For me, it all started in the late 1990's. At the time, I was working at United Parcel Service (UPS) in the preload (graveyard shift). The career path was set as I rose through the ranks and more opportunities opened up. However, all around these "start-ups" were springing up.
At the time, I thought it was crazy for anyone to get involved in these companies. Some of the business ideas seemed outright absurd. However, I eventually caught the bug and decided take a chance. I remember the conversation with HR when I resigned. It was something I wouldn't forget and it went something like this. If I stay put, in 20 years, I would retire early. In the meantime, I would continue to do well (provided that I followed the path that mgmt wanted).
A voice inside shouted "20 years...they already thought about 20 years?" I left to see what the next year might look like and in my first startup experience typed in "beginning HTML" and web monkey was the first search result. The journey started with my first piece of code for a web page with "hello world."
