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.
Survival, Relevance, Legacy
Saturday morning, the United States and Israel bombed Iran. By Sunday, every airport in the Middle East was closed. By Monday, the US told Americans to leave 15 countries. Through airports that hadn't had a flight in three days. I watched all of this from my apartment in Toronto. Coffee in hand. Heat on. Cold outside. Completely safe. Meanwhile, people on Tik Tok are complaining they are completely stuck at Dubai airport, can't get out. No flights plan available in the near future. Someone
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The Pitch Deck Caught Fire on Live Television
I love Dubai. I've been there multiple times. I've sat in the lobbies of hotels I couldn't afford when I first visited and told myself, one day. I've walked the Marina at night when the air finally cools down and everything feels possible. I've taken meetings where people talked about the future like it was already here. I've told friends they should visit. I meant it. But I never moved there. And this weekend, the reason why became visible to the entire world at the same time. On February
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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
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.
E52: Three Playbooks Dead, $1 Trillion Gone, and the Identity Crisis Nobody's Talking About
George gets honest about the reckoning. Three playbooks he followed for years — raise VC, build SaaS, sell consulting — are all dead. He walks through how AI collapsed each one and what it felt like to reach acceptance through the five stages of grief. Then: the market meltdown. Over a trillion dollars wiped from software stocks after Claude Cowork launched, and George is still holding index funds full of companies he doesn't believe in. A non-technical founder just built a full-stack app without knowing what Next.js is. Amazon fired 16,000 people at 4am. Tech companies are spending $700 billion on AI this year while laying off tens of thousands. And the question nobody's asking: if your job title disappears tomorrow, who are you? George and John break down why identity reconstruction might be the most important work you do this year.
Tap to listen
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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.
Exit Strategy: How Location Affects Acquisition Value
Your company's location determines who can buy you—and how much they'll pay. Most founders think geography only matters for operations. They're wrong. Geography shapes your entire exit landscape: which buyers can access you, how they value you, and what premium (or discount) they'll apply. After analyzing 127 tech acquisitions across 8 countries and advising on 6 exits, I've mapped the geographic patterns that determine acquisition outcomes. Here's how location becomes your exit strategy—and
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The Umbrella Closed on a Monday
The Umbrella Closed on a Monday I tweeted something Monday morning about France and nuclear weapons. Felt strange typing it. I help founders figure out where to build their lives. I'm not a foreign policy guy. I don't have a PhD in international relations. I'm a 27-year-old in Toronto who runs a small business and posts on the internet. But I've been saying for two years that the world is about to test who actually owns their life and who's been renting someone else's stability. Monday was
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Do You Need Structure Before Revenue?
I believed: "I can't take payments without a company. I can't be legitimate without incorporation. I need to set up the structure first." This is backwards thinking. The business doesn't care about your corporate structure. It cares about whether people pay you. Here's why I had it backwards—and the revenue thresholds I'd use now. The Backwards Belief What I thought in 2019: "I can't take payments without a company." "I can't be legitimate without incorporation." "I need proper structure
Read essayIf You Take Away Anything,
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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