How I Built a Business While Learning to Code

I combined my passions for finance, education and gaming and found a career.

I build things for a living. I’m a developer/educator/entrepreneur that’s been working on — and finally completed — a financial education game. It’s not easy, and I had to make some tough decisions, including learning how to code, scrapping a few prototypes, and backing away from a lucrative career while putting my savings on the line to pursue my dreams.

Goodbye Investment Banking

I knew that giving up investment banking would mean sacrificing some serious perks. Becoming a full-time entrepreneur meant that I would likely be trading overpriced lattes for stale cups of coffee.

But it only took one company presentation to make me realize I needed to find a different path. A first-year banking analyst described her experience:

“My company cares for me — they give me time to do laundry and things like that.”.

The hell with that — I’m out. What a scary perspective — that something as simple as having time to do your laundry should be a gift. It’s not an uncommon belief, I’m sure. In investment banking, the hours never end, and while some may find that it’s their lifelong passion, most are just in it for the money.