Mr. A and the Power of Compounding: A Life Built on Discipline and Patience
THE QUIET MILLIONAIRES
Interview No. 1
A story about discipline, hard work, patience, and the power of compounding.
Introduction
Mr. A is sharp, analytical, and fit, the result of years of dedicated running. He has a playful side, evident in his love for group selfies since the 2000s, which he never failed to send after each of our meetings.
I first met Mr. A through work over five years ago. He is a highly respected senior engineer: caring, and immensely generous with sharing his technical knowledge and experience. When I decided to approach him for this interview, I sent a message on a Friday afternoon, “Mr. A, I have a slightly unusual request…” Within minutes, I had a "yes." We arranged to meet that Sunday morning at a bright, bustling coffee shop in the heart of Silicon Valley.
He arrived early, a habit I've come to expect. Seeing him there in a simple sweatshirt, which he later confessed was a hand-me-down from his neighbor, you would never guess he was someone who had quietly built significant financial wealth over two decades.
He handed me a box of Royce chocolate, a gift from his recent trip to Japan. I insisted on buying the coffee. Predictably, Mr. A is a minimalist, opting only for the most regular drip coffee. We talked nonstop through the whole morning, eventually moving on to brunch, sharing crab meat and sweet potato shishito, along with a side of honey sesame Brussels sprouts.
This interview is comprehensive, the result of a four-hour-long conversation. It documents how a quiet, thoughtful engineer navigated major economic shifts—the dot-com crash, the 2008 housing collapse, and the rise of AI—while building a financial foundation stable enough to grant him real freedom.
This is Mr. A’s story.
Opening / Small Talk
Mr. A: This song… It’s a famous song. Classic song… what is it? I forget the name. I think Bruce Hornsby. It’s classic — from before you were born.
(laughs. In line getting coffee.)
TQM (The Quiet Millionaires): What did you buy for Black Friday?
Mr. A: Oh, not much actually. I bought a thermostat. And I installed it myself.
TQM: Oh my goodness, you installed it yourself?
Mr. A: Yeah.
This heater — first time it’s been on in 10 years. Both bedrooms have been living in ice cold. In wintertime, I just put on more and more blankets, and also my cat helps to warm me up.
TQM: (Chuckles) Yeah, this winter is particularly cold.
Mr. A: So I felt like, after 10 years of saving and investing, it’s probably okay. I give myself permission to have a little warmth in my life.
TQM: So you've been in this place for 10 years?
Mr. A: 2008. 17 years now. Yeah.
TQM: Tell me more about this. What first motivated you to buy that place?
Mr. A’s First Condo → Second Condo
Mr. A: I had another place in San Jose that I got right after I graduated. It was a two-bedroom condo. After about seven and a half years, I wanted to upgrade my lifestyle a little bit. This was right before — 2007 and 2008 — the real estate crash.
So it was probably the worst time to buy in terms of price. But in terms of getting loans and financing, it was the easiest, which is why it crashed. A lot of people got loans they couldn’t afford.
TQM: I watched The Big Short recently.
Mr. A: Yeah, good one. Anyway, my friend who lived in Santa Clara said, “Oh, I saw these condos for sale. Come check it out.” I basically went in, put in an offer.
TQM: How long did it take for you to decide?
Mr. A: Maybe one week. I saw a couple places I didn’t like, so I wasn’t going to buy. Then the agent called me and said, “We have this place that just opened up.” It’s the place I have now, like a penthouse. Unique unit. Big balcony. You can see the whole courtyard.
Market Crash + Holding Through
Mr. A: A few months after I bought, the whole real estate market crashed. My property value went down in half overnight.
My neighbors — some did strategic bankruptcy. Strategic withdrawal. But I stuck it out because I had a stable job. I could afford it.
The hardest part was the mentality: seeing the value go down half and thinking, “If I bought a month later…” But in reality, I wouldn’t have been able to get a loan a month later. The whole loan market dried up. They basically stopped giving loans.
In hindsight, it was better that way.
If I hadn’t bought, I’d still be in my old San Jose condo — the one my tenant has been in for 15 years now. Sometimes when I visit, I think, “Wow, I could be in this exact position if I didn’t buy when I did.”
People’s paths diverge.
TQM’s Reflection on Wealth Building
TQM: That’s why I wanted to start this interview series: people build wealth through some luck but also many conscious choices. You bought right before the crash, saw it drop half, but over the years it bounced back and surpassed.
Mr. A: Yeah. Mortgage didn’t change. Rates went from around 5% to under 3%. I refinanced, but not to take cash out — I refinanced the principal. And I pay extra every month.
My costs are fixed from 15 years ago. Meanwhile my coworkers who rent — rents are sky high. Rental inflation doesn’t affect me.
I put everything into investments: raises, bonuses — all go into investments. It compounds.
Lifestyle Creep & Spending Culture
TQM: I’ve known you for years. I wanted to interview you because my husband and I were discussing cars the other day. I recalled a new grad on our team bought a new Tesla.
I know you own a Tesla, but at the time, you disapproved of buying such an expensive car at such a young age as a poor use of money. That stuck with me.
People my age — late 20s — after graduate school, they get good jobs at Apple, Google, Meta. And then they start buying really expensive things: ski trips in winter, luxury hotels, good restaurants, Tesla, Mercedes….
Mr. A: Exactly. Lifestyle creep.
And social media reinforces it — spending, status, buying things, “experiences.” Now people say, “Enjoy your youth, enjoy your experiences!” Yeah, I would have liked that too. But I’d also like to enjoy my retirement, my older years.
It’s opportunity cost.
The Tesla Example — Opportunity Cost
Mr. A: Take the $50,000 Tesla. That was three or four years ago. During that same time, the tech market — the stock market — companies like Nvidia went up multiple times.
So instead of buying that Tesla… even $1,000 invested would now be much more.
So even I shouldn’t buy the Tesla. Though I enjoyed it.
Mr. A: Lifestyle creep — I recognize my own. When I graduated college, I upgraded once — got my condo. Seven years later, I upgraded again (the Santa Clara condo). I’ve been there 15 years. And now I feel like I can upgrade again.
But not every year, every two years, every three years. It’s the long grind of time.
Mr. A: Everybody’s different.
Some people don’t have the means.
Some people need a certain lifestyle for happiness. If you’re not happy, that’s important.
For me, I’ve been happy enough living where I am. I’m not worried.
Mr. A’s Mr. Arst Investment Property — Early Money Mindset
TQM: I remember long ago you told me about your first investment property — the condo you bought right after college. You said at first you had to share the apartment with others to reduce costs. Rent rooms out. Save some money. Reduce costs. But now, your mortgage was very low — like around $1,000 — while rents kept rising.
Mr. A: Eventually it balances out. Your mortgage is fixed. Rent keeps rising. What made me buy early?
Back then, the idea of wealth building was real estate.
I got laid off from my startup job—after four years. They were downsizing, then acquired. I was commuting to San Luis Obispo — a 3-hour drive every couple weeks. I probably should’ve been laid off the month I joined, because that was right when the dot-com crash happened. But I was fortunate to keep my job for four years.
Actually I survived it, the only one in the San Jose office that they closed, because I worked very hard from day 1 and impressed my boss, so he kept me.
After I got laid off in 2004, my mom, a real estate broker, said, “Work with me in real estate for a while.” So I did.
Two Years in Real Estate + Tech Consulting
Mr. A: From 2004 to 2006 or so, I did real estate full-time. I also traveled — I had friends in Europe. But after a couple years, finances dwindled. So I needed a stable job again.
Between that time, I did contract tech work, small startup gigs — three months here, six months there. Basically hustling two or three things at once. Trying to figure out what works. I had friends, family nearby, tech consulting opportunities, real estate sales… But none of them felt sustainable. I needed direction.
I saw the market shift:
– Dot-com boom → crash
– Real estate boom → crash
– Tech starts booming again around 2006
I thought: real estate isn’t scalable for me. Being a full-time agent requires constant communication, talking to people, and rejection. And I was very introverted then. So I pivoted back to tech.
I interviewed and got my job. And I’ve been in tech ever since.
Skill Recovery After a “Gap”
TQM: From 2004 to 2006, you had two or three years that weren’t exactly gaps, but you weren’t in full-time tech. Yet you picked up skills quickly and found a job again.
Mr. A: Because I kept doing tech consulting and contract work. Also, I’m from the pre-internet / early-internet era. I’ve seen every paradigm shift: big data, data processing, AI. My generation built a lot of the things you use now.
I’m Gen X. You’re Gen Z. People born in the 70s, 80s — they built much of the tech foundations used today.
Corporate Tech Stagnation vs. Rapid Change
Mr. A: Something I noticed: When you stay in a company too long, you get stale. Same processes. Same stack. In the past, tech stacks lasted 5–10 years. Now? Things become obsolete in 2 years… maybe 1 year… even 3 months.
Technology changes so fast that any decision may be outdated almost immediately.
That’s the advantage for your generation — you embrace AI tools. You can use them at a degree I never imagined was possible.
TQM’s AI Workflow
TQM: Even for interviews — in 2019 I interviewed some artist friends and had to manually type everything. Now I use a whole AI workflow: Google Meet + AI note taker + Zapier connection into Google Drive. My transcript is ready immediately. Then I format it and send it for review.
Mr. A: Back then, that workflow would take two weeks. Even transcription used to be mind-blowing. I remember in 2008 or so at PyCon — they had live captioning, and everyone was amazed.
Now it’s automatic. Not perfect — but good.
AI at Work & The Hiring Shift
TQM: We were talking about the dot-com bubble, the real estate crash, and now AI. What’s your take on AI and jobs? And what advice would you give people like me?
Mr. A: In the past month, I started using a lot more AI tooling internally. Before that, I was aggressively hiring: I needed someone to help with my workload.
But now? Honestly, I’m thinking… maybe I don’t need to hire someone anymore.
I’ve been at this company for six years. I’ve always resisted having a team, because training people reduces productivity. I’m extremely productive alone. Three or four windows open, multitasking — even without AI.
If I hire someone, yes, maybe long-term it helps. But immediately, productivity drops. So I resisted building a team.
But now? AI tools do so much of the heavy lifting that I’m thinking:
“Why hire? AI makes me even more productive than adding a junior engineer.”
Sadness for the Next Generation
Mr. A: This actually makes me feel sad for the next generation. Other senior engineers like me are thinking the same way.
And newcomers — like my younger brother — are struggling to find jobs in tech. There are no entry-level jobs now.
He’s trying to pivot. I’ve been guiding him: “Maybe don’t do general programming. Maybe do something adjacent — AI safety, something related.”
But honestly, it’s rough.
Two Extremes in Today’s Job Market
TQM: Right now there’s a weird split. Very senior people get almost every interview. But on the other end, there are massive layoffs.
Mr. A: Exactly. Extremely bifurcated.
And you — you’re in a good spot. You can code. You understand AI.
But you also don’t want a typical job. That’s a particular mindset after running a startup.
If you took a standard job, you’d succeed.
But you don’t want that life. And that’s fine.
Why TQM Is in a “Sweet Spot”
Mr. A: Actually, you are in a sweet spot — where AI intersects with your communication skills and your creativity.
Imagine doing Mother of Success 10 years ago.
You would struggle so much with transcription, workflows, coordination.
You’d feel overwhelmed doing “the business of the business” — the finances, the admin, the CRM, the back-office stuff.
Now AI clears all that away so you can do the real work — conversations, writing, building the platform.
In the past, that took teams. Now it's one person plus AI.
Advice for College Students Considering CS
TQM: What advice would you give to a college student? Many of my cousins are 18–19, studying CS or data science. They see layoffs and are worried.
Mr. A: Computer science is definitely still relevant. Technology is still the center of everything. But you need the foundation — the mindset, the ability to understand and build technology. For CS students, the best advice is to focus on the fundamentals and deep software design principles. AI is excellent at generating boilerplate code, but it is hard for it to truly replicate human creativity, architectural vision, and complex system design. This focus naturally gravitates towards mastering backend systems and architecture, areas where a deep understanding of performance, security, and scalability will remain indispensable.
Sure, AI is replacing parts of the job. But someone still needs to drive the tools, design the systems, and define the architecture that the AI will implement.
Unless we go back to farming with pickaxes, it will always be technology. And even farming will be robotics.
Backend vs Frontend in the AI Era
Mr. A: For beginners, I tell them:
Focus on backend and data processing, not frontend.
Why?
Frontend is the easiest for AI to automate.
Backend — real systems, data, infrastructure — will always exist.
It’s the backbone.
Even I avoided frontend my whole career. I’m not creative. If someone tells me “put the pixel here,” I can do it. But to design something good-looking? No.
Where Human Creativity Wins
Mr. A: But you have creativity. So you can combine creativity + AI to build things much faster.
Drive the AI — don’t let it replace you.
For me, I tell AI: “make something that looks good,” and it makes something horrible.
It’s 10,000x better than what I could produce, but still not good enough.
AI can build a dashboard in a couple hours. But it can’t build a fully polished consumer product without a human vision.
Someone like you, with taste and creativity, could.
That’s your advantage.
The Investment Philosophy: Warren Buffett Influence — Long Game
TQM: We talked about technology, AI, career choices. I want to chat a bit more about your investment philosophy.
I know you invest in real estate, but also in stocks, and you hold for very long. Can you share more?
Mr. A: Being Gen X, a lot of investment wisdom for us came from that era, especially Warren Buffett.
I modeled a lot of my thinking on him. His whole approach is:
Buy low (or rather: buy value)
Buy companies that will be around in 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years
Don’t chase fads
Hold long-term
He doesn’t really “sell high.” He reallocates occasionally, but he holds.
So that became my philosophy too:
Buy what will still matter decades from now.
Buying What You Know — Why Mr. A Chose Tech
Mr. A: Buffett always said, “Buy what you know.”
He avoided tech for decades because he didn’t understand tech.
But me? I am in tech. I understand tech. So naturally, I bought big tech.
Back then it was called FAANG. Now “the Magnificent Seven.”
Whatever name they make up — it’s the same idea:
the companies with durable competitive advantage.
Specific Early Bets: Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, Netflix
Mr. A: Most of the core companies in my portfolio now have been there from almost day one. Microsoft.
Google.
Nvidia.
Later Netflix.
I kept adding. Every time I considered reallocating, I asked myself:
“Is this company going to be around for a long time? Do they have a moat?”
If yes — I kept buying.
Never sold.
The Nvidia / Tesla Thinking
Mr. A: Nvidia — I bought it at around $1 a share. I thought, they might do pretty well.
Tesla — that was high-risk.
I honestly thought they might go bankrupt the next month. But Elon Musk seemed like he was making the right bets.
So instead of YOLO-ing, I allocated maybe 10% of my portfolio to “high risk, high return” bets.
Most of them failed.
But Nvidia, Tesla, Netflix — those made up for all the losses and beyond.
Why You Never YOLO
Mr. A: YOLO-ing is like going to a casino and putting everything on one spin. You’ll lose.
Instead, you want to stay in the game.
In a casino, you manage your money so you can keep playing until the odds eventually turn in your favor.
Investing is the same:
Don’t bet everything
Survive long enough to let the winners emerge
Let compounding work
The Real Secret: Putting Money In Early + Keeping Expenses Low
Mr. A: A big part of how my portfolio grew wasn’t stock-picking.
It was:
I kept my expenses very low.
I reinvested all extra income — raises, bonuses — into the market.
I started early.
Most people underestimate this.
Yes, Nvidia blew up.
Yes, Tesla blew up.
But the real base is compounding + consistent contributions.
Because I didn’t spend on lifestyle:
– no heat for 10 years (laugh)
– low mortgage
– controlled spending
– no constant upgrades
All of that money went into stocks.
Twenty years later, the compounding is obvious.
Opportunity Cost of Quitting Too Early
Mr. A: I’ve seen friends with similar portfolios to mine who quit early because they hated their jobs. They stopped contributing. They missed out on doubling or tripling their base over the next ten years.
All because they didn’t want to work anymore.
I didn’t quit because I understood the opportunity cost.
Every year of income accelerates the compounding curve.
That made a huge difference.
FIRE vs. Fat FIRE
TQM: A lot of people aim for FIRE — financial independence, retire early. You could have retired early. But you kept working. What’s your perspective?
Mr. A: FIRE became a thing maybe 10 years ago. But even before that, I thought about something similar.
For me, regular FIRE never made sense.
FIRE is basically:
You have just enough to survive
You retire early
You live comfortably, but modestly
But there’s another concept: Fat FIRE.
That’s the one I always believed in.
Fat FIRE = you retire early and you live really well.
You have abundance, not scarcity.
And that’s what I aimed for.
Mr. A Could’ve Retired Long Ago, But Didn’t
Mr. A: If I had wanted regular FIRE, I could have done it a long time ago. My condo alone + my savings + growth — I could have lived off it.
But every year that I continue working:
I gain a huge opportunity cost advantage.
My compensation scales.
My stock refreshers grow.
Everything compounds.
Walking away from that because I “don’t want to work” would’ve been financially irrational.
How Mr. A Thinks About Work
Mr. A: I have a saying — I think it’s Russian:
“Work to live, don’t live to work.”
What that means:
Work to live: your job gives you income so you can have freedom and choices
Live to work: your entire identity becomes your job
In the Bay Area, a lot of people end up living to work.
They can’t imagine stopping. Their whole life becomes tied to productivity.
I always tried not to cross that line.
Avoiding the “Live to Work” Trap
Mr. A: Sure, I’ve been working until 9pm for the past year.
But that doesn’t mean I love working until 9pm.
It’s just the grind — and I know why I’m doing it:
To accelerate retirement
To compound wealth
To take advantage of this phase of my life
But I never confuse that with thinking work is my life.
I always keep in mind: I’m working now so I don’t have to later.
The Bay Area Myth: High Salary + No Work
TQM: Some of my friends join Google or Oracle because they want a job where they don’t have to work much.
Mr. A: Oh, I hear this all the time. Everyone’s goal is:
“Join big tech so you get paid a lot and do nothing.”
I was always appalled by that attitude.
And funny enough — a lot of them got into those companies.
And they really don’t do anything.
But here’s the danger:
Those are exactly the teams that get laid off first.
Low productivity → low value → first to go.
Why Mr. A Wanted Big Tech — A Different Reason
Mr. A: I always wanted to join big tech too, but for the opposite reason:
I wanted to learn from smarter people
I wanted access to resources
I wanted more opportunities
I wanted to accelerate growth
Not to coast.
TQM’s Comparison Anxiety
TQM: Sometimes I feel my life is harder. I work like a horse. Meanwhile my peers at some big tech go to the gym at 10am and come back at 12pm, never work on Fridays, still getting paid well. It feels unfair.
Mr. A: You should never compare.
You don’t know their finances, their risks, their trajectory.
And honestly?
Some of them are just lazy.
Laziness is a mindset — and it bleeds into everything.
Why Laziness Is Dangerous Beyond Work
Mr. A: Laziness doesn’t just affect your career.
It affects:
Relationships
Friendships
Marriage
Daily responsibilities
Personal growth
Think about it —
No partner ever says:
“I love you because you’re so lazy.”
That doesn’t exist.
If someone is lazy at work, often they’re lazy at home, too. No one wants that in a partner. Not your spouse, not your parents, not anyone.
Work Ethic = Life Ethic
Mr. A: Your work habits reflect your life habits.
If you’re responsible at work, you’re responsible in life.
If you’re lazy at work, you’re probably lazy everywhere else.
So when I see people in cushy jobs coasting, I’m like:
“This won’t end well. Not just career-wise — life-wise.”
Housing Anxiety Among Young People
TQM: In my generation — late 20s, early 30s — there’s huge anxiety about buying a house in the Bay Area.
People compare. If you buy in Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, it feels like you’re “superior.” But the prices are insane. Huge mortgage. High interest rates.
What advice would you give?
Mr. A’s Background: 20 Years in Bay Area + Real Estate Experience
Mr. A: Interesting question, because I’ve been here since 2000. And I’ve been in real estate professionally. So I’ve seen the cycles — both tech and real estate.
If I talked to my younger self, I would say:
“Do the best you can with the finances you have.”
Because that’s the main constraint.
When I bought my condo, and then watched its price drop in half overnight, the sad part was:
I saw single family homes selling for basically the same price as my condo — right after the crash.
If I’d had the means, I should’ve bought a single family home.
Because single family homes appreciate like Nvidia.
Condos appreciate like… bonds.
My condo?
It has barely gone up 50% in 17 years.
A single family home? Would have doubled, tripled, quadrupled.
And I’d have a tiny property tax base locked in from 2008.
That leverage is huge.
So yes — if you can, single family is always better as an investment.
But again — finances dictate what people can do.
Bay Area Prices Are Unrealistic — Even for Millionaires
Mr. A: Purchasing a single family home in the Bay Area is so expensive now that even millionaires feel the pain.
So the real question is:
Where are you in life?
Is this your first home?
Is it your forever home?
Are you trying to retire early?
Is it an investment?
If you’re in your 20s or 30s, buying here is usually too expensive to be a good investment.
You might have better opportunities elsewhere.
Buying Real Estate Doesn’t Mean Buying in the Bay Area
Mr. A: I do think real estate is a good asset class.
But Bay Area real estate doesn’t always make sense.
If I were starting today, I’d consider:
Buying in Ohio and renting it out
Buying in Florida
Other states where cap rates make sense
You still get diversification, still get real estate exposure — without paying $2M for a teardown.
My Own Rent Anxiety
TQM: My husband and I have been renting for the past five years, and rent goes up every year. We know inflation will push it even higher.
We’re wondering if we should buy something — condo or house — so at least the mortgage is fixed.
Mr. A: That’s valid. Your mortgage may feel high at 6%, but over time it won’t feel high relative to everything else.
You can refinance when rates drop — that’s what I did. I refinanced several times.
Now I have a “forever mortgage” — rates will never be that low again in my lifetime. But it took 20 years to get there.
Patience matters.
Locking In Your Costs
Mr. A: If you buy now and lock in a rate, then:
If rates go up → you’re protected
If rates go down → you refinance
If you can afford it now, you can afford it in 5 years.
So the question then is, do you feel confident that your you and your husband's career trajectory will keep growing, or do you feel like you'll both be laid off?
I think you're in a much better position than 95% of other people out there, so it seems like you can take the risk to lock in your costs now and as long as you're on the long term trajectory, long term planning. But don’t stretch yourself so thin.
Opportunity Cost: The Hidden Variable
Mr. A: The most important idea is:
Opportunity cost.
For example:
Instead of paying an extra $2,000/month for a nicer house,
I put that same money into stocks.
Remember when I told you I invested $10,000 in Netflix, Nvidia, Tesla?
Where did that $10,000 come from?
From not buying a bigger house.
From keeping my mortgage low.
From not increasing lifestyle.
That choice alone gave me the return of a lifetime.
Summary of Advice on Real Estate for Young People
Keep your housing costs low.
Buy only if it doesn’t strain you.
Don’t feel pressure to “keep up” with peers.
Don’t buy a lifestyle — buy financial optionality.
Your greatest advantage is flexibility.
Invest the difference aggressively.
If you do that for 10–20 years, the compounding will shock you.
How Mr. A Learned About Money
TQM: You studied engineering in college. How or when did you start developing this financial awareness?
Mr. A: Probably my last year in college, before the dot-com crash in 2000. Back then, stocks were the thing. Everyone was talking about investing.
And the stakes for me were low — I had maybe a few hundred dollars, maybe a couple thousand.
I basically lost everything in the stock market.
But losing everything when everything is only $200 is the best time to learn.
Even back then, I realized:
“This is money that won’t matter when I’m older — but the lesson will matter.”
I even remember picking a stock that went from one penny to ten cents in a day.
I thought “I’m rich!” Before I even confirmed it wasn’t a glitch… it went right back down.
I even got margin called once — on day one.
But again, it was like a hundred bucks.
Great lessons. Cheap tuition.
Early Experiments With Algorithmic Trading
Mr. A: After that phase, I tried algorithmic trading. There was this software called MetaTrader back in the 2000s.
These companies would sell you black-box “trading systems.”
They had no idea how it worked.
I had no idea how it worked.
But they still sold it to me.
Of course, the only people who made money were the ones selling the software.
Trying Many Paths: Real Estate, Startups, Consulting
Mr. A: I tried everything in my 20s:
Real estate
Helping people with startups
My own small startup experiments
Consulting
Travel
Tech contracting
I kept trying to figure out what made sense for me long-term.
And eventually, I realized:
Yes, I love real estate.
Yes, I love travel.
I could have been a travel blogger, real estate agent, whatever.
But I’m really good at tech.
And tech pays well.
Even though it meant long hours, the trade-off made more sense:
Massive financial upside → faster compounding → more optionality later.
That’s why I stayed in tech.
The Startup Path He Could Have Taken
Mr. A: You know what’s funny? Before Zillow existed, I was thinking about building something exactly like Zillow.
I had the perfect intersection:
real estate knowledge
tech background
early web experience
But it was just me.
No AI back then.
And I’m terrible at front-end design — and a product like Zillow requires heavy visualization.
And importantly:
You need a team.
You need operational muscle.
You need money.
So that idea went nowhere.
Nowadays, with AI, people think: “Hey, I can build a startup by myself!”
That is a dangerous mindset. Most people don’t realize how many parts there are to a company.
Paths Diverge — The Theme of the Conversation
Mr. A: Remember earlier when I talked about my San Jose condo tenant? We’re the same age. She’s been living in that old condo for 15 years. Perfectly fine person — nothing wrong with her choices.
But when I visit her, I think:
“Wow. Our lives could have been identical.
One small decision changed the whole trajectory.”
That’s how life works.
Your path diverges from one small decision:
buying instead of renting
staying in tech instead of doing real estate
investing early
keeping expenses low
choosing a different job
taking one risk and not another
Everything is non-linear.
And none of it feels big in the moment — but in hindsight the divergence is huge.
The Brunch Conversation — Walking, Warming Up, and Talking About Health
Running, Golf, and Aging
Mr. A: I'll get my sunglasses. Do you have sunglasses?
TQM: I do. I do.
Mr. A: Yes. Another thing — always protect your eyes.
TQM: What's your thoughts on fitness? You've done half marathons.
Mr. A: Yes. Back when I was younger.
TQM: How about now?
Mr. A: I still run. I try to keep like five to ten miles a week. Two miles per session. But I’ve been trying to get back into the mode where I can push to recover… increase my VO2 max. Haven’t been consistent. So really it's just maintaining.
TQM: That’s impressive. You're very fit.
Mr. A: But from the standpoint of other runners, I'm quite low. I started running really late in life, like around 38 or 39.
TQM: Oh wow.
Mr. A: But I was reading — those who run their whole life, around my age, their knees and bodies are wrecked.
But those who start later, like I did, pick up great habits that are sustainable.
Because we already have the mentality not to hurt our body.
TQM: That’s true.
Mr. A: I know my body now. I don’t try to hurt myself. I do feel like there was a big cliff between when I was 39 to now, just only 10 years — endurance and speed. A surprise cliff.
TQM: Don't be too hard on yourself. It’s already impressive.
Mr. A: Not hard — just recognizing how my body performs.
The International Condo, Wealth Building, and Mr. A’s Investment Mindset
Why Mr. A Bought a Condo internationally (in Cash)
TQM: I've always been wondering why you decided to buy the international condo for cash, without taking up any mortgage.
Mr. A: Oh, that one is hard. I mean, international — unfamiliar with the lending on the other side of the world. So frankly, it's pretty difficult to get a loan there. I'd have to actually go there physically to sign papers, qualifying and all that.
In retrospect… hard to say, even in 10 years. It’s only been a few years. Hard to know if it’s a good decision or not.
TQM: It's giving you good, stable passive income.
Mr. A: Yeah, but from a real estate perspective, I could have taken that same money and bought 10 properties leveraging. But I don't exactly want to now.
If you want leverage, you can take that same money and buy 10 properties with a lot more cash flow.
On Leverage and and How It Happened by Luck
TQM: What's your thought on leverage? When is a good time to use it?
Mr. A: Only leverage when you can afford.
TQM: What prompted you to buy particularly in that country instead of, say, London?
Mr. A: Also luck. I don't know — we’ll see if it’s lucky in the next 20 or 30 years.
I happened to be there. My ex-colleague was at a conference and said,
“Hey, you should come to the city and hang out too.”
I was working a lot. I thought: good opportunity, might never come again.
I went — and also convinced one of my investor friends to go.
We had no plan to invest. Just hang out.
Then on the second-last day, we thought,
“Oh, we should go look at a property.”
She wanted to look. I went along for the ride.
We were walking in a mall, and one of the biggest developers had taken over a whole section.
Model buildings, presentations…
Next thing we knew, we were going to tour.
Mr. A: In retrospect, too short of a due-diligence cycle.
Didn’t truly understand the market.
Probably should have been more conservative — not actually done it.
But now it’s giving me steady rental income: two, three thousand a month.
TQM: You said you bought it for half a million?
Mr. A: Yeah. It’s fully managed by a property manager.
At first I thought: “Is this real? Is it a scam?” But I’ve actually gotten money out.
The Psychology Behind Mr. A’s Conviction
TQM: I want to ask more about your psychology. How did you have the confidence to decide so decisively?
Mr. A: It was more about the opportunity — because I was there.
I physically saw the people I was dealing with. I went into an office.
From a risk perspective, it was as safe as I could expect.
If I hadn’t gone there, I would never have bought.
But as luck would have it:
The USD weakened
The local currency strengthened
Rent went up
U.S. stock market tanked after I bought (in 2022)
So suddenly the property value shot up.
What Mr. A Would Do Differently
Mr. A: If I had done more research and gotten a loan, I could’ve afforded a house.
And houses there went from 1 million to 10 million overnight.
Instead, I didn't get the house because I didn't want to risk more money, which aligns with my previous approach to "go with what you know."
Instead I got a condo — price is stable, rental income stable, and I was still willing to take a measured risk with the condo, plus the option of living there one day.
But the government there now has real estate registry, better regulation. Good for long-term stability.
Mr. A: Now, approaching retirement:
International property is new → still modern in the future
I could retire there
Or use it as a vacation home
Or sell it
Plus, because I own that property, I can get long-term residency.
Just options.
Thoughts On Luck, Discipline, and Long-Term Thinking
Mr. A: People say “luck,” but also:
I didn’t spend like crazy.
I sacrificed my current situation for long-term growth.
I could have bought a house long ago. I could have bought fancy BMWs. But I liked my car.
If you’re in your 20s or 30s:
Have long-term mentality.
Have patience to compound wealth and career. Also, not only patience, but sacrifice comforts of today for tomorrow (or for others, i.e., family).
Eventually, just like in a casino — if you keep betting on black for 1000 rolls, eventually you’ll hit it.
TQM: You gamble at all?
Mr. A: Not really. But stock market is like gambling — informed gambling. Casino is guaranteed loss; stock market at least has entertainment and learning.
Meaning, Retirement, Creativity, and the Question of Success
What Motivates Mr. A to Keep Building Wealth?
Mr. A: What sort of motivates me to keep building up wealth and company? Well… there's nothing else to do.
That's another life thing for me — deciding where to go from here.
I know consciously I'm not living to work.
I’m working to live.
I'm still trying to find out what living means.
In the past few years, I've been traveling more, especially visiting my extended family in my home country — who I had almost no relationship with the first 30–40 years of my life.
I'm finding that's worthwhile. Something else to live for.
But still, I don't know.
Mr. A: I'm looking at my retirement planner. Even if I retire at 65, I still have — if all goes well — 20, 30, 40 years. Which is almost double my lifespan so far.
And I don't know what I would do during that time.
TQM: I have a suggestion for you. Write more, speak more. Share your thoughts and knowledge. If we didn’t work together, I wouldn’t know you have such good experience and thoughts to share.
People need to hear that.
Mr. A: Maybe… but being kind of introverted, I never felt that drive. The stuff I would imagine doing is, say, photography. Or music, like playing trumpet.
But all these things are, you know — internal — your own satisfaction. Not so much sharing with others.
TQM: Well, you are The Quiet Millionaires' number one interview. It’s a good way to share.
Life in the Bay Area: Endless Opportunity, Uneasy Sustainability
Mr. A: Especially in the Bay Area — what’s great is the opportunities seem to keep growing and growing. No end in sight.
I don't know if it's sustainable. It's kind of scary sometimes — because eventually there is some sort of reckoning.
Though I always thought: Worst case, the weather is still good. At least in my lifetime, it'll still be good.
I don't know about grandchildren, great-grandchildren — the environment might be destroyed.
On Lifestyle Creep and Career Choices (for Others)
TQM: Case study. There's a person in his 30s. Good company, growing career. He bought a house two or three years ago. Now more stocks, more RSUs, upgrading to a bigger house for school district. What would you do?
Mr. A: That one’s hard for me to gauge — I don't have a family.
But I imagine your needs and your perspective on taking risks for the benefit of your family changes a lot.
If the current house is big enough, I'd say: stay.
But education is very important.
So moving to a better school district makes sense.
You can also send kids to charter school or private school.
If it's lifestyle creep: not great.
If it's meeting true needs and he can afford it: good.
Case Study: Artist H, Choosing Between Creative Life or Corporate Life
TQM: Case study number two: Artist H. She is debating between creative life and corporate life. She could go back to tech, or marketing, or design. But opportunity cost is high. What advice would you give H?
Mr. A: Why not build both?
TQM: Time…
Mr. A: Yes, corporate life consumes time, especially if you excel.
If work is not the passion, find work that intersects with passion. Get paid to do your passion — ideal.
But opportunities matter.
For my career, even though I might have preferred something else, I said: do tech. Because I get paid well relative to my time.
Returning on your time is the most important when building wealth.
You need scaling. In real estate, I couldn’t scale my hours. In tech I could.
Mr. A’s Framework for Navigating Career Confusion
Mr. A: It depends on yourself. The most important thing is being comfortable with yourself — confidence in what you're doing.
For me, financial base is part of that.
I wouldn't feel confident at all if I had no savings and no investments.
For others, confidence may come from fulfillment at work.
But having options is key.
When I made major decisions, I thought:
If this happens and this happens and this happens — I fail.
But if any one of these goes right — that’s my safety net.
That gave me confidence to keep going.
Mr. A on People with No Safety Nets
Mr. A: I've seen a lot of people that had no options.
If that one thing didn’t work out, they’d be on the street.
Homelessness now — many people never had a safety net. Once something goes wrong, that’s it.
So: always nurture your other options.
Case Study L: The Engineer Who Wants to Leave Tech
TQM: Case study number three. L is 30 years old. He has a growing career in tech. But the problem is: he doesn’t like being an engineer, and couldn’t imagine himself being an engineering manager.
He’s making good money, but he wants to do finance, investment, etc. What should he do?
Mr. A: I think he should bridge to there.
“A bird in the hand beats two in the bush.”
If you have something now, it's more important than chasing what you could get in the bushes.
So if you already have a successful career that’s growing and doing well…
He could be chasing the dream of finance, whereas maybe that’s not what he likes.
Maybe it's even worse. You don’t know.
And then he’d be even more miserable and have difficulty getting back to what is doing well for him.
It’s risk management. So bridging is definitely a good idea.
The Investor Friend Who Went All-In (Nevada Story & Berkshire A)
Mr. A: I had a friend, older than me, who decided to do investing full time around the age I am now.
He introduced me to long-term investing. He invested in Berkshire A.
Back then it was like $100,000 for a share. Completely out of reality for me. No fractional shares back then.
So for me, B was the best I could hope for.
Now Berkshire A is like $500,000 a share. Even now I wouldn’t want one — too much.
But he bought A.
Because:
Status
And because owning A allowed him to attend Buffett’s annual meeting
He moved to Nevada to optimize taxes — no capital gains, no income tax.
Optimized everything to live in that investing environment.
He's doing fine now.
That was like 15–20 years ago. Based on compounded growth, inflation-adjusted, I would guess he's easily a decamillionaire, probably more — maybe approaching nine digits.
Anyway. He's quite comfortable, but the same house ever since moving in. Never moved, never remodeled.
Quiet Compounding: How People Actually Become (Near) Billionaires
Mr. A: Then I have another friend who might be a billionaire — getting close.
He worked at Nvidia since 2000, back when adjusted for splits, the stock was worth 10 cents.
He had tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of options.
Now each share is worth hundreds of dollars.
He has an investment mentality, where he's been investing, diversifying, building more and more wealth, compounding. He moved to Oklahoma — cheap lifestyle, never upgrades, drives a beat-up car.
He’s getting close to a B.
Conscious Frugality: The Thermostat Story
Mr. A: I’m keenly aware:
Don’t get old with too much money. You have to enjoy it.
But also…
Most of my life has been saving and investing. Not saving — investing.
This circles back to the beginning: What did I buy for Thanksgiving Black Friday?
A thermostat. $100.
And I’ve been freezing for ten years.
That’s the mentality: Save and invest rather than buy simple comfort.
If I lived in Alaska, sure — life or death, I’d buy heat.
But in California?
Not life or death. Just put more blankets.
FIRE Is Not Enough for a Full Life
Mr. A: My Nvidia friend that still lives in the same old house, never remodeled.
He should have permission to himself now to enjoy the money.
Why not? Billionaires — or people on the way there — still stuck in “long-term thinking mode.”
Mr. Ave or ten years ago, I didn’t have that much money — not enough to secure a whole lifetime.
I could definitely do FIRE.
But FIRE is… maintaining.
Sustainable, yes.
But is it fulfilling?
Sure, I would enjoy more vacations while younger — marathons in Paris, for example.
But is that sustainable or meaningful?
Why Most People Don’t Make It: Work Ethic & Mentality
TQM: Something I noticed — you have a lot of wealthy friends, investor friends. Is it a conscious choice?
Mr. A: Only a handful. Plus, I'm older — a lifetime of people.
You’re hearing the 2% who made it.
The other 98%? No.
I have many friends who had the exact same position as me — more or less — but haven’t made it.
Mr. A: Time and time again, the reason most don’t make it is mentality.
Work ethic. Life ethic.
The ones that are lazy don’t make it long-term.
Some get rich from dumb luck — but on a grand scale?
Look at my own career:
I could have stopped work at 4 or 5.
I could have moved to Hawaii during COVID, pretended to work.
But I doubled down. And now I’m reaping the rewards. I see others too — the ones who worked hard — they’re successful now.
I try to think of someone who worked hard and truly failed.
I don’t know.
Even the ones who “failed” — lost jobs from bad luck — they still evolved. Skills stay with you.
Never Risk Everything: Safety Nets
Mr. A: In the 2000s. I told you — I kind of lost it all. All $500 of my money.
Even now, everything — even my investments — it's all measured.
I still have layers of safety nets.
I have my condo.
I have a well-paying job.
Even if I lost my entire portfolio and two or three properties, I would still have a lifestyle people dream of — just from my tech job and condo.
Mr. A: I would never put myself in a business at my age where I could lose all of that. There’s no need.
Not consciously. Maybe I make a mistake — but it would be hard to fall that far.
Mr. A: When you have backup options, you can take something that looks risky at first glance — but it’s not, on the scale of your whole life.
It's actually a measured risk.
On Bay Area Hardship and Mr. A’s Younger Brother
Mr. A: Bay Area is very competitive — career, everything.
It’s fairly scarce here, right?
Even the house — so competitive to buy a house.
It’s pretty hard to make it here… if you can even afford to live here.
That’s where a lot of people are failing now — they can’t afford it.
I feel bad. Like my brother — he used to live with me for a long time, and I was living with his mom.
That’s what you have to do to survive.
To make it. Cut the expenses.
He could actually get a place by himself and squeak by, but…
If it’s just an apartment, it doesn’t make sense.
On Family and Generosity
TQM: You take good care of your family. You’re really generous.
Mr. A: I’m fortunate. Even though I am generous, my family is the type — maybe because of how we grew up, or how I grew up —
and me projecting down the way I handle things…
Because I’m the oldest.
So more or less they learn from me.
Not saying they learned good things from me.
But they learned that they shouldn’t take advantage of someone else.
Even when it’s possible to — they’d rather struggle, try really hard, almost fail, become a burden — but they still won’t take advantage.
I’m fortunate in that way.
Other families more than happy to ask other people to give them money.
My family? No. Never been that way.
I’ve never been in the awkward position of saying No to them.
So that way — I’m fortunate.
How to Tell If Someone Is Not Rich
TQM: How do you tell if someone is rich or not?
Mr. A: If they exude wealth — then they’re probably not wealthy.
If they’re buying everything flashy, dressing designer —
Usually means they’re pretending.
The ones that seem wealthy — extroverted — want to show that wealth.
The ones who have it — quiet confidence.
They know they're wealthy. They have nothing to worry about.
Less stress. And they can devote more of their energy towards things like meditation, or whatever might make them happier.
The Self-Made Millionaires
Mr. A: VC is a gambling world. They’re just throwing money. You have to work really, really, really hard to take your 1% chance and turn it into 1,000%.
And even then, you’ll probably fail — because there are all these other people.
I don’t know if I would like that life.
None of my friends who went that route succeeded. None became millionaires or billionaires.
The only one close is a friend who got acquired, but I met him after he got acquired, so I wasn’t even there with him.
Mr. A: So the only ones I know who succeeded?
The ones who are self-made:
working hard
growing their careers
growing their investments
not spending their money on frivolous things.
What Is Success?
TQM: What is success for you?
Mr. A: That's what I'm trying to figure out. I don't know what success is.
TQM: Do you think you are successful?
Mr. A: In some aspects. Like I feel in career and financial — I can be labeled successful objectively.
But that's just the work part. The means.
I don't know what the means is for. So from that standpoint, I think I'm failing.
Gotta figure what that is.
Bonus - Planning Tools
Mr. A: I've been doing retirement planning lately, and so I looked at some software. I found one called Projection Labs. There's that one. And there's Bolden.
Projection Lab is interesting. It's made by a solo developer, but it's really good. This guy is so, so good on both like UX and also just the general finance part.
So it allows me to do projections on scenarios and things like that. I find it useful.
Bolden is also really good, and they have a whole team and stuff like that.
You should definitely look into one of those.