I was born in Semipalatinsk, East Kazakhstan Region.
I am Kazakh.
I grew up in Astana, the new capital.
I visited Moscow with my grandmother when I was 3-4 years old.
I played a pirated version of Bomberman on a Pentium II when I was 4 years old.
I taught myself vector animation when using Macromedia Flash at 12 years old.
I taught myself web design at 13 years old and even won some award by making websites about PS3 and CS:GO for one of my school mates. He was my first client and he paid me ~$12 (lol).
I dropped out of school in the 9th grade in favor of self-taught education.
I taught myself English by reading comics and browsing English websites.
I taught myself to code. My first salary was $300 when I was 19.
At 20 I made UI of a government portal used by every citizen of my home country.
By the age of 19, I had already lived in Scotland and Malaysia.
At 21, I moved to Chiang Mai and toured Southeast Asia.
I taught myself how to run a business. Business is about people and transactions.
I managed to achieve a location-independent lifestyle back in 2014 at the age of 21.
I figured out the infrastructure for optimal living using offshore business and international banking.
I earned the proverbial six figures ($100,000+) at 21 years old while in Kazakhstan.
I taught myself how to position my services and conduct business correspondence. I sold design and development services overseas without a single call, just through email (earned $50,000 in 5 months at 21). I used to walk out of Kazkommertsbank with stacks of $8,000-$10,000 (just for the thrill of it). Local salary in Kazakhstan on avg during that time was ~$300.
I taught myself how to learn and trust the process.
I had been to over 30 countries while still being a resident of Kazakhstan.
I managed to get invited to a company with a visa and relocation to Toronto (with a $20,000 relocation package) — I was 25.
My wife has never worked and spends time with the kids (I married my childhood friend).
By the age of three, my son had already been to 6 countries.
My kids walk barefoot on the beach by the Pacific Ocean every day.
My consumer credit limit is ~$141,000.
I am protected by consumer laws — I am not worried about scams or missing airline flights.
My investment portfolio grows by 15% year over year.
I live on less than 10% of my monthly income.
I have five sources of income.
I taught myself financial literacy and investments.
I have achieved a 3-hour workday.
I can afford not to work full-time.
I live where it is warm, delicious, and peaceful.
Going for a walk with my family on a weekday is a regular thing.
I will soon have a G7 country passport, which gives me free access to the US and Canadian markets and visa-free travel whenever I feel like it.
I managed to implement the philosophies behind flag theory and the “sovereign individual”, combining it with my Kazakh background.
I have experienced everything, from startups with 5 people to Series A and growth from 15 to 100 people to ~600 headcount in conservative regulated industries to government-level projects. I have seen organizations with exits of $200 million and $3 billion in Canada/US.
I deliberately choose a calm lifestyle — I live without an alarm clock, and my calendar is free.
I interact with those I want to.
I have eliminated stress and do not allow myself to get into annoying situations.
The Matrix did not defeat me, although it managed to deceive me, and I lost 4-5 years.
I have made mistakes, learned from them, and managed to keep my perspective. I am not yet old but wise, and I have something to share.
In my protocol, I document the process, decision-making, technical (and not so technical) foundations, and practices to achieve what I have achieved.
Now I am building my network of products, both technical and informational, as a multipreneur.
I am no longer chasing huge exits and growth, and places like San Francisco no longer attract me — balance and enjoyment of the process are important to me.
Now I value the tranquility of islands more, wear Hawaiian shirts, practice minimalism, and love myself.
On this website, you can find open material from my "Smog" protocol where I share my knowledge.