Bought a one way ticket to Lisbon, Portugal

Leaving the Crystal Shop

In 2009, I took a three week trip to Pavones, Costa Rica, where one of the worlds longest waves presides. I was married and just launched a corporate training software product to over 5,000 hotels all over North America. At the age of twenty-five, I was making over $100k and life was booming for me during the biggest global financial crises of my, and my parents time. Basically this trip was split into two activities: Riding triple-overhead perfectly formed, five football field long waves, or sitting in a hammock with a coffee/beer reading the Alchemist. This book was short, but impactful, and partly responsible for many of my decisions helping me get through the years that didn't go so well.

Since that trip, I’ve gone through a gamut of gauntlets. The training business folded due to partner egos, and a little of my youthful inability to negotiate. I took my saving and started another company called Coursetto that folded two years later due to not respecting the sales lifecycle, but we built a kick-ass product that was way ahead of its time. This is also about where I started to get into Bitcoin, losing a bit more on the first bubble in 2014, buying several times on the way down at $800 and again at $640… $410, and tripped down at $210. At this point my father was going downhill fast from his five year battle with kidney cancer. I will never forget when they wheeled him into the hospice building and he requested the nurses wait a minute before entering so he could feel the sun one last time.

At this point I thought I was doing everything right in trying to discover my Personal Legend (The Alchemist). I was going with the flow, never afraid to commit to big and bold gut decisions like marriage, buying a home, and jumping off numerous entrepreneurial ventures. However, eventually I was backed into a corner. My money ran out. My ten year relationship was clouded with pessimism and negativity, and the visceral panic attacks began, and so did the divorce.

Without going into too much detail, I had to became a corporate cog after seven years on my own. Ended up doing some programming for Nike and later got recruited to R/GA pushing Nike to rewrite NikeiD in React where I won the Cube Award for my obsessive, and excitable behaviors. I’ve got nothing but nice things to say about R/GA where I was working with a wide array of talented people for the first time instead of plugging away with partners, contractors, and venders. I would consider most of the people I met there family, but at the end of the day I needed freedom.

My saving account began to grow, the divorce finalized in April of 2017, and my investment in Bitcoin and Ether started to show some life changing promise. I know myself, and I can do big things when you give me freedom. I also know it’s not human nature to give chaos freedom, but I thought my solution came when I was approached by my previous mentor, a larger figure here in Portland, Oregon whom had a sizable exit, the experience and the idea to make it much bigger again. At this point my obsession with blockchain had saturated in my blood and entering the financial system in anyway possible with an experienced CEO seemed like kismet. My mentor asked if I wanted to join a new underground startup that I can’t say too much about, but works with the stock market, clearing firms, and bank transactions intimately. All the stars aligned and I started building on the idea with a highly skilled group of programmers and compliance officers. I had made it to the Crystal Shop.

If you haven’t read the Alchemist, you’ll be confused by this, but basically it’s when Santiago had a set destination, the Pyramids of Egypt of which he has no idea what’s actually there, just a gut intuition that he’ll find his personal legend and treasure there. After numerous set backs, he was back backed into a corner penniless and begged to work at a run-down, dusty crystal shop. Santiago turned the out of the way shop into bees knees after making some innovative adjustments offering tea in the beautiful crystal glasses with a view, making the shop a destination. He could of made a great career there, or took his saving and gone back home, but instead he moved forward to cross an abysmal dessert. If anyone is still reading this far, I know what you’re thinking: “Nate, you’re being dramatic, and comparing a flight to Lisbon to crossing the Saharan Desert in pre-modern times is a bit extreme.” Agreed, however, it’s the best analogy I’ve got in this world to base my decisions on and I hope it works out.

I quit my job at that amazing startup. I broke my lease costing me $3,600. I broke up with an amazing lady who has been a rock, adventurer, and my best friend over the last eight months, and now I’m putting everything I own except some surf boards, tents, cloths, and a backpack to find out why I was put on this Earth. I took a small chuck of my crypto currency out for good measure and I’m off to discover three things:

Possible new location to live abroad Solidify an idea for the next blockchain company Live in the moment

I’m 33 years old. Honestly thought I would have had it all figured out at this point. This is not what I envisioned when I was young, but honestly I’m incredibly excited and feel with every firing neuron that I’m doin the right thing. So far, I know I want to visit: Lisbon March 12th, Morocco somewhere in the middle, and Bali and the Mentawai Islands around May when the surf is in peak season in all places. Leaving a lot of wiggle room to see where things go.

More blogs to come. Got to finish up taxes and a seemingly endless todo list before leaving to San Fransisco March 6th and Lisbon March 12th.

Follow the adventure on instagram: @nate_geier or follow me on this thing.