Leon leaned back in his chair, his fingers drumming lightly against the wooden desk as he stared at his laptop screen. The dim glow of the monitor reflected in his eyes, filled with determination. His Bitcoin investment was set, and now it was time for the next step—stocks.
If there was one thing he regretted in his past life, it was not investing early in tech giants. He had watched Apple, Amazon, and Tesla turn ordinary investors into millionaires, yet he had never taken the leap.
This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake.
The problem? He still needed more money to invest. His recent sneaker and electronics flips had given him a boost, but he wanted a stronger financial cushion before entering the market.
Leon took a deep breath and looked around his dorm room. His roommate was out, probably at some party, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He had to think smart.
Flipping sneakers had worked, but it wasn't sustainable on a large scale. He needed something more scalable—something that could bring in money without too much effort.
Then it hit him. College students were always looking for shortcuts.
His university was filled with students struggling with assignments, essays, and exam prep. They didn't want to spend hours making detailed study notes—they wanted something ready-made.
A smirk formed on his lips. He had always been good at summarizing complex topics into simple notes. If he could sell those to desperate students before exams, he could make a killing.
That night, he spent hours typing up well-organized study guides, covering economics, finance, and even some introductory coding notes. By the next morning, he uploaded them onto college forums and local Facebook groups, offering them for a small price.
The results were immediate.
Within a week, he had sold over 200 copies, making $4,000 in profit.
Leon let out a low whistle, staring at his PayPal balance. "Not bad," he muttered.
With this, he finally had enough to enter the stock market.
Leon opened his laptop and logged into his newly created Charles Schwab brokerage account. His heart pounded as he typed in the first ticker symbol: AAPL.
Apple Inc.
It was May 2010, and Apple was on the verge of releasing the iPhone 4. He remembered how it had taken the world by storm, breaking sales records and cementing Apple's dominance in the smartphone industry.
A single share was going for $8.75 (split-adjusted).
Without hesitation, Leon bought 300 shares for $2,625.
Next was Amazon.
Amazon had been growing steadily, but people still saw it as just an online bookstore. They didn't realize it was about to dominate e-commerce and cloud computing.
A share cost $126, and Leon purchased 10 shares for $1,260.
He exhaled slowly. That left him with $1,115. Enough for one more major bet.
His eyes flickered to the next name on his list: Tesla Inc.
Tesla was about to go public on June 29, 2010, at an initial price of $17 per share. At the time, most people doubted electric vehicles—they thought Tesla was a money-burning joke that would never compete with traditional automakers.
But Leon knew better.
Tesla's stock would skyrocket in the next decade, defying all expectations. He wasn't going to miss this golden opportunity.
So when the IPO went live, he quickly bought 50 shares for $850.
He leaned back in his chair, staring at the completed transactions. It was done.
With his remaining cash, Leon decided to wait and watch. He had set the foundation—Bitcoin, Apple, Amazon, and Tesla.
Now, he needed patience.
He glanced at his notebook, where he had jotted down future investment opportunities.
More Tesla stock before 2013Netflix in 2012-2013Google stock after price dipsBuying real estate after the 2008 crash
A slow smile crept onto his face.
This was only the beginning.
To be continued…