The list of accomplishments goes on and on, but with this growth came the need to hire, and that we did.īy the time I exited, we had over 40 full time employees, and around a dozen contractors - close to sixty people working for the business. We build tools, our content, our social presence. Six years later and a full eight years after I founded the company, I hired my first full-time employee, Brandon Turner, who helped me create our podcast and was crucial in the next stage of growth of the business from lifestyle business to full fledged company.

something that I used to think gave me hustle street cred, but today I realize was just a formula for burnout. Keep in mind that full time in this case means 80-100 hours a week, with no days off, no vacations, no respit. For two years I taught and in my free time I coded and built this budding hobby into something that trickled in tiny advertising checks.Īfter two years, I quit my teaching job, got married, moved to Colorado and began working full time on BiggerPockets. While teaching, I began to build a directory of resources and a forum which were the roots of today’s community and platform. I had purchased a few rental properties and needed some help dealing with all the questions I had, but couldn’t find a place where I could get answers without having to deal with solicitations and promotions of these self-proclaimed gurus who dominated the scene at the time. When I founded the company I was teaching full time at a special ed high school in the Los Angeles area. The Hobby that Turned into a Lifestyle Business The company is one that I founded almost 18 years ago and left back in November 2018 after undertaking a recapitalization via McCarthy Capital, a private equity shop out of Omaha. Why I left BiggerPockets is a little more complicated… In my case, the two things most searched are my net worth and why I left BiggerPockets. It is always interesting to see what kind of things come up when you search for yourself online.

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