So This is What it Feels Like to Be a Millionaire

At around this time last year, my cofounders and I were talking about whether we should start another company together.

Me: “We should start a mobile development consultancy. People want mobile apps, and they pay. It would be very profitable.”

Nick + Scott: “That’s boring, we already have income from our first startup, let’s do something that’s higher risk.”

We kept arguing back and forth until Nick finally cut short one of my fiscally conservative diatribes, “George, what would you do if you had $5M in the bank right now?”

“I guess I would take some time off, travel the world with my wife for a few months, and then maybe return and buy a sports car.”

“Okay, you can afford to do those things now. What next?” Nick prodded.

“I dunno, I’d probably be back here talking with you guys about starting a company.” I said.

“Okay,” Nick said, “would you care whether the new company was super-profitable?”

I paused for a moment. “I guess not, it would be more important for me to be working on something exciting.”

“Right,” said Nick with satisfaction, “so you’re basically already a millionaire.”

He was right: even though I don’t have FU money, can’t retire early, can’t afford a ridiculous sports car or a mansion in the hills, for all practical purposes I know what it’s like to be a millionaire. And as this recent HN thread suggests, there’s really only one big difference: freedom. I’m using that freedom to teach the world to code.