Who is George?
I immigrated to Canada at 18. Built my first business at 19. Lost $300K trying to be clever with investing. Now I share everything I learn about building wealth without selling your soul, your time, or your equity.
6+ years in fintech. $10M+ in businesses built. Zero VC. Zero exits. Forever hold. Forever learn. Forever share.
How Can I Help?
Jump straight to what you need, or let me guide you.
What brings you here today?
Essential Reading
The essays that explain how I think. If you read nothing else, read these.
The Middle Path Has Disappeared
The comfortable middle ground is gone. There used to be a safe space between failure and extraordinary success. Work reasonably hard, be reasonably competent, follow the established playbook, and you'd land in a reasonable life. House, family, retirement, respect. That middle path has collapsed. Now it's binary: adapt to the new reality or fade into comfortable irrelevance. Here's why there's no Option C—and what the binary choice actually means. The Great Middle Collapse The Old Distrib
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The Severance Package Is the Tell
Jack Dorsey just cut 4,000 people from Block. Nearly half the company. Gone in a day. Not because the business is failing. Revenue: $6.25 billion last quarter. Cash App monthly active users: up. Gross profit outlook for 2026: raised. The company is growing. A profitable, growing company just eliminated 40% of its workforce. The stock went up 22%. Three Signals Most people will read this as a layoff story. I read it as three signals, and each one is worse than the last. Signal One: The Se
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Believing the "Delaware C-Corp Is Default" Narrative
If you spend any time in founder Twitter, you'll absorb a dangerous lie: "Delaware C-Corp is the standard." "All serious companies incorporate in Delaware." "If you want to raise, you need Delaware." "It's where the big companies are." This advice is true for about 5% of founders. For the other 95%, it's expensive cosplay that burns $3,000+ annually while adding zero business value. Here's who Delaware C-Corp is actually for—and why you probably don't need it. The Twitter Wisdom Trap What
Read essayWhat I Believe
These aren't theories. They're how I've built for 6+ years.
Build to Own, Not to Exit
30+ year thinking. Build like Berkshire, not like a lottery ticket.
Proof: Still own every business after 5+ years. Zero exits. Zero regrets.
Sovereignty Over Scale
Control > size. Freedom > revenue. Most founders scale themselves into a prison.
Proof: 5 people. 80%+ margins. No investors. No board. No boss.
Business First, Outcome Second
Build so strong that countries compete for you. Mobility is a side effect.
Proof: Qualified for Canada SUV, US O-1A. Chose Toronto anyway. Optionality beats desperation.
Only Charge for What AI Can't Eat
Identity, relationships, stakes, accountability. Everything else I give away free.
Proof: Tools are free. I only charge for judgment. 60-70% rejection rate.
Learn Together
Multi-chapter deep dives you can read at your own pace, or get emailed one chapter at a time.
The AI Displacement Series
In 78 minutes, you'll know exactly where you stand — and what to do next.
Free. No email required. No paywall.
Clarity
Which jobs, businesses, and revenue streams are already being eaten
A Framework
The 5 layers AI can't touch — and how to build your career in them
An Action Plan
Concrete steps, not “learn to prompt.” What to do this month.
George Pu
February 2026
Hear From George
Real talk. No highlight reels. No startup theater.
E51: The Career Ladder Broke. 2.2 Billion People Were Standing On It. And My First Boss Lied to My Face.
The five biggest outsourcing companies in India added just 17 net jobs in 2025. Seventeen.George breaks down why the career ladder that lifted billions into the middle class is collapsing — from offshore engineering centers to Fiverr freelancers — and why the squeeze doesn't stop at outsourcing. Then he shares a story he's never told publicly: being 18 years old, cold-emailing 300 CEOs to land his first internship, working in his boss's basement, being told "you're doing great" every day — and then getting one of the worst reviews his university had ever seen. Plus: would 18-year-old George survive today's job market? What human skills actually remain valuable? And the real solution to AI displacement that nobody wants to hear.
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Real numbers. Real returns. Even when I lose. Because showing losses builds more trust than showing wins.
See My PortfolioRecent Essays
What I'm thinking about right now. New essays every week.
I Am My Hedge Fund
I Am My Hedge Fund February 2026 TL;DR: * I spent $300K and hired 5 full-time people to build a quant trading operation in 2020-2021. * We had researchers, strategists, developers. We still lost. * Today I manage my own money alone, with my own thesis, published openly at founderreality.com/investing. * No fund. No fees. No hiding. Here's why I think one person with conviction beats a team with algorithms — and why the era of the solo capital allocator is just beginning. I need to tell y
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How We Picked Our Open-Source AI Model (And Why We Didn't Pick the "Best" One)
TL;DR: * There are dozens of open-source AI models and new ones drop weekly. * Most comparison guides are benchmark tables that mean nothing to business leaders. * Here's how we actually chose — why we went with a smaller, "less impressive" model over the flashy options, and why that turned out to be the right call. In my last post, I wrote about self-hosting our own AI for $700 a month. A lot of people asked the same follow-up: how did you pick the model? Honestly, this was the hardest pa
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I Self-Hosted My Own AI for $700 a Month. Here's What I Actually Learned
TL;DR: * Full self-hosting of top-tier AI costs $20,000–$50,000/month and isn't worth it for most businesses. * Cloud-hosted models (AWS Bedrock, Google Vertex, Azure) are the underrated middle ground — you get the best AI with your data staying in your account. * I built a private AI setup for $700/month and it covers 80% of daily tasks. Here's the full breakdown, the real costs, and a decision framework for what makes sense for your business. My team and I just spent a few days building o
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Take Away This
Business First. Everything Else Second.
Build so strong that visas, funding, and freedom become side effects.
Own Everything. Exit Nothing.
30+ year thinking. No VC. No exits. Just compounding forever.
Only Charge for What AI Can't Do.
Identity, judgment, stakes, accountability. Everything else is free.
These aren't theories. They're how I built $10M+ in 6 years.
Free Tools & Apps
Calculators, assessments, and apps I built for founders. All free. No email required.
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