4 ms·

I was a #2. Ask me anything!

umeshunni 8y ago
How did you end up in that situation and how did you get out of it? Were there friends or family that could help out and if so, why didn't they?
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  This was in 2009. At the end of 2008 when startup financing dried up, I ended up with pretty much no income. I was recruiting on an hourly basis, and I couldn't find a new contract. I had about $50K saved up to pay taxes and an S.F. studio apartment, and I decided to live off that money & try starting a startup. A year later I had no money and no apartment. I could have stayed with my parents in the burbs of L.A., but I figured I would have gotten stuck in an area where there even less opportunity. I ended up floor surfing at a cheap place here in San Francisco, the Harcourt Hotel at 1105 Larkin St. Basically I made newer friends faster that my new the friends didn't want me crashing with them anymore.
senectus1 8y ago
so assuming you had no savings, no open line of credit and no family to lean on... how did you get out from that? Also did you have any dependencies? What were your leanings from the experience?
- PopeDotNinja 8y ago
  After a couple months of being homeless, an old client of mine called up and asked if I could help with some work. I said yes, but also said that I wasn't in a position to do work now and wait for an invoice to get paid. They have me a $5000 advance. $1000 went to bring the balance of my overdrawn checking account up to zero. $2500 went to paying rent for a couple months at a relatively cheap hotel. About $1000 went to expenses related to filling the job, and I scraped together a couple months of food on yhe last $500. It all worked out. My business took off from there with a lot of luck, hard work, producing results, and getting referrals. I sold that business a couple years later, and used that money to learn how to play developer for moniez :) I'm not sure what you mean by dependencies, but I had no dependents/kids to care for & I was not dependent on drugs. I did drink a little more than I should at the time, but it wasn't ever too bad. The number one lesson I learned is to not run out of cash. Life is 100x easier when you have a little money. If you don't believe me, try to see how much you can buy with $20 vs getting someone to give you $20 :)

How did you end up in that situation and how did you get out of it? Were there friends or family that could help out and if so, why didn't they?

PopeDotNinja 8y ago
This was in 2009. At the end of 2008 when startup financing dried up, I ended up with pretty much no income. I was recruiting on an hourly basis, and I couldn't find a new contract. I had about $50K saved up to pay taxes and an S.F. studio apartment, and I decided to live off that money & try starting a startup. A year later I had no money and no apartment. I could have stayed with my parents in the burbs of L.A., but I figured I would have gotten stuck in an area where there even less opportunity. I ended up floor surfing at a cheap place here in San Francisco, the Harcourt Hotel at 1105 Larkin St. Basically I made newer friends faster that my new the friends didn't want me crashing with them anymore.

senectus1 8y ago

so assuming you had no savings, no open line of credit and no family to lean on... how did you get out from that? Also did you have any dependencies? What were your leanings from the experience?

PopeDotNinja 8y ago
After a couple months of being homeless, an old client of mine called up and asked if I could help with some work. I said yes, but also said that I wasn't in a position to do work now and wait for an invoice to get paid. They have me a $5000 advance. $1000 went to bring the balance of my overdrawn checking account up to zero. $2500 went to paying rent for a couple months at a relatively cheap hotel. About $1000 went to expenses related to filling the job, and I scraped together a couple months of food on yhe last $500. It all worked out. My business took off from there with a lot of luck, hard work, producing results, and getting referrals. I sold that business a couple years later, and used that money to learn how to play developer for moniez :) I'm not sure what you mean by dependencies, but I had no dependents/kids to care for & I was not dependent on drugs. I did drink a little more than I should at the time, but it wasn't ever too bad. The number one lesson I learned is to not run out of cash. Life is 100x easier when you have a little money. If you don't believe me, try to see how much you can buy with $20 vs getting someone to give you $20 :)