Kosta Apostolou

Toronto, Ontario · Canada

I'm an internet entrepreneur and real estate investor with a passion for coding and building passive income streams. I'm addicted to golf, poker, and pretty much anything else that promises to drive a man crazy. I'm a Porsche enthusiast, a Titleist fan-boy, and a hater of all products created by Apple.

As far as personality types go, I'm a true INTJ and a night owl. Politically, I lean right but ultimately I'm a libertarian who loves dismantling left-wing and woke ideology down to its core hypocritical nonsense.

If you're into the "woo woo" stuff, I'm a Taurus with life path #7.

What I Do

Software Developer & Architect

The Corporate World

During my corporate years, I only held a "full-time" job once. Once! It sucked so I quit after 6 months and promised to never do that to myself again. Prior to (and after) that, I worked as an independent contractor, I designed and wrote web applications that helped large companies operate more efficiently by simplifying workflow and introducing automation where possible.

Some of my clients included GlaxoSmithKline, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Bank of Montreal, the Government of Ontario, and the Royal Bank of Canada. The money was decent and I was fortunate that my colleagues were amazing people. Aside from that, I always hated alarm clocks, the rat race was dehumanizing, corporate life was too easy, and I needed something more rewarding. It was time to check out of the matrix and do my own thing.

May 1999 - August 2008

Affiliate Marketer

TechKaos Inc.

Someone on the internet said you could make boatloads of money doing online marketing so I quit the corporate world to give it a shot. They were right. After 8 months of grinding and $30k worth of courses and ad spend, I finally had my first profitable day - a whopping $1.82! It was the most rewarding $1.82 I ever made and it inspired me to go on to generate millions in gross affiliate commissions.

Affiliate marketing is the only business where you work 20 hours a day so you can make money in your sleep. I've run successful campaigns in several niches including insurance leads, dating, internet marketing, real estate investing, and health. I still do this today.

August 2008 - Present

Real Estate Investor

Flobird Inc.

I started investing in US real estate in 2010 shortly after the 2008 housing crash. I saw an opportunity that looked so good that I sold my shoe box condo in Toronto and went "all-in" on this investment. This was probably the single-best financial move I ever made. I refuse to own any real estate in Canada until that bubble fully pops. Even then, I might only buy a house for myself. With Canadian laws the way they are, I have no idea why anyone would want to own residential real estate for investment in this country.

In late 2011, I bought a property off a guy who went on to become my business partner. We started with a $19,000 single-family home in Miami that was only 709 square feet, had $4000 in back-taxes owing, and it needed to be completely gutted down to the frame and renovated. Since then, we've grown our portfolio to 47 doors with a goal of hitting 100 doors. This partnership taught me the importance of partnering with someone with completely different strengths yet is 100% mentally aligned with your goals.

April 2010 - Present

Internet Entrepreneur

BirdDogBot

After about half a dozen or so failures at creating a product that someone would actually buy, this was the first time I managed to turn an idea into a profitable product. I wrote the software, sales copy, created tutorial videos, integrated Zendesk, and an email marketing system. I even managed to convince thousands to pay me a monthly subscription fee to use my real estate deal-finding robot. BirdDogBot has been running for over 10 years now but I'm itching for a new project.

This achievement cemented the promise I made myself to never get a job again. If I were to ever need money again, I'd build out another idea and repeat the process. There isn't a more liberating feeling than that!

October 2011 - Present

Skills

Programming Languages & Frameworks

Programming Tools

Operating Systems

Other Tools

Marketing

Designing & Split-Testing Sales Funnels
Launching & Optimizing Paid Advertising Campaigns
Media Buying
Tracking Sales & Attribution
Writing Sales Copy that Sells

Interests

Apart from being a web developer at heart, I spend most of my time playing golf, looking for investment opportunities, or scheming up new business ideas (in that order). From April to November, you'll find me chasing and cursing at a little white ball on a golf course. I love grinding over 3-foot putts to win a $5 bet and I play off a 7-handicap index with a goal of being scratch one day. In the off-season, I hibernate and either run online advertising campaigns or write code to optimize my life.

I also have a passion for investing. I love US real estate, precious metals, and other hard assets. I gamble with crypto and believe all fiat currencies are destined to do what they do best - lose purchasing power and ultimately collapse (as they deserve). I enjoy reading about the Austrian School of Economics and I'm convinced that Keynesians are just delusional statists.

And oh yeah, I thoroughly enjoy trolling political enemies on social media when I'm either bored or procrastinating.

Quotes That Inspire Me

"The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less."

Socrates

"The man who does more than he is paid is soon paid for more than he does."

Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich

"The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

Chinese proverb

"You're only as good as your word. People who don't keep their word, aren't much good."

Robert Kiyosaki in Rich Dad Poor Dad

"How you do anything is how you do everything."

T. Harv Eker in Secrets of the Millionaire Mind

"If you sit back & spend too much time feeling good about what you did in the past, you're going to come up short next time."

Bill Belichick - New England Patriots Head Coach

"The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit."

Fabienne Fredrickson

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt in The Man in the Arena

People I Admire

Dad

"I came to this country with $100 in my pocket" was a something I heard a million times as a kid growing up. It was a broken record to a child, but has since become my favorite song. It taught me to throw fear into the wind and always chase your dreams.

Mom

Mom brainwashed me into believing "you can do anything if you set your mind to it" from about the age of 7. To this day, whenever I'm doubting myself, I reflect on the first time she taught me this lesson. She's definitely my biggest fan and cheerleader.

Ron Paul, Politician

Ron Paul is the only politician I've ever truly admired. It was through his talks where I learned about Libertarianism. Unlike pretty much any other politician, he never swayed from his beliefs and always stuck to his principles, regardless of the undeserving mocking he'd receive from idiots in the mainstream media.

Stefan Molyneux, Philosopher

Stefan Molyneux hosts the world's number one philosophy show. His podcasts and videos have really enlightened me and changed my mind on a number of topics through his masterful use of reason, logic, and empirical evidence. I genuinely believe that his unjust banning from YouTube was a great disservice to society.

Wayne Gretzky, Professional Hockey Player

"The Great One" was my childhood hero growing up. Not only was he the greatest hockey player who ever played the game, he did it with humility and class - something I believe is lacking in most of today's big-name athletes and celebrities.

Tom Brady, Professional Football Player

If there's such a thing as reincarnation, can I be Tom Brady next time around?