27 years old and NW is $15 million

Sep 24, 2021 217 Comments

Hello fellow Blinders,

That’s right. You read the title correct. I’m 27 and just hit a net worth of $15 million. I can’t even believe I typed that out. I don’t really like to brag to my friends or family but I felt safe posting this on blind.

Before you ask how I accomplished this, I got EXTREMELY lucky. Through personal connections, I joined Upstart as a new grad software engineer when I was 23 (at a time when they were only hiring senior engineers). I was given 52,000 stock options with a fairly low strike price. Well, UPST just hit $300 this past week and I sold all those options. I became an instant multi-millionaire.

Am I going to retire? Probably not. I’m studying for the GMAT as I want to get into the venture capitalist scene. But it’s nice knowing I don’t have to ever worry about financial security.

This post was inspired by a fellow Upstart employee Blind post that said his net worth is now $16 million because of Upstart stock. Decided to share my own new net worth as well.

Sometimes I laugh at all these FIRE posts from FAANG employees. The real way to FIRE is to join a hot pre-IPO company that you know is going to be successful. Why are so many people hung up on getting FAANG jobs for “prestige”, I don’t know.

Old TC: $150k
New TC: none

Edit: Ok, the FAANG FIRE part came off as a little condescending. I just don’t understand why people are chasing FAANG for financial security when the startup scene offers a higher reward when you know the startup is going to be successful from basic research.

Edit 2: This thread has made me realized a lot of people like to play it safe. And this is ok. But playing safe will never net you life changing money that people think FIRE will get you towards. High risk entails high reward.

#personalfinance #investments #startup #upstart

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TOP 217 Comments
  • Amazon
    Freakstyle

    Go to company page Amazon

    BIO
    Not giving any bio to you, Blind.
    Freakstyle
    Shut the fuck up. You lucked out like one in a million. It doesn't mean FIRE planning is a joke. In terms of skills, you are still a fucking junior. No need to keep bragging so much.
    Sep 24, 2021 15
  • Snap
    TaxIsTheft

    Go to company page Snap

    TaxIsTheft
    Congrats and fuck you
    Sep 24, 2021 6
    • @Facebook I already said I didn’t want to make a new blind account and didn’t want to use my upstart email
      Sep 24, 2021
    • New / Finance
      rushray100

      New Finance

      rushray100
      This is a popular r/wsb term. OP you are actually being praised. Congrats and fuck you.
      Sep 24, 2021
  • Stripe
    xkwY85

    Go to company page Stripe

    xkwY85
    “Sometimes I laugh at all these FIRE posts from FAANG employees. The real way to FIRE is to join a hot pre-IPO company that you know is going to be successful.”

    Lol. Do you have a crystal ball?
    Sep 24, 2021 9
    • Cisco
      BMgs83

      Go to company page Cisco

      BMgs83
      the phrase "even the VCs" is sort of funny to me. I've met some VCs and mentally they can be a total joke. They're VCs because they have a bunch of cash

      I actually think an engineer on the ground, with good intuition (not most of them), could pick better
      Sep 25, 2021
    • Google
      calm swe

      Go to company page Google

      calm swe
      Lots of engineer turned VCs as well.
      Sep 26, 2021
  • Roku
    crueIla

    Go to company page Roku

    crueIla
    “I got EXTREMELY lucky”

    A little bit later

    “join a hot ptr-IPO company that you know is going to be successful”

    Do you not see the contradiction there?
    Sep 24, 2021 7
    • Google / Eng
      bigtitZ

      Go to company page Google Eng

      bigtitZ
      @op what happened to you is only 1% about your "gut feeling" and 99% about luck. I understand you want to convince yourself the other way round, but that is super arrogant of you. Admit that percentage and people will actually enjoy your post.
      Sep 25, 2021
    • Amazon
      jumpshit

      Go to company page Amazon

      jumpshit
      "I got extremely lucky" followed by "through personal connections". It's luck, privilege and ofcourse the talent. Like OP said they can't still believe their net worth.

      The realization will come after few years. Let OP have their moment.
      Sep 26, 2021
  • Apple
    yourass

    Go to company page Apple

    BIO
    Technoking
    yourass
    Jesus f’ing Christ! I hope OP’s advice does not stick.

    And I wish OP’s life goes somewhere where they can learn true life lessons.

    Can you figure if a startup is going to be successful based on basic research as OP claims? No you can’t. Otherwise why would venture capitalists work so hard and diversify so much…

    What a pile of shit in this post man.

    Getting into FANG+ is basically equivalent to doing ETF investing strategy. Just buy VOO and forget about it.

    What your describing is more like doing basic research on penny stocks, go all in, and hope to get rich out of it. Sure some people will get rich, but there’s a lot more that will not.
    Sep 24, 2021 6