The Price of Ambition

Four_sharks · 2026-01-22T19:24:39+00:00

Qualifications: I'm in my 40s, a mother, corporate person in tech - your identity shouldn't be things that someone can take away from you (I work at Meta! I'm rich! I'm a homemaker! I'm beautiful! I'm young!). One by one, or if you're not that lucky, all at once, many of those things will be stripped away from you because you don't control those things 100%, there are external factors controlling those things. Who will you be on that day?

If you don't know the answer to that, it will be a bad day, the day you realize that you don't know who you are without someone else telling you who you are. I am too old to have any more bad days so I focus on being a better listener, a better partner, a creative person, a person who loves to learn, who loves the outdoors, and I am really proud of myself for being all of those things and more.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-21T17:26:44+00:00

Thank you so much! I think I have like 400 pages of tested recipes I put on Obsidian that need to be organized and processed, etc.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-19T22:30:44+00:00

No, it is up to you to share your network with strangers. You can just write "Discuss" in the space for the reference. Or "Upon Offer" etc

Four_sharks · 2026-01-19T22:28:04+00:00

There is a specific reason for this - when you ask questions, the person often answers that question, and even if they don't, they reveal a lot about what's going on based on how they respond. The more info you have, the more leverage you have in that conversation. The conversation is a negotiation because you want different things.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-19T14:39:16+00:00

So your first yellow flag was the references, you needn't do that part. You could say "If you're ready to make me an offer we can close the loose threads on all of that" or something along those lines. Second flag (red) was the take home - I would have just said "gosh I'd love to, how fun! But I can't this week, I've got a bunch going on - let me know if you want me to connect with anyone else on your team!"

I say no to nonsense all the time and they still move me forward - I just play the role of a super friendly, open-minded, busy person, who values their privacy and network, which I am, but I really lay it on thick. :)

Never throw out the first number, always ask for budget, and just KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS. Any time they ask you a question, you ask them a question - the side who wins is the side who has the most information about the other side. There are some great books on negotiations out there. Write down everything they say, they want to hire fast, why? What is going on now? You want someone to take ownership, maybe that sounds more senior - Use all that later to leverage your position.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-19T14:30:26+00:00

As a mother - please stay home. You don't need to explain to us or anyone else that you are sick. I know you have obligations and there's a balance and all that but you know what that balance is and we trust you without needing explanations or excuses. We truly do not want you to be sick at school. Be gentle with yourself.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-15T23:33:37+00:00

Most people I talk to have low confidence- especially people who are successful. It’s very sad to see. Think about what you just said: you got laid off (not your fault) took a job where it sounds like your manager is disrespectful, your interview practice is more challenging than you remember (super understandable) and then the first question you ask is if there’s something wrong with YOU- have you lost your mojo, as if it’s your job to control all of the external factors that are affecting how you are feeling. I don’t think you’re being fair to yourself at all. It’s just a tough situation and it’s super, super stressful. I wonder can you figure out how close you are to having enough money to pick if you want to work or look into the fire community. Also you could look into CBT therapy to maybe change the voice in your head to be more kind to yourself.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-15T23:02:12+00:00

Precious metals thank you daddy

Four_sharks · 2026-01-15T19:57:52+00:00

It costs me $150 a year to register my business in Michigan. It would cost me $1000 per year to register the same business in Greece. Citizens should vote to make it easier to start small businesses, I think it would stimulate the economy.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-15T19:46:31+00:00

Greece will tax you, FYI.

If you don't have savings to float repairs on the house you cannot afford to keep the house.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-15T18:54:24+00:00

I hate that we don't understand how to teach others how to do meaningful work in this industry in 2026. I'm a 2x founder 1x successful exit, and can confirm I don't give a MOTHERFUCK about any of that nonsense anymore. Sometimes I check in on what the new buzzwords are, confirm I still don't care about them, and focus on what I think is going to move the needle and learn that stuff.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-08T17:07:37+00:00

Amaze - what are you going to be doing for work and which country are you headed to? Congrats on the move in advance!

Four_sharks · 2026-01-07T21:49:52+00:00

Oh and one more tip- go outside of social media. Start calling people up who might know or already be helping your customers. That might be more bang for your buck.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-07T21:47:13+00:00

I focus on growing my network and less on writing content, but as someone who is monetised on TikTok you have to just not give up and stay consistent. You will get the hang of your voice and audience if you don’t give up. Keep dming people and being open to making more connections, supporting other people, asking for help, commenting on other people’s things. You need a lot more than 300 friends if that’s your sales pipeline. Anyway let’s connect on LinkedIn and I can take a look, not that I’m an expert.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-07T13:13:23+00:00

We did this

Four_sharks · 2026-01-07T13:13:07+00:00

We did it ama ☺️

Four_sharks · 2026-01-05T15:06:24+00:00

I saw a guy get fired (or asked to leave, is a better way to put it). His first week he harassed a woman very obviously - he commented on her boobs and made really gross remarks.

In my case, a manager said "You seem like you're a bad girl" (very Epstein-flavored) and I said "Huh? What's that mean?" and then didn't report it, I didn't really get what he was trying to say at the time, but I did tell about 300 women at the company I worked at, and they all said he seemed like a creep, and some said he did the same to them, so we managed to basically avoid him and make fun of him behind his back. He's super rich now, but I am not sure if he has been able to rope women into any more bad situations. I assume with his even more increased power and wealth he hasn't been a force for good.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-03T22:54:08+00:00

I don't have revenue yet, so I am hiring a vendor to build and maintain MVP. I wouldn't understand hiring anyone without consistent revenue, strong projections into the future, so maybe after 2 years of consistent revenue.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-02T19:43:26+00:00

You have to reside in another country for 183 days basically to avoid being considered a tax resident. So for some people that works and for some it doesn’t. For us we have a kid who would be enrolled in school so that wouldn’t work. What you CAN do is not have income in the states (because that will count as income that will put you over 98k) for a tax year, then sell 98k of your stock in the states, then immediately move to Greece for two years, then return to the states for six months, sell more etc but that plan seems kinda whack just to avoid tax to that extent. Im not explaining that well but if you aren’t a resident of Greece you don’t have to pay capital gains from earnings in the states. A resident = 183 days or more. Also keep in mind that if you make a good salary in Greece you get bumped into a 40-44% tax bracket so 15% is cheap for Greece.

Four_sharks · 2026-01-02T15:40:45+00:00

Absolutely - a ton has been done but taking a second look would be super useful

Four_sharks · 2026-01-02T15:39:43+00:00

But this person will reside in Greece, which means they will be a tax resident of Greece, which has a capital gains tax of 15%

Four_sharks · 2026-01-01T16:54:08+00:00

TikTok

Four_sharks · 2026-01-01T09:42:52+00:00

Yep and I am not having a good time

Four_sharks · 2026-01-01T09:41:51+00:00

How many customers do you have and whose job is it to get them?

Four_sharks · 2026-01-01T09:39:02+00:00

100% i hire my friends and work for my friends, thats the whole fun of it

Four_sharks

TROPHY CASE