History
2008
At 14, I started buying multipacks of sweets, crisps, and drinks from local stores to resell at school. That was my intro to hustle—figuring out that you could make money just by spotting the gap and filling it. I learned early that value isn’t always in the product—it’s in how you deliver it.
2009
Video games like World of Warcraft and Runescape became my new marketplace. I didn’t care much for combat—I was there for the economy. Trading, flipping, scaling virtual goods. It was business school without the tuition fees (or the lectures).
2010
Things got serious. I automated in-game currency farming using bots, sold gold, and started arbitraging—buying low from Eastern Europe, selling high to the West. I was learning sales, ops, outsourcing, and inventory management before I even had a bank account.
2012
I pivoted to the real world, selling SEO to local businesses while outsourcing the work overseas. I hired virtual assistants to help me juggle the chaos. It wasn’t glamorous, but it worked—and it taught me how to build systems that made money without constant input.
2014
I started paying ghostwriters to create Kindle books, then made money from ads and affiliate links on niche content sites. Passive income became the name of the game. If it earned while I slept, I was interested.
2015
Sold aquatic feed by the pallet. Random? Yes. Profitable? Also yes. I learned that success often lives in the boring corners no one else is looking at.
2016
Ironically, as all those side hustles fizzled out, my main business—the one I won’t go into detail about—took off. It was more traditional, more structured, and required real effort. It grew fast. Long hours, proper systems, and actual responsibility. This blog isn’t about that version of me.
2020
By now, the main business was solid. I had grown lazier (in a good way). Life was comfortable, money was good, stress was low. I wasn’t chasing like I used to. I had built a chill life—by design.
2024
I bought a beautiful detached home with a garage, driveway, and a proper garden. My son was born—the most important moment of my life. I started to feel that itch again. Not the hunger of desperation, but the desire to do better—for him. Life was good, and I wanted to make it great.
2025
Then, in a moment, everything changed. My primary business collapsed. My so-called easy life? Gone.
For a week, I was frozen—numb. I couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t eat. I never thought it would happen. But it did.
After that, something sparked. Hunger returned. Not just for comfort—but to rebuild, to grow, to move again.
I’m now working on a few things. One of them is this blog.
Succeed by Default isn’t about hustle culture. It’s about finding ways to win that don’t break your soul.
I’ve intentionally kept some parts of my life private for now. Maybe I’ll share more. Maybe not. But if you’re trying to build a better life without burning out—you’re in the right place.
