My story begins at the rebellious age of 14, when I wanted to quit school and start my own company. I conducted extended research into it before deciding it was the path for me. But I had to it right. And I had to consider the obvious disapproval of my parents in doing so.
My other problem was that I did not have a computer. I owned a Pentium III PC when I was 12, but needing to find out how it worked I had opened it up and ended up breaking it. So I needed to find the funds to buy myself a new one.
I was also passionate about writing and had written a number of screenplays loosely based on an animated series. When I showed them to a classmate, he said they were really good and suggested I write a book. A light bulb went off in my head. I decided I would write a fictional book which I would sell and raise the money I needed to buy myself a computer.
I wrote the book but when I explored the domain of publishing to understand how it works, I realized that it did not make economical sense for me to go through a publisher as publishing houses take most of the profits. So I decided to self-publish. I got the seed capital from an uncle of mine as well as by accessing a fixed deposit that my parents had set up for me. After selling 1,000 copies I finally had enough funds to buy myself a laptop. Now, I just had to transfer my skills from writing fiction to writing code.
The Sri Lankan education system requires you to spend 13 years in school before you can graduate, at 19, to doing a degree. (Less than 16% of graduates however are admitted into public university but that is a topic for another day.) I stayed in school until I had completed my Ordinary Level examinations at 16, but there was no way I was going to remain any longer. Instead I found a legal loophole that would allow me to study for a degree directly. An international university that accepted students based on aptitude and IQ admitted me and I obtained an undergraduate degree in Software Engineering.
For six years more I worked for other companies in the digital technology industry, gaining the knowledge and experience I needed to set out and build my own. Today, I am the cofounder of CabbageApps, host the business development podcast
The Curious Experience and blog about my learnings.
