Bootstrapped entrepreneur, technologist, and investor.

I’m a bootstrapped entrepreneur, technologist, and investor. From 2009 to 2020, I worked with a team to build a platform utilized by hundreds of millions of users over the last decade generating nearly $100M in revenue as my time as CEO. I still sit on the board of the company as it continues along its journey. Today, I am an investor and actively exploring my next company.

 

You May Have Seen Me On…

You may have seen me on (2).png

Me… in a nutshell

Dljbk76p_400x400.jpeg

Bootstrapped Entrepreneur That Just Doesn’t Quit

I started my first successful company at 17 with a $200 investment that I barely scrapped together. I saved up the profits from my first company, while continuing and completing my college education as a first generation college student. 

As a first generation American, my parents instilled values in me that have been key drivers of my success:

  • perseverance

  • determination

  • discipline

  • passion

  • ethics

At 19, I parlayed that success into my second company, Adscend Media. Within 18 months of founding, we hit an 8 figure revenue run rate. Again, bootstrapped and totally debt free. Of course, Adscend Media is nothing like it was in 2009. In 2021, Adscend is mostly a holding company compromised of rewarded platform assets that all work to grow together. During our existence, we’ve turned down countless offers for acquisition. We have a plan, and we’re sticking to it. As of 2024, I am on the board of the company.

Today, I am working on my next company. Stay tuned.

Long Term Fundamental Investor

As I generated increasing profits from my companies, I’ve deployed a large amount of capital into assets across real estate, private investments, public investments, etc. since 2011.

Over the years, I’ve also clearly defined my investing style: Fundamental Investing. As a fundamental investor, I seek to understand a business from the inside out and ultimately the appropriate valuation that drives a business. Whether it’s a fast growing startup or a mature company, I try to identify margins of safety and invest for a long term hold. As a fundamental investor, I don’t limit myself to value or growth companies, I just care a lot about the valuation I invest at along with the moat of the company. I also keep an eye across the world, with a significant number of assets deployed into emerging markets.

I further drive my investing thesis by assessing the macroeconomic environment and investing accordingly. Given that economics is a great passion of mine, I genuinely enjoy this and it comes in handy. 

As an investor the last 10 years, I’ve had a chance to see my fair share of corrections and recession scares. As a founder, I’ve had my chance to see my fair share of nearly company killing events as well, and a chance to also recover from it stronger than before. So, I always keep my eye on the ball. 

My all time favorite investors:

Ray Dalio, Warren Buffet, Charlie Munger, Peter Lynch, Joel Greenblatt, Benjamin Graham, John Bogle

AdobeStock_423044511.jpeg

What’s Next?

Like most, I do believe software will continue to eat the world. I am staying focused on software in industries that I understand and know well.

As my time as co-founder & CEO of a rewarded ad platform company, I had a chance to really understand incentives, virtual currencies, transactional security, how to build an entirely new marketplace many times over, how to lead with technologically driven competitive advantages, and ultimately what makes people tick. I also had a chance to do this at scale, overseeing many billions of transactions.

As I explore my next startup, I’m also investing in young companies where I can provide value in addition to capital. 

Let’s Connect?