Cool thread. I'm 31, and I often think about how fortunate I've been so far in life. Not long ago I'd be close to the age where many people were reaching avg life expectancy. It would have been near impossible for them to see another country for example. Many people today in the world will still never leave where they were born, even once in their life. It's truly amazing what we're able to do today, even for people of modest means.
Meeting my wife, and the birth of my child, obvious. When he was born I was 99% certain it was going to be a girl (even though we didn't find out beforehand) and the doctor had to ask me if I understood anatomy... He was born "floppy" and they were hitting red buttons, trying to revive him.. I was holding my wife and trying to block her view. Luckily everything went okay.
My wife is from Mexico City, and I took a greyhound bus there the first time. 3.5 days each way. It was really awesome. On the bus I wrote my plan for AdultSiteSurfer actually. Time well spent, you might say.
Buying my first modem. I bought a used 2400 baud modem, changed everything. Being part of BBSing before the Internet was a big part of my life back then, and obviously gave me an advantage when the internet came around.
I helped start MyDesktop when I was 14, and we grew it into a network of 12 sites, eventually selling to Internet.com. I was screwed out of my ownership (because I was 14 and didn't get anything on paper...) but I actually managed to turn that into a positive.
When I was 16 or so, I took a road trip to Texas with my 27 year old boss, with just a learners permit and no idea how to drive standard. We stayed with some friends he knew from the internet. I met a girl at the pool on the second day, she was 26, and we hit it off. I slept at her place the rest of the trip. My friend was pretty pissed off because he liked her too. He ended up staying in Texas, leaving me stranded and I had to ask my uncle to get me home with his frequent flier points.. While I was there I was watching CNN's fortune TV, and my business partner was on! I was like whoaahh.. We'd made the news a lot with MyDesktop.. But this was still pretty random and cool. I had a moment of wtf am I doing, I'm on a couch in Texas... The next segment on the show was about laptops and mobile gadgets, so I said okay, I'm going to do that..
So I wrote a little business plan, came home, and got a $250,000 investment from a VC I knew, in part using my leverage of the guilt my business partner had from screwing me out of the deal... I made more from that than I would have from the sale as it turned out. I slept through my first meeting too, and still got the money.. That was a good day.
Getting VC money two more times, also highlights.
'98 Comdex was very cool. We went in full black suits with fedoras, and were too young to get into half the parties because of our age, even with press credentials.
Monte Carlo in 2005, working at the Poker Millions tournament. First night I won a tournament with 10 guys from the UK in the bar at the hotel, all of whom were entered into the $25k buyin tournament. The guy I went heads up against took 12th in the WSOP main event the year before. Paul Jackson was there but was late so he didn't play with us.
Phil Ivey won the tournament, and when he went up to get the big check I yelled out "your fly's down!" and he looked... lol.. Then he won the Full Tilt tournament that was held afterwards in the historical casino there.. When he went to get the check I did the same thing, and he checked again, smiled and gave me the poiint like youuu agaaaain... hahah.. A couple years later I was at Cleo's in Vegas and he walked in with his wife.. he kept looking at me throughout the dinner like HOW do I know that guy...
$10,000 night at the Spearmint Rhino in Vegas... That's gotta be up there.. Same night actually as Cleo's.
Some great parties at adult conventions too.. Like the night I bribed a security guard with Player's Ball passes to tell me which room Too $hort was in, walking down the hall to his room with ~20 people following me (at a safe distance lol).. Some half naked chick answered and said he was busy... ;)
Seeing my wife's dad build a new house. From visiting the empty lot with long grass and empty beer bottles to the incredibly beautiful home they have today. I think it took him 7 years from start to finish.
Throwing a party at the Space Needle in Seattle. I met a lady on the plane who told me I had to thank my estranged Father for giving me my life, no matter how much I was hurt. That really helped me find the strength to patch things up with him after 8 years of not talking. When his father died, I saw him at the funeral and I talked to him, and he asked if I'd come with him to the burial, about a 2 hour drive away.. I said okay.. it was really, really weird.. When it was time to lower my grandfather's ashes, nobody was stepping up (they didn't like him...) so I said I'd do it and my grandma really appreciated it. Now I talk to my dad and it was really helpful to stop the cold war.
All my acid trips. :D
Life's been good. I've already done more than I ever thought I would, and hopefully there's a lot more to come.
Ah yes.. Celebrating first million as well. Still working on the bankruptcy... :P