Join The Bitcoin Permissionless Community – Bitcoin Magazine
This is an opinion editorial by Mickey Koss, a West Point graduate with a degree in economics. He spent four years in the infantry before transferring to the finance corps.
Much like my contributing role at Bitcoin Magazine, I found Bitcoin indirectly and by accident. I was in a command position at the time, when one of my comm soldiers told me about a GPU miner he had been making passive income with.
I found a helpful eBay seller who pre-made GPU rigs and helped you set them up with a profit swapping software – nice guy. I’ve been cloud mining shitcoins for anons in exchange for bitcoin with NiceHash ever since.
Soon after, the covid-19 lockdowns and stimulus packages began to flow. All in all, my wife and I went from zero bitcoin to essentially all-in in about 3 months. And the rest as they say is history.
Take advantage of your boredom
For a while I had felt unfulfilled at work. I have a largely bureaucratic job which tends to wear me down from time to time. So I decided it was time to have something to look forward to.
During my lunches and free time, I started trolling through LinkedIn using Bitcoin as search criteria. I had no idea there were so many companies. Finally, I stumbled upon one in particular that sounded interesting: Bitcoin Venture Capital (not the company name). Why choose one company when you can work with a bunch of them.
I sent them an email. Why the hell not? The worst they could do was ignore me. And to my amazement they didn’t. Amazing considering what I sent them:
“Hey, I’ve been stuck in the army for a few years, but I think Bitcoin is cool and would love to help you guys out if I can.” (Not verbatim, but you get the point).
I still talk to one of the guys there, almost weekly. He has selflessly and enthusiastically connected me to every veteran related Bitcoin in his Rolodex. I’ve talked to CEOs, podcast hosts, founders, and other VCs.
Not only have I made a valuable connection with someone who wants to help me get a job when I get out, I’ve also made a friend. One of the few friends I have who understands bitcoin, and who shares common and deeply held values.
All this because one day I was bored and decided I was sick of it.
Bitcoin Magazine
I’m not special. Just a regular guy who likes bitcoin. I actually stumbled upon the article submission link for Bitcoin Magazine when I was trying to find their customer service information. I took a chance and sent an email, and a dozen plus articles later, here I am still having fun.
I consider this my proof of employment resume for a proof of working community. I will tell you it’s not easy, but a lot of the time it actually is – because it’s fun and I enjoy doing it. All my articles except the first one are written on my mobile phone in the Google Docs app. A non-trivial part has been written on the couch with the kids while watching Bluey. Several are written in less than an hour. Some have taken days or weeks of thoughts to get them to the point where I want to submit.
I have had several rejected. First time immediately after my first article. It doesn’t feel good, but I like the puzzle of articulation, so I just kept going. Why the hell not?
One article in particular even went a little viral on Twitter because apparently they didn’t like it that much. I stand by my claims.
Ironically, the same article they are talking about is the same article that got me an unsolicited job offer from a Bitcoin startup founder and CEO. It’s crazy how the world works sometimes.
Everyone has a story to tell
One of my favorite quotes from Jordan Peterson is that if you’re bored with a conversation with someone, it’s probably your fault. I find most of them endlessly fascinating. I’m sure you are too. If you’re unhappy or bored or ready for a change, why not go for it. Send email to some people. Write some articles. You can’t change your life if you don’t make a change. Put yourself out there and build your own proof of work portfolio. What’s the worst that could happen?
This is a guest post by Mickey Koss. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.
