Your Journey Begins

The young paladin picked up his rugged war hammer with his weathered hands. He perched his head over his shoulder guard; twelve battalions of the royal army stand poised, ready to march on his single command. The wind, like the banners bearing his house sigil, sings through the air. The early sun, hoisted high above, breaking and scattering the gloomy sky. With one mighty heave, he swung the heavy hammer behind his back and raised the banner…
Although the world described above was fictional, the experience it spoke of couldn’t be more real. I once found myself in the same spot as the young paladin. Just after finishing my education in 2003, full of enthusiasm and ready to move to battle, I raised my banner on the internet, starting my first online card store ….and failed miserably.
Greetings my friend! My name is Marvin, I am a nerd …and I craft games & start-ups.

Are you a Nerd? Great, I am too!

Over my lifetime, I have been:

    • a Magic the Gathering addict since 1994
    • a Magic the Gathering Online addict since 2012
    • a former online card store owner
    • a former World of Warcraft  addict (and a huge advocate of the feral druid build)
    • a former League of Legends addict (Nidalee was my favorite character. Shapeshifter forever!)
    • a regular pen and paper player and seasoned dungeon master
    • a Warhammer 40k player (this is where I live out my dark side by playing Dark Eldar)
    • a weekly Gloomhaven player
    • a huge Sci-Fi and fantasy fan
    • a hardcore Techie, especially in software development and mobile web development
    • a project manager for large IT-projects (bo……ooooooring)

I have an academic background in business economics and business informatics, but my passions – besides my nerd hobbies – are entrepreneurship, online business and games development.

Why is it great to be a nerd these days?

You may not know it, but as nerds, we are naturally blessed with some of the most valued qualities of an entrepreneur. We are intelligent, creative and more passionate than anyone else. We are so passionate in fact, that we would in our minds develop and build our magical multiverse, to the point where they seem almost real, and indistinguishable from the real world. And last but not least, we are competitive as hell. The question is, what do you make of your nerd skills nowadays?

The Problem: Interesting Quest – Boring Job

As you might have noticed, I use the word “addict” quite a bit to describe my collection of nerd hobbies. This is in no way an understatement; I literally devoted my entire life to each and every one of them.
How do I manage to find the time for such an ambitious portfolio of nerdom, you may ask?

“TIME TRAVEL”

,the planeswalker in me would declare.

However, on this plane called Earth, my answer is quite simple.

“I don’t”

My daily consumption of gaming news, character builds, and spoiler lists often transferred from my personal time at home, to my nine to five duty at work. Needless to say, I always struggle to find the right balance between my passion and my work. I never found the same level of engagement and fulfillment that I almost naturally find in Azeroth, Innistrad, Gloomhaven or any other mystical world I explore. Constantly having the feeling to be meant for something greater is a typical feeling for a driven nerd.

The Goal: Finding meaning in your own entrepreneurial adventure

Have you ever thought about the idea of quitting your day-job and starting a career using the nerd skills you already mastered? For example as a streamer, blogger, game developer, store owner or pro gamer?

The goal is to:

  • escape the daily 9 to 5 rat race
  • stop doing the work that is only important for someone else
  • stop exchanging your precious lifetime for money

in order to:

  • have freedom to spend more time with your loved ones
  • make a difference in a small corner of the multiverse
  • while enjoying what you are doing

In short, have you ever had the dream of becoming an entrepreneur yourself? I bet you have! At least I have. And so have most nerds I have ever met. But what do we all have in common?

The Fear of taking action

The answer is quite simple. As any entrepreneur would tell you, there are many risks and uncertainties involved in starting a new business. At the same time, our society has succeeded in convincing us that pursuing a career through our nerd hobby is not only childish and unrealistic but also financially impossible.
However, there is more than one success story out there. People who are living their dream. Some of them are playing games full-time. Others produce entertaining online content. Yet others develop helpful apps or online platforms. They all have something in common; they focused on their love of a hobby, rather than their fear of uncertainties, and through perseverance, they succeeded.

The How

The question is, how did these people got to where they are today? How much do they earn and how much time do they spend on a regular basis? Is it a side hustle or a full-time job? And most important: What is their advice for you, someone who wants to start out on the same path?
These questions were hijacking my brain every day since I started my first online card store in 2003. Funny enough, every time I now lean back on my office chair, I find myself cast back to that same summer in 2003, firmly holding that war hammer in my hand.
There is but one difference, though. This time, I know that I am not alone in asking these questions. How do I know? The fact that you have read this far along, my dear nerds 🙂
So this time, for a community extending far beyond myself, I have decided to retrieve the lore of Entrepre-Nerdship once and for all.

Now raise your own banner and become an Entreprenerd yourself! The community would love to support you on
your journey.