
From homeless drug user to millionaire - senthil_rajasek
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/Extra/FromHomelessDrugUserToMillionaire.aspx
======
sdurkin
I think we all kind of missed the boat by focusing on the one comment about
Christianity.

This man went from doing heroin to running a multimillion dollar software
business. Perhaps there are more important distinguishing factors than the
religion he happens to share with 2.1 billion people, the majority of which do
not start successful software companies.

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senthil_rajasek
The point that I found interesting and hopefully other budding entrepreneurs
would too, is how he created a niche...

"We had written all this software. The best was our warehouse and distribution
package. I had been using it for years in my own stuff. We decided to try
selling it. I thought it would be like the paint: I'd just go out there and
introduce myself, distributors would pick it up, and I'd be home free. Well, I
had a rude awakening. When those big boys are in there, they just stomp you. I
realized I had to have a niche."

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antidaily
"It wasn't like I was real flush with cash. Pretty much all my career I was
undercapitalized. I borrowed on my home equity and loaded up my credit cards."

Risk rewarded. Takes guts to do that in your 40s.

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tpiep
That reminds me of this article: [http://nukemanbill.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-
to-sell-your-sof...](http://nukemanbill.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-sell-your-
software-for-20000.html) where the author discusses finding niches to sell big
dollar software. Good stuff.

~~~
breck
Agreed. I think that's the key point to this whole article. Too bad the
discussion focused on the Christianity part.

If you found a lot of value in this article, check out their website
(<http://www.horizonsoftware.com/>). Although it's not interesting, unless you
are interested in successful, multi million dollar software startups.

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whacked_new
"I knew a lot of the chemists and taught myself about the chemistry of paint.
In my spare time, I was a wildlife artist. There wasn't a good airbrush paint
on the market. Everybody was using automotive lacquers. I spent about two
years developing one for myself."

He's a closet engineer! He just needed some impetus.

------
SingAlong
The effect such stories have on me:

1.) Men of chasing their dreams which passion don't lose.

2.) If they lose, they will hitback with a win sometime.

3.) These kind of stories remind me to keep trying even if I lose a dozen
times trying to build a million dollar company(which I am still trying).

Senthil, thanks for sharing this.

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edw519
You had me at "Oranges instead of Snickers bars."

~~~
Prrometheus
Junk Food isn't going to hurt you in moderation. I used to get Pepsis once a
week when I stayed after school for Chess Club and it didn't kill me. My
school would have been up in arms if all the self-righteous anti-junkfood
moralizing busybodies around today took that away from us.

~~~
edw519
_Junk Food isn't going to hurt you in moderation._

False.

[http://www.healthbolt.net/2006/12/08/what-happens-to-your-
bo...](http://www.healthbolt.net/2006/12/08/what-happens-to-your-body-if-you-
drink-a-coke-right-now/)

[http://cotesensing.vox.com/library/post/healthy-lifestyle-
th...](http://cotesensing.vox.com/library/post/healthy-lifestyle-the-easy-
way.html)

[http://channelsurfr.com/diet-coke-can-kill-aspartame-
documen...](http://channelsurfr.com/diet-coke-can-kill-aspartame-documentary/)

 _My school would have been up in arms if all the self-righteous anti-junkfood
moralizing busybodies around today took that away from us._

What you call "self righteous anti-junkfood moralizing busybodies", I call
"taxpayers". They get to decide what's available in the public facilities they
pay for, not you.

~~~
Prrometheus
>They get to decide what's available in the public facilities they pay for,
not you.

Ah, I had a feeling that I was a de facto prisoner while I was there. I wasn't
aware that it was official.

For what it's worth, I'm a taxpayer too, and I support giving kids
responsibility for their own lives and teaching them to make decisions for
themselves. But then again, most people consider me a crazy whacko radical
who's not worth listening too. Opinions such as "kids should learn
responsibility" tend to get one shunned from polite company nowadays.

My parents are also taxpayers, and I'm pretty sure they didn't care if I drank
Coke or not. In fact, the abusive bastards even bought me a soda and an ice
cream every now and then. Gasp!

------
xlnt
_I had a head-on collision and very nearly was killed. While I was in the
hospital I read the Bible and became a Christian._

Yay for Christianity. It can help people.

~~~
sant0sk1
Yes the Bible can and does help people daily. In fact, the Bible has changed
my life in the most profound ways. Unfortunately, most folks are too busy
scoffing at it to pick it up and give it a read.

~~~
Hexstream
You know, the Bible helped me too! Things like "Don't kill your neighbor"... I
never would have came up with this myself!

~~~
xlnt
It's people like you who inspire me to post examples of Christianity
_genuinely_ helping people. I am an atheist, but I don't agree with the
hateful or mocking attitude many atheists have.

~~~
axod
I expect it's mainly in response to the argument that without religion you
cannot have morality which lots of religious types seem to believe.

The hijacking of morality by religious people can be pretty irritating.

~~~
xlnt
While I agree the conclusion isn't true, I have yet to see any modern, public
atheists write anything one quarter decent about morality. I have seen some
very bad writing about morality, such as in The God Delusion, which can't be
helping matters.

If you disagree, post a source.

~~~
axod
The us is roughly twice as religeous as the uk. Is it twice as moral? I'd say
crime is quite a bit higher in the us.

In my experience growing up in the uk (majority of people are not religeous),
the majority DO have a good sense of what is right and wrong.

~~~
xlnt
Oh certainly, I agree. However, the lack of (non-awful) explicit, atheistic
writing on morality is still an important problem, and helps religious people
get away with denying atheists can be moral. If you are moral, but can't
explain why, it's easier for people to doubt.

