From Fail to prevail

I started writing my first book when I was 9 years old, but never finished it.

At that time, my parents also took me to piano lessons.

However, as a millennial, I was never the Mozart type of genius, so by the time they got divorced I was already way more interested in girls and sports than culture.

I stayed with my mom and one day the school director called her for parent counseling.

I had low grades and lots of missed classes.

All I was doing was going out and playing soccer with my friends.

Seeing her ashamed of her son made me seriously think about the future!

I stopped fooling around and got back for the final 2 years of high school.

It was almost too late.

I had to sacrifice a lot in order to compensate for all the previous years of disinterest in school.

I skipped my friends, my girlfriends, and my workouts.

It was time to face all that I was previously avoiding – hardcore studying.

Before – during the weekends I was track racing.

Now – I had to do math and perspective drawings of the 3 greek orders.

Sports taught me how to grind, but education showed me how to turn my grind into something meaningful.

All my friends forgot about me while they were having fun, but during that time I graduated from architecture school with honors.

3 months later I got accepted into university.

For the following 9 years, I continued evolving and studying for my master’s and doctorate degrees.

I became a product of a new environment.

My eyes were on the prize!

Things without sustainability in time I skipped.

Later when my business was struggling to deliver, I was constantly looking for the most valuable information I could provide my leads with!

This is my understanding of being professional.

Once I was recognized as a passionate professional – my leads never gave up their trust in me.

I had leverage for them!

The difference between a contact and a contract is in the relationship and what is real will always prosper!

I guess the devil is in the details.

I`ve decided to take the time and write my story with the belief it will inspire you to achieve more in life!

Here is the short story of how I made it my business to know:

Move Fast and Break Stuff

It was during 3rd year in university that I first got interested in technology and business.

Since ancient times architects had to be good at doing math, perspective drawings, and sculpting.

Nowadays it is all about mastering BIM, 3d modeling, and CGIs.

I used to be bad at all three, so to speed up my workflow, I bought ready-made 3d models and decorated my 3d scenes with them.

The Archi Viz Industry was just starting to get traction, so I kept researching and flipping 3d models.

At that time, all 3d models were modeled by independent designers and sold through community marketplaces.

First, the designers were scraping photographs of the physical object.

Then arrange the images as orthographic projections.

When the front, back, top, bottom, left, and right views were arranged that was enough to reverse engineer the 2d photographs back into a 3d geometry.

Add a few textured maps and the model is ready for photorealistic rendering!

At that time this sounded like rocket science to me.

This process known as photogrammetry is fully automated now.

Listening to the wind of change

Even when the product was ready for market, the old-school warehouse stores had to purchase, ship, and photograph each product prior to selling.

In the meantime, a skilled 3d designer was able to sell simultaneously with a press of a button!

At that time Bitcoin started becoming a thing, while NFTs was not even a term yet!

Models of bolts or screws were priced 10x their physical value as 3d files.

Everyone was after photorealism in their renders.

Without the correct bolts, the render was different compared to the original physical product.

You had to either pay for or model such details.

For me, time is more valuable than money, so I preferred buying to modeling.

I was looking for a business opportunity, not just to learn the craft.

However, it was obvious to me that once the 3d geometry is built, the possibilities are endless!

As a Ph.D. student in the department of “Interior and Product Design”, I was working closely with manufacturers in the furnishing industry.

I was researching everything from floor tiles to kitchen appliances, wallpapers, lighting, etc.

Most of the companies in the interior design industry were still selling through 2d paper catalogs.

This was long before Instagram.

At that time I even had to go to annual design conferences in Milan to get limited access to catalogs from premium manufacturers.

It crossed my mind to offer them a service for placing signature 3d collections on the digital market.

I saw in this the potential to exponentially bring more customers, lower the cost of marketing, and higher profit margins.

I started pitching this idea about a new marketplace for interior products where you can order the physical product, but also buy the 3d models.

A community forum and marketplace for the whole niche.

Unfortunately, at that time, I was only capable of modeling the products but wasn`t skilled enough to build anything even close to a cloud-based website.

I was also incapable of running persuasive marketing campaigns.

All I had was guerilla marketing experience from my graffiti years.

Still, I managed to sell the idea and signed a couple of contracts for 3d modeling services.

code is Gold

Once the modeling was done all I had to do was to send the files via email.

No physical products.

No shipping.

Just a press of a button!

However, we were working hard and still couldn`t scale it.

I had to face the truth that my startup was not optimized and is going to fail.

I had lessons to learn.

At that time I just moved out from living with my mom and started renovating an old apartment that became my new home/office.

While I was renovating each room I remembered something I was observing at university:

A room gets character from the equipment inside!

And then I saw an opportunity to pivot from B2B to B2C.

With my architectural practice, I was capable of becoming a digital distributor for such equipment products.

I remembered that the furniture companies I was previously targeting, already had customers interested in architecture and interior design.

The companies got me introduced to their leads.

I finally had leverage.

I was capable of showcasing the products in a unique visual context for achieving a higher conversion rate.

I started freelancing by offering the following:

1. Architecture Layouts
2. Construction Layouts
3. Photorealistic Exterior and Interior Rendering
4. BOQ Form

This digital package became my MVP.

Soon this approach started getting traction.

I was hired for designing private villas, 5-star lobbies, swimming pools, living rooms, etc.

Still, I procrastinated in building a professional website, while my marketing was based on word of mouth.

The lack of automation started becoming a problem again!

For everything, I had to be there.

I was affiliated through excel sheets, not through links.

I had to speak with each client on the phone, meet him personally, and discuss variants, prices, colors, etc.

Then place his order, generate his invoice, and then wait for payments.

I was enjoying working with clients and other professionals, however, this process was again impossible to scale.

I didn`t learn my lesson the first time and was approaching business from the wrong angle again!

Work was never-ending.

I was either on the road or drawing and modeling 3d scenes in the studio.

I didn`t have any free time.

My girlfriend got pissed at me for being constantly busy and we broke up!

In a matter of months, I gained weight and burned out.

Stressed out, I decided to take a break from business and invest all back into even more learning.

There was just too much drama at that point in my life and I had to take control of my financial future as soon as possible.

So I finished all currently contracted jobs and got out of business.

Maybe my future was corporate?

As I grew up without a father, sports were my father.

Running, cycling, kickboxing, rowing, swimming, and weightlifting were my favorite sports.

Sports taught me that there is no point in giving up.

So after all fell apart, I knew I had to keep going, no matter what!

But first, I had to get back in shape.

A strong body makes the mind strong!

So, in order to get back in shape, I started working out again.

The training sessions helped me focus, relax and correct my toxic eating and sleeping habits.

I started fasting every day for 16 hours.

To this day I still do it.

It was life-changing for me!

Atlas shrugged!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10!

I was counting the reps.

I was climbing the steps.

My body followed!

Ever wondered what is the sole purpose of the Bible?

To start the count!

Counting keeps humanity motivated to keep moving forward!

Anyway, I started healing from within – The fat was on fire!

With losing fat I was gaining muscle and my testosterone levels spiked!

I started winning against myself.

This time it was my career that followed!

I applied for a few jobs and started testing angles for my career.

At some point, my resume included experience in the fields of real estate, design and product development, customer care, marketing, and trading.

I was beginning to understand how business works!

One day, I was invited to join the sales team for a crypto startup.

I knew about the potential of blockchain and accepted the job right away…

Everything seemed perfect!

I had a futuristic job, a spacious office, and new friends!

1 year in and I was bringing in the most sales.

My approach and presentation skills earned this company millions.

As the company was growing, I was receiving big commissions.

This didn`t go unnoticed by my supervisors, as their salary was fixed.

They saw this as an overnight success, even though It took me 7+ years to build my expertise.

Envy began to creep into their hearts, and drama knocked on the office door.

I understood that no corporate job will ever allow me to reach the scale I was after in life without having to compromise with myself.

As a result, I got demoted.

All of this was actually very fun for me.

I`ve been competing all my life in sports and in school.

Through all of this, I started recognizing people and where I stand in society.

I knew my worth!

How good I am and how bad I am of course, but I knew what I deserve!

What my skills are.

What my flaws are.

As humans, we are defined by rituals – certain things we do every day!

So, these people tried to subjugate the lion in me by demoting me and making me feel less every day little by little.

Right there I packed my stuff and quit.