In high school I enrolled in a stock investing college course and won the class’ best performing portfolio

I made my first stock trade for $1,000 in college and lost all of it

After graduating cum laude from Georgetown University, I borrowed $40,000 in credit card loans and lost it all in the stock market

At this point I was valuating public companies and sharing on message boards – to my surprise, I was contacted by a respected CEO who admired my financial analysis

I made bold investment decisions with my remaining credit and managed to come out of debt

From many initial mistakes, I made a successful living with an investment philosophy that helped me outperform the market. I began managing small friends and family accounts as well

I experimented with investor activism in 2007 and launched a campaign to challenge the management of Napster Inc.. I received 90% shareholder support and the company responded to pressure and was acquired by Best Buy

In 2008 I took a significant loss due to poor risk management when the market crashed. I emerged from this with a more mature risk management strategy and made my first million in 2010

My refined strategy significantly outperformed the market, making me multiply my wealth. I also acquired a real estate portfolio to diversify

In 2016 I launched a hedge fund called Rod Capital Management which continues to outperform the market benefiting myself and our investors

At the age of 13, I wrote a “Letter to the Editor” to a major newspaper criticizing the conditions of my public junior high school. It was published nationally, causing the administrators to suspend me and opening me up to the idea that I could affect change

I attended 10 different schools from grades K-12. My parents couldn’t afford a piano or lessons, but I expressed myself through music with a Casio keyboard and my own voice

In my first week of college I demanded the resignation of the student body president landing me in the news. I was also an assistant campaign manager to an assemblyman and got deeply involved in politics

I learned about the power of money in politics and realized real change happens at a deeper level. I received my degrees in Philosophy and Government

I started writing and performing music about my way of seeing the world

In 2006, I wrote a book detailing my philosophy, including the idea that wealth has nothing to do with money – it is all about what you value and the way you think

I founded the Paradise Project, an organization dedicated to celebrating thoughtfulness in culture and connecting free thinkers who are passionate about science, nature, and philosophy

We put up a mural entitled “Luminaries of Pantheism” now seen by millions of people every year on Ocean Front Walk in Venice Beach, CA

We launched a popular Facebook page along with pantheism.com, and are working on creating an educational institution for philosophy, theology, and religious studies students