Thanks HN, I'm changing my life (In London?)
I don't write or share much here on HN but I read a lot and found that a lot of you (not just the "big names") have very cool ideas to share which made me grow both as an entrepreneur and as an individual.
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Less then 2 weeks ago I read a couple of posts by Ryan Waggoner about habits ( http://ryanwaggoner.com/2010/07/more-on-habits/ ). I just can't say enough about how much habits are powerful now that I tried them.
I ordered the book, started reading it but more important started my own habits.
It's only been 9 days but I haven't missed one and because one of my habit was "write a page of my book or a blog post each day" I wrote a post that got me a contact for a big client (45+ MIL euro yearly revenue, my usual clients are under 5 MIL revenue) that wants a web marketing project.
Also, the book is finally getting written, after 6 months of procrastination.
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Some months ago I casually contacted Sebastian Marshall (www.sebastianmarshall.com one day to ask something about a game (Civilization IV), he was really kind and we started talking about various entreprenurial things. I admit I'm pretty envious of his nomadic lifestyle… I don't see my self in Italy for too much time (no startup scene, lot more things...)
A bit of background about me:
I started reading HN at 20 while I was still in university and I really wanted to build a startup. I finished uni and instead funded a now 4-person web agency here in northern Italy. 1 year after, at 22, I have more money then I wish and can focus on doing things that are challenging and fun rather than making money. But I wasn't really happy… the agency has a lot of small clients and it's not always fun anymore - I can't do big web marketing campaigns because of limited clients budget and mindsets.
I've always wanted to work/start a startup but since I own a company I always tought I was stuck here… But I now realized that since it doesn't take me much to manage current projects without taking new ones I can't go to the USA for sure but I can stay abroad in Europe for 2-3 weeks each month since traveling is pretty convenient from Milan. Heck, I can even sell the company in this time and move to full time startupping later!
I'm not sure how I realized this, I probably already knew but had fear of just going out and try
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Now here I am, going to London tomorrow morning to attend Devnest and the Opencoffee. I will be looking for something to do part-time there (2 to 3 weeks a month as I said), either work in a or start a startup.
and most important: I'm happy. Thank you all!
Bottom line: Don't worry, Life is beautiful and HN Rocks!
If this somehow inspired you and want to connect feel free to message me, @paolomaffei or paolo-at-paolomaffei-dot-it