Hi, I’m Michael.
I’m glad you stopped by my little corner of the Internet.
What Am I All About?
- Two decades as a software developer and project manager; retired in late 2014; un-retired in early 2015.
- Own and operate multiple online and software businesses acquired since retirement.
- Lived, studied, and worked all over the world, including in China, Poland, Hong Kong, Holland, and about a quarter of the states in the US. Today I call Las Vegas, Nevada home.
- Started earning money online in 2004 selling info-products to other high school and college kids.
- I have a cat that has no respect for the difficulties of typing when she lays on the keyboard.
From Developer to Owner
I use to be a software developer that worked for other people. After 20 years, I retired in 2014, swearing off every working for anyone else ever again.
But that didn’t mean I stopped working, learning, and contributing to society.
As a part-time hobby, I started taking over small projects from other developers when they didn’t want to work on those projects any more.
It turned out to be really fun.
So I started buying more mature software projects. That got even more fun.
The next thing I knew, a new career was right in front of me. I began leveraging my 20 years of IT experience into a growing portfolio of software acquisitions.
The first “real” business I purchased was a small Amazon Affiliate site. I’m not sure I ever made the purchase price back, but I learned a lot running the business. (Want to know what happened? Check out my Empire Flippers “Small Asset Practice” episode.)
Since then I’ve bought and sold a dozen different properties, products, or businesses. Today I manage a seven figure portfolio of e-commerce, SaaS, content, and advertising businesses.
And it all started with that one small acquisition.
Baby Steps from Relying on Others for Income to Earning for Myself
Everyone always seems to believe success can be overnight. Rarely is that ever true. I’ve been at this for close to two decades, trying to learn how to earn an income completely independent from other people or companies.
2004 | Published First Online Book | “How to Get Into Army Flight School Straight Out of High School“
You can download this 15+ year old gem of a book right here: How to become an Army Pilot
2005-2006 | First Profitable Blog | Life as a Graduate School Student in China | http://shangfrew.blogger.com (I think blogger.com is defunct today)
2007 – 2015 | 200+ Software Architecture and Cybersecurity Consulting Engagements in 27 Countries and 35 States
2015 | Purchased First Online Business | GolfRangeFinders.reviews affiliate site
2018 | Sold First Online Business | Extendware.com
2020 | Back to where it all started, writing online. | MichaelFrew.com
“I Want To Do What You Do, But Where Do I Get Started?”
After 20 years in software development and roughly 6+ in software business acquisitions, I finally found something that I’m really good at and enjoy doing every day.
One thing I kept hearing from friends and colleagues was “How do I do that too?” At first, my answer started as a writing project, answering “What’s the question you are asked most often?”
After some additional feedback, I decided to turn that question into this website. I wanted to start publishing in-depth essays on what I’ve learned from buying, selling, and operating online businesses.
This site will offer advice for developers (or any professional, for that matter) on how to transition into a career acquiring profitable software projects, instead of building them from scratch or for someone else.
Rethinking How to Earn a Living Online
This is the website I wish someone wrote when I was in my 20’s and 30’s. Back when I was “working jobs I hate, to buy shit I didn’t need“.
This site is going to be exclusively focused on educating IT professionals about buying online properties, not trying to start them.
Age discrimination forces many of us to leave the IT careers we love too early. I want to demonstrate that one potential off-ramp is owning your own online and software companies.
That’s me and that’s who I care about.
If that sounds like you too, let’s dive right into it then, shall we? The best place to start is with my essay Why Buy, Instead of Build.
Michael
