The Founder's Dream vs the American Dream

The American Dream has long promised that anyone, regardless of background, can succeed through hard work and determination.

This sounds a lot like the same dream many startup founders have.

We start with an idea and use hard work and determination to build a successful business.

Being an entrepreneur is a great way to achieve the American Dream, from creating a small business to a billion-dollar exit and everything in between.

I’m living proof that it doesn’t matter where you start.

It just takes a founder with a dream.

Today, I want to tell you more about how I became an entrepreneur and how it helped me live the American dream.

I started at the bottom of the barrel.

We All Start Somewhere

I was born in a trailer park in Oklahoma City as a product of a one-night stand.

Unfortunately, that isn’t a line from a country song.

My mother had an affair, and her husband raised me as his son my entire life. My mother was a drug addict, and I rarely saw her after the age of 11.

I spent several years as a kid working at the local flea market, selling stuff with my dad. I used to go with my dad to find random things at garage sales to sell at the flea market.

Being scrappy and creative when figuring out how to make money was learned at a young age. Hard work also came naturally.

Here is where I lived in Kansas City when I was five years old. It is a spacious 704 square feet. I’m unsure if it counts as an upgrade from the trailer park.

We all start somewhere.

The Traditional American Dream

Growing up, we always hear about the “American Dream,” not really knowing exactly what it meant.

To me, this meant that nothing prevented me from achieving anything I wanted in life.

The American Dream typically involves a few key elements:

1. Homeownership

2. College education

3. A stable career

4. Financial security

5. The ability to provide a better life for one's children

For many, this dream represented a path from humble beginnings to a comfortable middle-class lifestyle. It was about steady progress, security, and accumulated wealth and status.

In many ways, my early life embodied the pursuit of this traditional dream.

I worked hard, went to college for software development, and started my career in the corporate world.

By the age of 22, I had achieved all the items on the list.

I was married, owned a home, and had a great job. After starting in the trailer park, I was on my way to the American Dream.

My passion for problem-solving and helping others drove me to have side hustles assisting others in building software.

Little did I know that one of them would turn me into an entrepreneur and that my American Dream was just getting started.

Looking for Opportunities

If you want to achieve the American Dream, you have to be constantly driven to achieve more.

You always have to be looking for new and better opportunities.

My first opportunity came when I was selling computers at Sears.

A chance encounter with a customer who needed help with custom software for his car dealership led me down a path I couldn't have imagined.

After helping him with that software for a few years, another opportunity came.

The dealership introduced me to another entrepreneur who needed help building some software to upload vehicle photos and data to the Internet.

I was 22 years old then, had nothing to lose, and had free time, so I jumped on the opportunity.

I took every opportunity that came my way, not knowing what would come of it.

The key to being an entrepreneur is finding and solving problems. 

That means you have to be looking for them.

The Founder's Dream

The dream of every founder is very similar to the American dream.

You are looking for opportunities to help other people and create a business around it.

Starting your own business is one of the best ways to create wealth and change your life.

You don’t have to create a $1 billion unicorn company to be successful. You can be a solo entrepreneur or own a small business and be living the Founder’s dream.

Entrepreneurship aims to create more freedom and security in one's personal lifestyle, whatever that goal may be.

Most founders have these types of dreams:

1. Creating something from nothing

2. Achieving growth and scalability

3. Disrupting industries and driving innovation

4. Creating wealth through equity and value creation

5. Making a lasting impact on the world

Many of these same goals are similar to the traditional American dream.

Doing it Differently

Nothing in life is easy.

Overcoming the circumstances you were born with and getting a business off the ground are equally difficult to achieve.

If you want to achieve what everyone else hasn’t or can’t, you have to do things differently than everything else.

To live the American Dream and achieve more than your parents, you may need to do everything differently than they did.

To be a successful entrepreneur, you may also need to do things differently than all your competitors to stand out from the crowd.

I love the similarities.

Similarities Between the Two Dreams

Let’s compare how similar the American Dream is compared to the dream of most founders:

1. Self-reliance and Initiative: Both dreams require individuals to take charge of their destinies. Whether it's climbing the corporate ladder or building a startup, success doesn't come to those who wait passively.

2. Hard Work and Determination: The idea that success comes through dedication and perseverance is central to both dreams.

3. Opportunity for All: Both dreams are rooted in the belief that anyone, regardless of their background, can succeed. My journey from a humble beginning to tech entrepreneurship is a testament to this shared ideal.

4. Financial Success and Security: While the scale might differ, both dreams involve achieving financial stability and prosperity. The traditional American Dream might focus on a steady job and a comfortable retirement, while the Founder's Dream often involves the potential for more significant wealth creation through equity.

5. Creating a Better Future: At their core, both dreams are about building a better life – not just for oneself, but for one's family and community. As a founder, I've found immense satisfaction in creating jobs and opportunities for others, much like how the traditional American Dream often involves providing a better life for one's children.

Living The American Dream

I became an entrepreneur because I was trying to help other people achieve their goals.

That is also the best reason and best way to become one.

Over the last twenty years, I have exited three companies, including VinSolutions, for $150 million when I was 29.

Looking back, I lived the American Dream at 22 when I owned my home and had a great job. That early success set me up to become an entrepreneur and take the American Dream to a whole nother level.

A key part of my success comes from a humble beginning and being driven to achieve more.

The values of hard work, determination, and self-reliance that I learned in my early years were just as crucial to my success as an entrepreneur as they would have been in pursuing a more traditional path in the corporate world.

The key is having the courage to chase your aspirations, whatever they may be.

My dream of being a startup founder helped me achieve my American Dream.

I hope you can also achieve both dreams.

Welcome Another Dreamer

I was inspired to write this because my wife, Mea, became an American citizen last week! She was the first in her family to graduate college and found the courage to leave her country, the Philippines, behind and move to the USA. She is living the American Dream.

Congratulations to her! 🎉