for a fraction of the price. He ended up telling me that they spent over $250k trying to sue me. I spent around my last $10k and finally told them I couldn’t even afford to fly out for depositions so they HAD to settle.
All the while I decided to move to a different city, sign a lease under old paystubs, and fight the lawsuit/build the company while draining every last dime I had over the year it took us to finally generate revenue. Our first deal closed on the 26th of December and the next week my $1300 rent + car payment was due. I had $220 in my bank account. Haven’t looked back ever since.
Signed a 10k/month industrial warehouse lease with only 3 months business runway in the bank, almost went bankrupt 3x in the first year but ended up getting a few more locations after a few years and thriving until selling the biz 10 years ago and retiring (in a way). Lots of luck and constant grinding.
Quit my management job when wife was 8 months pregnant with kid number 2. My businesses’s revenue was close to what my salary was so I was comfortable with the risk. It worked!
Dad, he heads a company that produces chemicals among other stuff. A machine that’s required in the process was only made my a single manufacturer in the world and they were charging far too much for it(quoted 15m USD for a few dozen units, when it shouldn’t cost more than 3-4m USD) after many rounds of negotiations, dad got pissed off and said, fine we don’t want to buy anything, we will figure out what to do next.
Now only 3 options remained, abandon project and lose hundreds of millions, design their own machine but be delayed by many years, commission the same to a Chinese company who would build the same machine for far less but risk possible industrial espionage and IP lawsuits.
Well the company came back to him and sold the machine at a much much lower rate, closer to what it’s supposed to cost, because they never expected anyone to reject a deal midway through a project, and they had far more to lose if the deal didn’t go through.
Shut down a business I had bootstrapped for 2 years because I couldn't see a path to growing it much more and I was tired of stressing about basic expenses. The risk was worth it - in my next business, I took venture capital backed and I now have a much better lifestyle.
Well, for life risks: I jump off buildings and cliffs, with a single parachute, for fun.
Business risks: I just switched to full commission 73 days into my first sales job, with only 450 bucks in my savings account. Getting an extra 2-6% though.
My business risks are pretty tame so far. But after years of being a want-repreneur, I only started to take it seriously a few months ago.
Riskiest thing I ever did was drop shipping, using facebook ads for the marketing. Entrepreneurship isn't at all like gambling, it's confirming exchange of real world value. Cheers
I used to traffic weed when it was illegal throughout the 90’s. I was risking my freedom to make money. I got a lot of therapy to quit and realized I was just an entrepreneur and needed to close that door to open the next.
I closed that chapter and was doing $2M in sales within 3 years and hit $20M 7 years after that. Then lost it all. Yes, all. Then rebuilt again smarter.
Risking money was easy after risking my freedom. Maybe too easy as I took many more financial risks. My GF thinks I have a missing synapse as I take risk beyond normal. I think it’s partly because of my past.
Became a silent investor in a business I had no clue about. It was a mouth swab testing facility. 75k investment. I saw no financials only bank statements, and I was just so confused around the business.
Lesson learned: never invest in something you have no idea about. Or seems confusing.
The positive? I got my money back thankfully.
Nothing that risky in all honesty. My first business I sunk only $50k. Made $5-6m over a few years.
Maybe buying several investment properties is riskier as each has $2-3m debt. But property is generally pretty safe unless the place is massively screwed.
Second business starting now sinking in around $500k. But potential to make millions again
Oh, sports definitely have their fair share of risky moments! The riskiest thing I’ve ever done was back in college when I decided to try out for the varsity basketball team, even though I had never played competitively before. Sounds crazy, right?
I had always enjoyed shooting hoops casually with friends, but I was far from being a star player. One day, a buddy of mine who was on the team convinced me to give it a shot. The tryouts were intense, and I was up against players who had been playing their whole lives. But I figured, why not take the plunge? The worst that could happen was not making the team, and the best-case scenario? Well, that was the dream!
I spent weeks training hard, practicing my shots, working on my stamina, and even watching game footage to understand strategies better. When the day of the tryouts came, I was a bundle of nerves. But I gave it my all, played my heart out, and left everything on the court. To my surprise and joy, I made the team!
It was an incredible experience being part of the team that season. We had some amazing victories and a few tough losses, but the camaraderie and the thrill of the game made it all worth it. That risk taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and taking chances, even when the odds aren't in my favor.
What about you? Ever taken a big risk in sports or anything else? I’d love to hear your story!
Oh, why on earth would anyone use ChatGPT to write a fake story? I mean, it's not like people have been telling stories since the dawn of time or anything. We should definitely reassess our lives for using a modern tool to do something humans have always done. Imagine the horror of using technology to unleash creativity or, heaven forbid, to entertain! It's not like storytelling is a fundamental part of human culture or a way to explore ideas and emotions. Nope, better stop and reevaluate everything right now! 🙄
spent over $5MM in real operating cash over the past few years to bootstrap and fund an ancillary software program to our technical service business. we could sure use the cash now but it's a long term play. scary AF to think about....
I took a chance on a sales business that involves involves in person sales which is super difficult. I started out as a sales rep and moved my way up, eventually starting my own biz. There are a lot of challenges to in person customer acquisition, especially if you do residential canvassing and there are plenty of people for whom it didn’t work but I am glad I took the initial step and allowed myself to decide. I didn’t have a cash up front investment so that made things easier for me, not as risky like a lot of others on this post. Total props to everyone who takes risk with their savings! You deserve every success.
get married
my wife is a rockstar and there are zero indications that point to not going the distance but on paper we have to acknowledge marriage is a win big or lose big proposition. thankfully we have always won big.
Took a huge loan. It was scary because the doubt started to creep in but everything worked out fine in the end. Almost done paying back the loan too, i should add.
Not me but my dad, and his two business partners all used their houses as collateral for a loan to pay their employees wages. Ended up selling the company for 8 figures in 2022.
The riskiest thing I've ever done was leaving a stable corporate job to pursue my dream of building a tech startup. I had a comfortable salary, benefits, and a clear career path, but I felt unfulfilled and knew I wanted more. I craved the thrill of creating something from scratch, so I leaped.
Starting my own company was like gambling with my future. There were moments of doubt and fear, but I pushed through, driven by my vision and passion. I remember the sleepless nights coding, the countless pitches to investors, and the nerve-wracking uncertainty of not knowing if the next month’s revenue would cover expenses. But the rewards – seeing my idea come to life, building a team, and watching our product make a real impact – made every risk worthwhile.
Hiring the right guys was important. I couldn't afford mistakes, and I needed people who believed in the mission as much as I did. I had a friend of mine share information with me about rocketdevs which connects startups with talented developers and I have been using the platform my devs hire and linkedin for the rest.
Left my job to start a business after a year of planning. Lived off my savings for a couple of years until I ended up accidentally starting another mini business that's keeping me afloat since the first one takes a while to get rolling just by nature of setting up the infrastructure.
It can be pretty terrifying watching your savings dwindle to a fraction of what they once were, even if you calculated it all out as an expected risk/cost.
Quit a salaried engineering job ($55k) at a big co to start a tech company. It worked out well when I sold the tech company to a fortune 500. Then I again quit that acquiring company… I had the money from the exit, so maybe less risk the second time? But the pay was $400k/year… with strong pathway to get to $600k in a few years, so maybe more risk the second time? Also had 3 kids by then. My wife hated it a lot more the second time. New co doing $6m a year, so it looks like the right call.
Not a story of mine, but my fathers. He was just a local diamond dealer. Buying and selling in a wholesale market. Tight margin. My father and his friend went to Dubai in 2000s just because it was recession and basically had nothing to do. Went there, met a local Sheikh in elevator. Sheikh introduced his friend who was a diamond wholesaler in Dubai.. no acquaintance. Nothing. He told father to supply some goods with 180-200 days due.
After coming back, he wanted to supply but was scared as well. How to place a trust with this many days due? Then he went YOLO like "what's there to lose anyway? I don't have money either way"
Over 20 years, and Dubai buyer is still one of the best and continues to buy from him.
I pitched an idea to IBM and they said if you can do the s*** that you just said we're in. the rest is history. my idea increased their sales by 79% in just 2 weeks. I was paid handsomely for the tech and then eventually they created the same tech and cut us out. the only good thing about that was that I know that most of the business IBM generates is based on my idea.
I walked away from corporate while I was on a solid track to focus on being happy and spending my life doing something I’d be proud of. Now, through a shit-ton of work and a lot of luck I’ve got a great company doing $10+ mil a year working with guys that are like family to me.
I still haven’t made up the lost corporate wages but it’s the best damn thing I’ve done, and I would trade the years of humiliating, physical work it took to get here.
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Can I ask what industry you are in to need a huge loan to keep the biz running?
Could very well be any industry , all business fail solely cause they ran out of cash to operate . Any business can need a loan
Someone downvoted you for asking a question which in my opinion was completely reasonable -updooted
Glad the odds were in your favor. May I ask how long ago was the loan and how long did it took you to get back up?
Perfect! Wish you all the best of luck.
Glad to hear that things worked out. What industry are you in?
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Shoo, no, bad dog. You’re not allowed on the threads.
Whoever coded your website has an error on the navigation bar. The icon has a mismatched background. Pretty standard website. I hope you’re not AI washing your startup. Seems like a template. Good luck to you and your journey.
My business partner and I were 23 and submitted a multi million dollar govcon bid in a foreign country. We had never done international business before but we were confident we could figure it out in the long shot event that we won. Fast forward a bit, through multiple rounds of talking to COs and clarifying our numbers, and they awarded us the bid. We had to fly out to Germany and live over there for two months and I am pretty sure I lost a couple of years off my life due to the stress, but we got it done. We hired 17 employees and 4 contractors to complete the contract. We had some funny meetings with old government workers, they told us they were expecting some executives to walk in and when we showed up their face was priceless. They were nervous at first but after we showed we knew our stuff they were at ease. We have had that contract for 5 years now and are going to re win it soon. But that contract was the catalyst for multiple other million dollar contracts and I’m glad we took the risk. Our company is in a great place now and we can travel as much as we want, which was our goal when we started.
I too saw wardogs
Great movie and david is a great guy to work with
How did you even get started in this field? What are the pre-requisites? How can another person start in such govcon contracts?
We got started when my business partner found a fema contract for his landscaping business. That started us looking into government contracts and the rest is history. You really just need an LLC and then you register on a website called Sam.gov if you’d like to take a look at my profile, feel free. We teamed up with David from War Dogs to help other people do this, it’s the community I always post in.
Very interesting, thanks the reply, appreciate it! Will check out your profile. Also, if I ever land a govcon, I will contact you again and thank you lol
Definitely come back and update! I’d love that
Holy crap, you’re the guys he partnered with from war dogs academy? I just listened to his soft white underbelly interview and heard about you guys. Congratulations on the success. I’m trying to get there with trading and it’s a field where 95% fail and is super stressful. My dream too is just to get to the level where I can travel. Cheers!
Yes that’s us! Thanks so much, and good luck!
Sincere question here. How does one know how to do all of that at age 23? I’m more than twice your age and I would have no idea.
Honestly, a lot of trial and error. We made a ton of mistakes along the way. It was basically the old trial by fire method of learning. Going back I definitely wish we had some kind of resource to lean on, but hey we made it!
Did you live at home with your folks? Seems like one would need some kind of financial backing. (Either way, great accomplishment!)
I wish! But no, I lived with two of my buddies. When I wasn’t making calls for the main business I had a pressure washing business. It was just a pressure washer and my car, but it enabled me to pay rent and pay for food!
Which industry lol i live in germany
K-Town, ansbach, Vilseck, and a few more around the south. We mainly fly into Frankfurt because that’s where our managers are! Edit: Sorry I realized I didn’t answer your question I thought you said where. We do commercial laundry.
Okay crazy! Thanks for the answer. What was the deal? You secured a multimillion dollar deal for commercial laundry from the gov in germany? I didnt quite get that.
So we operate troop collection points in 7 U.S. bases throughout Germany. The soldiers can come in and drop off their kits and we process them, have trucks come and pick up cages filled with everything, and then the contractors launder and return them for pickup.
Creative. I love reading stuff like this, helps me to think about uncommon things outside the box. Thank you for sharing all of this
Wow that’s awesome
My old professor, who sold his $60million company he helped start, said something along the lines of: “everyone says to be an entrepreneur, you must ‘risk it all’ to see success. However, in my experience, you really really want to reduce the amount of risk you have. Zero risk on doing something is better because you have everything to gain and nothing to lose - exactly what an entrepreneur wants” So I suppose it’s better to lower your risk than have this mentality of “risking it all”
Low risk is better than high risk?? See, that’s why HE’S the professor and we’re just workin’ folks
You clearly missed the "sold a 60M company" part
So because the commenter's professor sold a company for a lot of money, everyone should hear the commenter's ridiculously obvious and not at all responsive point that minimizing risk is good?
Not my point.
I don’t see your point, then. Nothing I said had anything to do with the professor’s finances or work history, so I don’t see why you think I “missed” that fact My point is that the question is, “what’s a big risk you took?” and the commenter’s comment was “actually it’s better to not take risks, holding upside equal.” That’s utter inanity.
If he's worth 60 mil, why is he working min wage as a professor??
Former programming instructor and current founder here. I love teaching. It was the most rewarding job I ever had. If at some point in the future, I'm older with a family and a good exit behind me I'd love to teach again. It would have nothing to do with the money, just simply something I enjoy deeply. I imagine that professor is in the same boat.
Started a company on something I barely knew about but would give me the flexibility to stay home with my kids. When there is a will, there’s a way
The CFO of my company likes to teach as a hobby, he gives 2 classes each semester at my local university. He doesn't do it for the money obviously , he enjoys passing all the knowledge for the future generations.
He helped start it. If he had investors and other owners, this might have only translated to like $5 million.
“Only”. Can I have only $3 million?
Left my corporate job without having any idea on what to do next. I am 24 and single, so figured if I cannot stomach taking a risk now, I will most likely work 9-5 for the rest of my life.
What are you doing now?
Working 9-5.
Why don’t you pursue a business venture on the side like say, weekends? Entrepreneurship doesn’t necessarily have to be full time.
Sounds like you just became jobless in a bad job market. What were you pursuing or studying on the side to supplement the income??
The best entrepreneurs I know are risk reducers, not risk takers.
Risk definitely got me started, but I’ve been able to keep it going for a decade because of lack of risk.
YES
Indeed. When I quit my corporate job and started my own company, the primary motivation was getting control of my time and health so I can be around for my kids. I have lost over 80 pounds, reducing risk to health, and indirectly, long term risk of my human capital.
Talked to a girl
Let's take this risk everyday !!!!!
Idk if I’m brave enough… I do it when I feel like I want something extreme.
The biggest risk ever!
It’s actually the smallest risk ever because you have nothing to lose
\*gets publicly humiliated\*
inb4 glances at the sexual harassment firing/arrest stats
You are brave!
Took a $70K credit card loan during COVID, started an e-commerce company, made profits and paid the loan in 1.5 years and then sold it to my competitor on the 2 year mark for $250K, with COVID ending i started to see a very negative trend in sales, so i got out just in time (Amazon discovered my niche and started selling all of my products). Paid off the rest of my house and car with that money, i am currently debt free.
What were the products your company sold?
Skincare niche, it wasnt popular in my country in 2020, and the market got exponentially bigger during the lockdowns.
Why that much money to start? What were you selling?
Buying in bulk for huge margins, skincare niche, online in 2020 and opened a mortar store at the end of 2021.
Taking a 55k loan to buy 50% of a cell phone repair store when I had never owned a business or repaired a cell phone. Best decision I ever made though. Luckily I was young and dumb enough to do it
Gave a guy a cashiers check for a few hundred grand to buy a house unseen and got a deed from a hillbilly that he obviously just typed up in word, with multiple misspellings. Got to the house and met the water company to turn on the water and first thing he says "yall fix all dem leaks?" 10k in plumbing repairs later and got water. 100k in other repairs and now bringing in over 100k/year from it. The county sent me the deed certified so I guess it worked out
so you got lucky? i wouldnt say that was a calculated risk
Not luck I took a risk to buy it based on photos and people's word. Took risk there wasn't a contested deed and all above board. US marshals siezed the property and it sat for 8 years
You make $100,000 a year from the house?
Airbnb. 575-775 a night and rents like every weekend 3 night minimum. Rented it a couple winters for 8k/mo for construction company.
can i ask where the house is located and size to be charging that rate?
It's on atv trails I the mountains. It's only 4bd but will be 6 at some point. 1 bd was converted into master closet and other had water damage in basement so need to refinish. Its pretty huge with a pool. Other house I have in same area is 11bdrm and rents for 100 more per night. Not nearly as nice but a lot better and cheaper than a hotel if you have friends
Calculated risks with willingness to lose Not random chance with disastrous consequences
Started my company in an old school Ivy-league industry, got sued by my previous employer under false non compete terms in Deleware (the lawsuit got expedited). I had to reach out to 500 lawyers with my sob story being just 11 months out of college and needing 2-3 lawyers to fight my case. Everyone was telling me they needed $50k by the following week to represent me. Luckily one lawyer took me on for a fraction of the price. He ended up telling me that they spent over $250k trying to sue me. I spent around my last $10k and finally told them I couldn’t even afford to fly out for depositions so they HAD to settle. All the while I decided to move to a different city, sign a lease under old paystubs, and fight the lawsuit/build the company while draining every last dime I had over the year it took us to finally generate revenue. Our first deal closed on the 26th of December and the next week my $1300 rent + car payment was due. I had $220 in my bank account. Haven’t looked back ever since.
Damn Congrats!
Nairobi
I started a business in Nairobi as well!
Thats less risky than what I was referring to 😂 Im in Nakuru now but DM me. Would like to know more. Starting some things here too now… maybe
Signed a 10k/month industrial warehouse lease with only 3 months business runway in the bank, almost went bankrupt 3x in the first year but ended up getting a few more locations after a few years and thriving until selling the biz 10 years ago and retiring (in a way). Lots of luck and constant grinding.
Constant grinding is everything
Quit my management job when wife was 8 months pregnant with kid number 2. My businesses’s revenue was close to what my salary was so I was comfortable with the risk. It worked!
155mph on a motorcycle - no hands
Dad, he heads a company that produces chemicals among other stuff. A machine that’s required in the process was only made my a single manufacturer in the world and they were charging far too much for it(quoted 15m USD for a few dozen units, when it shouldn’t cost more than 3-4m USD) after many rounds of negotiations, dad got pissed off and said, fine we don’t want to buy anything, we will figure out what to do next. Now only 3 options remained, abandon project and lose hundreds of millions, design their own machine but be delayed by many years, commission the same to a Chinese company who would build the same machine for far less but risk possible industrial espionage and IP lawsuits. Well the company came back to him and sold the machine at a much much lower rate, closer to what it’s supposed to cost, because they never expected anyone to reject a deal midway through a project, and they had far more to lose if the deal didn’t go through.
I work as a system integrator. If you have a similar issue or any automation needs I’d love to help out next time.
Shut down a business I had bootstrapped for 2 years because I couldn't see a path to growing it much more and I was tired of stressing about basic expenses. The risk was worth it - in my next business, I took venture capital backed and I now have a much better lifestyle.
Well, for life risks: I jump off buildings and cliffs, with a single parachute, for fun. Business risks: I just switched to full commission 73 days into my first sales job, with only 450 bucks in my savings account. Getting an extra 2-6% though. My business risks are pretty tame so far. But after years of being a want-repreneur, I only started to take it seriously a few months ago.
Riskiest thing I ever did was drop shipping, using facebook ads for the marketing. Entrepreneurship isn't at all like gambling, it's confirming exchange of real world value. Cheers
I used to traffic weed when it was illegal throughout the 90’s. I was risking my freedom to make money. I got a lot of therapy to quit and realized I was just an entrepreneur and needed to close that door to open the next. I closed that chapter and was doing $2M in sales within 3 years and hit $20M 7 years after that. Then lost it all. Yes, all. Then rebuilt again smarter. Risking money was easy after risking my freedom. Maybe too easy as I took many more financial risks. My GF thinks I have a missing synapse as I take risk beyond normal. I think it’s partly because of my past.
Got married. Build a small fortune then she took half.
Invested in DITO stocks during the pandemic was one of the riskiest yet one of the best decisions I made.
Became a silent investor in a business I had no clue about. It was a mouth swab testing facility. 75k investment. I saw no financials only bank statements, and I was just so confused around the business. Lesson learned: never invest in something you have no idea about. Or seems confusing. The positive? I got my money back thankfully.
Everybody here took risks you can measure with money but most importantly with time.
Nothing that risky in all honesty. My first business I sunk only $50k. Made $5-6m over a few years. Maybe buying several investment properties is riskier as each has $2-3m debt. But property is generally pretty safe unless the place is massively screwed. Second business starting now sinking in around $500k. But potential to make millions again
Oh, sports definitely have their fair share of risky moments! The riskiest thing I’ve ever done was back in college when I decided to try out for the varsity basketball team, even though I had never played competitively before. Sounds crazy, right? I had always enjoyed shooting hoops casually with friends, but I was far from being a star player. One day, a buddy of mine who was on the team convinced me to give it a shot. The tryouts were intense, and I was up against players who had been playing their whole lives. But I figured, why not take the plunge? The worst that could happen was not making the team, and the best-case scenario? Well, that was the dream! I spent weeks training hard, practicing my shots, working on my stamina, and even watching game footage to understand strategies better. When the day of the tryouts came, I was a bundle of nerves. But I gave it my all, played my heart out, and left everything on the court. To my surprise and joy, I made the team! It was an incredible experience being part of the team that season. We had some amazing victories and a few tough losses, but the camaraderie and the thrill of the game made it all worth it. That risk taught me the importance of stepping out of my comfort zone and taking chances, even when the odds aren't in my favor. What about you? Ever taken a big risk in sports or anything else? I’d love to hear your story!
Why on earth would you use chat gpt to write a fake story? If a human is reading this please reassess your entire life.
Oh, why on earth would anyone use ChatGPT to write a fake story? I mean, it's not like people have been telling stories since the dawn of time or anything. We should definitely reassess our lives for using a modern tool to do something humans have always done. Imagine the horror of using technology to unleash creativity or, heaven forbid, to entertain! It's not like storytelling is a fundamental part of human culture or a way to explore ideas and emotions. Nope, better stop and reevaluate everything right now! 🙄
Spending 30K on a business idea on just a hunch it will work out. I'll let you know how after I actually launch.
goodluck
Eating sushi that kind of had a smell to it. The risk did not pay off
spent over $5MM in real operating cash over the past few years to bootstrap and fund an ancillary software program to our technical service business. we could sure use the cash now but it's a long term play. scary AF to think about....
I took a chance on a sales business that involves involves in person sales which is super difficult. I started out as a sales rep and moved my way up, eventually starting my own biz. There are a lot of challenges to in person customer acquisition, especially if you do residential canvassing and there are plenty of people for whom it didn’t work but I am glad I took the initial step and allowed myself to decide. I didn’t have a cash up front investment so that made things easier for me, not as risky like a lot of others on this post. Total props to everyone who takes risk with their savings! You deserve every success.
get married my wife is a rockstar and there are zero indications that point to not going the distance but on paper we have to acknowledge marriage is a win big or lose big proposition. thankfully we have always won big.
Probably quit my well-paying aerospace 9-5 to scale two companies at once.
Sold my car, started my business stayed home for 3 years made the money but now have agoraphobia and crazy anxiety🤣💀
one of the riskiest things I've ever done was grab a downed wire that didn't look live
Started a business !
Trade options
Took a huge loan. It was scary because the doubt started to creep in but everything worked out fine in the end. Almost done paying back the loan too, i should add.
Not me but my dad, and his two business partners all used their houses as collateral for a loan to pay their employees wages. Ended up selling the company for 8 figures in 2022.
Im afraid to say that publicly
Sex at the CN tower washroom is the riskiest thing I've done 🫡
Overleverage on a Small Fund, By trying to gamble on Certain Moves which costed me a Median Loss
Do you mean “Cant be an Entrepreneur if you dont take risk”? I think.
This post is sus. Another ad for someone’s startup. Mods on this sub seem asleep as this has been going on
Sold everything I had and moved my family to a small island off the coast of Honduras to start a construction company.
Not believing in myself. It's tanked me a few times. Especially, my first business.
I jumped in a dam without knowing it's depth. But I knew my brother and other friends are there to save because I don't know to swim..
Sold my house to fund my first SaaS venture.
The riskiest thing I've ever done was leaving a stable corporate job to pursue my dream of building a tech startup. I had a comfortable salary, benefits, and a clear career path, but I felt unfulfilled and knew I wanted more. I craved the thrill of creating something from scratch, so I leaped. Starting my own company was like gambling with my future. There were moments of doubt and fear, but I pushed through, driven by my vision and passion. I remember the sleepless nights coding, the countless pitches to investors, and the nerve-wracking uncertainty of not knowing if the next month’s revenue would cover expenses. But the rewards – seeing my idea come to life, building a team, and watching our product make a real impact – made every risk worthwhile. Hiring the right guys was important. I couldn't afford mistakes, and I needed people who believed in the mission as much as I did. I had a friend of mine share information with me about rocketdevs which connects startups with talented developers and I have been using the platform my devs hire and linkedin for the rest.
I turned down a $25m offer.
Left my job to start a business after a year of planning. Lived off my savings for a couple of years until I ended up accidentally starting another mini business that's keeping me afloat since the first one takes a while to get rolling just by nature of setting up the infrastructure. It can be pretty terrifying watching your savings dwindle to a fraction of what they once were, even if you calculated it all out as an expected risk/cost.
Have sex with different women without a condom
Quit a salaried engineering job ($55k) at a big co to start a tech company. It worked out well when I sold the tech company to a fortune 500. Then I again quit that acquiring company… I had the money from the exit, so maybe less risk the second time? But the pay was $400k/year… with strong pathway to get to $600k in a few years, so maybe more risk the second time? Also had 3 kids by then. My wife hated it a lot more the second time. New co doing $6m a year, so it looks like the right call.
Riskiest risk......: kissing a hooker on the mouth!
*I once crossed EDSA during rush hour. It felt like a real-life game of Frogger with my life on the line.*
chased a bunch of boars with a bottle of 1942 in my hand.
Not a story of mine, but my fathers. He was just a local diamond dealer. Buying and selling in a wholesale market. Tight margin. My father and his friend went to Dubai in 2000s just because it was recession and basically had nothing to do. Went there, met a local Sheikh in elevator. Sheikh introduced his friend who was a diamond wholesaler in Dubai.. no acquaintance. Nothing. He told father to supply some goods with 180-200 days due. After coming back, he wanted to supply but was scared as well. How to place a trust with this many days due? Then he went YOLO like "what's there to lose anyway? I don't have money either way" Over 20 years, and Dubai buyer is still one of the best and continues to buy from him.
Married a latin woman
Taking the leap of faith to start my own business was the riskiest thing I've ever done.
I pitched an idea to IBM and they said if you can do the s*** that you just said we're in. the rest is history. my idea increased their sales by 79% in just 2 weeks. I was paid handsomely for the tech and then eventually they created the same tech and cut us out. the only good thing about that was that I know that most of the business IBM generates is based on my idea.
I jumped across a 10 foot gap between buildings and made the jump. Death otherwise
Well the riskiest is the pullout method hahaha yup don’t work all the time but risky
I walked away from corporate while I was on a solid track to focus on being happy and spending my life doing something I’d be proud of. Now, through a shit-ton of work and a lot of luck I’ve got a great company doing $10+ mil a year working with guys that are like family to me. I still haven’t made up the lost corporate wages but it’s the best damn thing I’ve done, and I would trade the years of humiliating, physical work it took to get here.
I sold my kidney to save my company
Invested everything I had into myself. Huge risk but it paid off
I was slightly dissapointed that it didn't read "what's the riskiest risk you risked"
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did she end up getting preg?
Bought a house before selling my current one. 100% do not recommend.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky
You miss 90% of the shots you take blindfolded.
Did you ended up selling your old now?
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it wasnt , you didnt even learn trading before you went blowing money .