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.
You Cannot Buy What Can Only Be Built
Meta spent $14.3 billion last year to buy half of a data labeling company. They made its 28-year-old CEO the head of their Superintelligence Lab. Gave him a title that didn't exist six months before. Put him above researchers who'd been doing AI before he was in high school. Nine months later, his team reports to other people. A new group controls the data pipelines. The researchers he was supposed to lead are leaving. And the man who was already there — Yann LeCun, one of three people alive
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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
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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Take the QuizI Publish My Actual Investment Portfolio
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.
Why I Keep $200K in Cash (Even Though It's "Stupid")
Financial Twitter says I'm losing $8,000 annually to inflation by keeping $200K in cash. They're right about the math. I'm keeping it anyway. Here's why being "financially stupid" is strategically smart—and why the opportunity cost calculation misses the bigger picture. The Opportunity Cost Lecture What Financial Twitter tells me constantly: The calculation: * $200K in savings account earning 4.5% = $9,000 annual return * $200K in S&P 500 historical average 10% = $20,000 annual return
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Understanding the True Cost of Maintenance
When you research forming a company, you see the marketing: "Formation fee: $89-500" "Fast and easy" "Be official in days" This is technically true. Formation is cheap and fast. What they don't tell you: formation is 10% of the story. The other 90% is maintenance. Here's what maintaining a Delaware C-Corp actually costs—and why I wish someone had explained this before I spent $25,000+ over six years on a structure I barely needed. The Formation Marketing vs. Reality What the incorporation
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The Freedom Number Isn't What You Think
Stop calculating your "retirement number." Everyone obsesses over how much they need saved to never work again. $1M? $2.5M? $5M? You're asking the wrong question. The right question: How much cash flow do I need to own to say no to anything? The answer is probably 80% smaller than your retirement number—and achievable 30 years sooner. The Wrong Calculation (That Everyone Does) The traditional retirement framework: "How much do I need saved to never work again?" The 4% rule math: * $1M
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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