My First Two Businesses Taught Me More Than College Ever Could
Long before I was managing servers, building AI systems, or designing infrastructure, I was a teenager convinced that technology could become a business.
My first entrepreneurial lesson arrived when I was fifteen years old.
My brother and I decided to start a company selling Unix shell accounts. At the time, it seemed like a great idea. I convinced him to invest in a server, and he spent thousands of dollars funding the project. I spent months learning everything I could, building the server, configuring services, and preparing the platform for customers.
We offered shell accounts for $15 and $20 per month.
We never acquired a single paying customer.
Not one.
Looking back, the reason was obvious. We focused entirely on the product and almost none of the marketing. We built the infrastructure, configured the technology, and prepared the service, but we had no meaningful strategy for reaching customers. We assumed that if we built something useful, people would somehow find it.
They didn't.
That experience taught me one of the most valuable business lessons of my life:
"It doesn't matter how good a product is if nobody knows it exists."
Technology, by itself, is rarely enough. A product must solve a problem, but it also needs a plan for visibility, distribution, and customer acquisition. I learned that lesson at fifteen, and it has influenced every business and technical project I've worked on since.
The Silent Auction That Changed Everything
A few years later, at eighteen, I started my first serious company: Infco Systems.
I incorporated the company as an S-Corporation and invited two close friends to join me.
At roughly the same time, another technology company in the area closed its doors. It left behind an enormous inventory of equipment: servers, monitors, networking hardware, hard drives, memory, desks, racks, and nearly everything a young IT company could need.
The assets were being sold through a single-entry silent auction.
You inspected the equipment, submitted one bid, and waited.
I had never participated in anything like it before.
After looking through the inventory, I submitted a bid of $11,500. I did not really know what I was doing, and I was almost certain I was not going to win.
I won.
What arrived next was both exciting and terrifying.
I suddenly owned what I estimated was more than $80,000 worth of technology equipment. What had been a business idea immediately became a real operation with physical assets, inventory, and responsibility.
Instead of needing to buy infrastructure piece by piece, I had an entire technology environment available from day one.
Starting a Business During the Dot-Com Era
Infco Systems officially launched in March 2000.
The timing was remarkable.
The technology industry was experiencing the height of the dot-com boom. Venture capital was abundant. Technology companies seemed unstoppable. The future felt unlimited.
That optimism did not last long.
The market began unraveling as the dot-com bubble burst, and the events of September 11 added another layer of economic uncertainty only months later.
For an eighteen-year-old business owner, it was a crash course in reality.
I was trying to run a technology company while attending Monroe Community College full time. My partners were not nearly as committed to the business as I was, and most of the responsibility eventually landed on my shoulders.
At the time, it felt overwhelming.
Today, I view it differently.
It was an education I could never have purchased in a classroom.
What I Actually Learned
Infco Systems taught me lessons that continue to influence how I approach business, technology, and leadership today.
I learned that partnerships only work when commitment levels are aligned.
I learned that ownership means accepting responsibility when nobody else is willing to.
I learned that there is a significant difference between having assets and having customers.
I learned that cash flow matters more than enthusiasm.
I learned that timing matters.
Most importantly, I learned that knowing technology and building a successful business are not the same thing.
A business requires sales, marketing, operations, customer relationships, financial discipline, and execution. Technical expertise is valuable, but it is only one component of a much larger system.
The Best Degree I Never Finished
Looking back, dropping out after my first semester at Monroe Community College was one of the best decisions I ever made.
College was not the problem.
I simply found myself learning at a much faster rate by building real businesses and solving real problems.
Starting Infco Systems at eighteen forced me to make decisions with real consequences. Every success mattered. Every mistake cost something. Every lesson was immediate and unforgettable.
Those experiences shaped the way I think today.
Nearly three decades later, whether I am evaluating infrastructure architecture, designing AI systems, troubleshooting complex failures, or developing initiatives like Project S.P.H.E.R.E., I still rely on lessons that originated from those early businesses.
The technology has changed dramatically.
The fundamentals of business have not.
Build something valuable.
Make sure people know about it.
Stay curious.
Take responsibility.
Keep learning.
Never waste a good failure.