Hi Jow Forums

I just started a job for one of the big consulting firm in my country last January and it's most depressed I have ever been. I honestly feel like i'm dying physically and emotionally. It's really soul-crushing. My only hope is crypto I really want to get out of this lifestlye.

I have about $1,200 in saving, $600 in checking

I actually dual degreed with a degree in theatre as well, but i didn't study that seriously enough to be employable in a creative field by any means, basically just skirted the surface to hit my 150 credit hours to sit for CPA exam.

I paint and make edm in ableton as well, not bad, but fairly mediocre and after some serious effort not fully convinced I'll be able to turn that into something financially viable.

Your fucked buddy.

Im just grading aswell.

Friends straight out of highshool went to make 80k/year working at the mill

year1: 80k
year2: 83k
year3: 85k
year4: 87k
year5: 90k
year6: 93k
year7: 95k
year8: 97k
year9: 100k
year10 103k
Total 913K

Us accounting cucks:

year1: -20k
year2: -20k
year3: -20k
year4: -20k
year5: 30k (most people don't start work until September so 4 months no income)
year6: 43k
year7: 45k (should have CPA by now)
year8: 60k
year9: 65k
year10: 70k
Total 233K

Give the mill worker 4% annual compounding returns and its even more fucked.

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Where's this mill at?

Anywhere in Canadoot. Plenty of other union jobs around aswell you can do and be making even more strightout of highschool. Only reason I didn't drop out of uni and do that instead is I have 1mill plus in crypto from 2010.

Honestly good on you man, wish I would've bough t in back then. I even knew about it and could have, just seemed too far fetched and good to be true.

Also the fact that I learned US GAAP instead of IFRS means I basically can't leave country to work. Had a friend who lives in montreal and wanted o possibly go up there until i found that out

> what should I know

That if you get your CPA, you will make a shit ton more money

They specialize you in one? In canadoot we learn the general principles of both in Uni but very little practical work. Then I'm guessing we will need to learn both when I start public practice in September.

Make a shit ton more is relative. Yah you'll make more but never enough to not be a wage cuck because it takes to long to get there.

Refer too

Normaly a slide or two on IFRS here and there but basically not talked about at all. I'd say a good amount of practical work though as far as simulation cases for audit and tax

are career advancement prospects good?

the only reason im ok with wagecucking atm is because I know i can start my own thing/ climb the ladder once i have sufficient experience and skills (architect assistant in a pretty good firm)

Not true. Once you're a CPA, you're on a whole new level. And if you continue your education later, even more.

My old boss was a CPA. She was making $1.5 million per year plus stock options at a well known company. She's retiring now and just landed a $4 million golden parachute on the way out.

So ya, shit ton is relative.

What was she doing when she was making 1.5? Public accounting or something else?

the truth is in a lot of traditional profession (accounting, doctor, law, architect) you'll typically need to wagecuck for a while. Thats because there's a HUGE gap in experience and skills between the senior and juniors no matter how good your grades were.

Once you get enough experience and skills (5-10 years? depends on profession) is when shit starts to get real.

CFO of a publicly held company. I double checked her resume, and she has a BS in accounting and a CPA.

She moved up to CFO of one company, then used that to move up and over as CFO of several very well known companies.

In the meantime she got seats on the board of directors of several companies, which means even more money for less work.

Again, a CPA is the key to everything. It's what separates the people who "work in accounting" from the professionals. It's the gold standard, and it is absolutely necessary if you ever plan on moving beyond a certain level in an organization.

In fact, it's standard practice that you CAN'T be the CFO of a company without a CPA, since a CPA give you a legal right to do certain things like auditing and company financial reports.

Gets real in what way?

Except that the 0.01% of accountants. And only thous who give up their 20, 30, 40, and mid 50s working 85 hours a week in big 4 public practice to make partner then transition to Executive in industry. For every one of these people there are 200 kids making 60k a year after going though 6 years of training to subsidize that one person. Anyone one can take the mill route and invest in index funds

If the mill worker invested his money at 4% annual return he would have $1,114,889.03 at the end of the 10 years. He can take that $1,114,889.03 and put 20% down on a 10% cap rate business and be making $1,114,889/ year at 28 years old.

Not true on a few parts...

1. Give up their 20, 30, 40's ... ya, but that's what life is. Every person has a choice. They can sit on their ass and do nothing, at which point they get nothing, or they can work their ass off and make something of themselves. No one is going to pay a slacker prime $, and a slacker shouldn't expect it. This is the same for any business in the world.

2. Not true that you have to give up your entire life to make it. My old boss was a CFO by the time she was 35.

The bottom line... if you have talent you will rise, if you don't, you won't.

But... if your business is accounting, a CPA is necessary to move up, it is a ticket that opens several doors, and it is a requirement for all of the top positions. So you might as well get it, since there are too many advantages to not get it.

your salary gets a singularity

take architecture for example: junior: ~48AUD per year. Registered architect after 4 years: 70-80k. Director(possible at age 33-35 if you're good): 120k-??? no limit, depends on how many projects you can obtain.

Alternatively you can also use your experience to go into property development privately

Not sure where you got your numbers but it's more like

year1: -20k
year2: -20k
year3: -20k
year4: -20k
year5: 26k (most people don't start work until September so 4 months no income)
year6: 55k
year7: 60k (should have CPA by now)
year8: 70k
year9: 80k
year10: 90k

not that hard desu. live as frugally as possible, no expensive cars/clothes, dont eat out etc. toss half your cash in a vanguard ETF earning you 10% interest compounding over 20 years, use the other half of your cash to invest into crypto/high yield blue chip stocks. Work hard at your job, do not get into debt, and after 5-10 years you will have enough money to buy real estate/your crypto earning should have paid off big league.

Yeah this user is right - as long as you're good and creative, you'll make it no matter what you do.

wagecucking is a meme only if you dont have a plan to progress

At 35 your boss would be in the 0.00001%. Average of a CFO in America is 50 and old for the big paying positions.

>qz.com/1074326/how-the-average-age-of-ceos-and-cfos-has-changed-since-2012/

>1. Give up their 20, 30, 40's ... ya, but that's what life is. Every person has a choice. They can sit on their ass and do nothing, at which point they get nothing, or they can work their ass off and make something of themselves. No one is going to pay a slacker prime $, and a slacker shouldn't expect it. This is the same for any business in the world.

Or you could work smarter like the mill worker can invest and make more... A dollar today is worth 1000 in a few years if you understand compounding interest.

I agree about the CPA thou I'm getting mine aswell.

According to this page, even the average CFO pay is about $450k per year. A good pay by any standard.

And if you're the CFO of a public company (as opposed to private), you will be above the average

investopedia.com/ask/answers/010915/whats-average-salary-chief-financial-officer-cfo.asp

Ok, we already established the mill worker at:

year1: 80k
year2: 83k
year3: 85k
year4: 87k
year5: 90k
year6: 93k
year7: 95k
year8: 97k
year9: 100k
year10 103k
Total 913K
Compounding 4% annually for 10 years: $1,114,889.03
Then 20% down for a 10% cap rate business.
year 11: 1,114,889.03
year 12: 1,114,889.03
year 13: 1,114,889.03
year 14: 1,114,889.03
year 15: 1,114,889.03
year 16: 1,114,889.03
year 17: 1,114,889.03
year 18: 1,114,889.03
year 19: 1,114,889.03
year 10: 1,114,889.03
Total: $12,263,779

CPA is:

year1: -20k
year2: -20k
year3: -20k
year4: -20k
year5: 26k (most people don't start work until September so 4 months no income)
year6: 55k
year7: 60k (should have CPA by now)
year8: 70k
year9: 80k
year10: 90k
year11: 95k
year12: 100k
year13: 105k
year14: 110K
year15: 120K
year16: 125k
year17: 130k
year18 135K
year19: 140k
year20: 145k
Total: 1,438,000

I get why you guys are in denial. It hurts me aswell to realize I was tricked into the wage slaving when I thought I was doing the "Smart" thing compared to my "Stupid" friends who went to work in the mill and not go to school.

eh desu working in a mill is some of the shittiest work you will do. its either really hot/really cold, dangerous, you come home with your back aching and feet and knees hurting, too exhausted to do anything after work, and usually the guys who work in a mill wont save/invest their money.

> we already established the mill worker at.

No we haven't.

payscale.com/research/US/Job=Mill_Worker/Hourly_Rate

Not to mention, your compounding example assumes the entire 80k is used for compounding.

If OP gets his CPA, he could explain this to you in detail.

I agree it's not fun. I do it for the summers while in uni. But as buddy was saying above

>Every person has a choice. They can sit on their ass and do nothing, at which point they get nothing, or they can work their ass off and make something of themselves.

So either you give up 40 years of your live working 90 hours a week as a accountant. Or you give up 90 hours a week for 10 years to be making way more and be retired.

True most people don't save but if your smart enough to make CFO your smart enough to save up.

Maybe in the US at non union mills. Trust me I know I worked there and made 23k before in 3 1/2 months last summer.

>Not to mention, your compounding example assumes the entire 80k is used for compounding.

Fair enough, if I was on excel I could be better cals than typing on 4chins. Even assuming 50% tax rate mill worker comes out ahead buddy.

>If OP gets his CPA, he could explain this to you in detail.

Trust me I don't need someone to explain it to me. I'm starting in public practice in a few months in Vancouver and have worked in Mills for years.

I was a math grad, so job market might be diff for you. But in general I think a lot of people are really bad at separating their life, and their work, because since we were kids we defined ourselves by the quality of work we output. Life really isn’t like that, and shouldn’t be. I work so that I can afford to do the things that make me happy. Basically, a lot of people, since they cannot separate themselves from work, strive to be the perfect _____ machine. But pursuit of perfection leads to general unhappiness, because perfect doesn’t exist in nature. Learn to find other things you value in your life. Doesn’t even have to be big, just something that you know you enjoy, even when you fail. I like to cook when I get home. I like to shoot photos. Working for a living ain’t bad when you get to leave and be happy later.

The posts in this thread are totally fucking deluded. The 35 year old CPA who became a CFO is some one-off example -- no F500 company has fucking CPAs working in the C-Suite. It's the high finance guys, strategy consultants, sometimes legal. Who the fuck wants a someone with audit experience as a CFO? Any major corporation needs someone with M&A experience in that role to continue to expand the business and handle their financial operations (ie former bankers and/or internal corporate development rising stars).
You know what you can expect as a CPA? Some quick raises that can get you to the mid-100k salary range and then permanent stagnation as a dogshit middle manager, unless you stuck it out in public accounting and are the 1% who make it to partner.

t. b4 CPA with 6 years of experience and getting the fuck out the industry altogether

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Thank you.

So what do you think of the Labourer vs CPA analysis?

Wrong. As of January 2017, 37% of the CFO's at publicly traded companies are CPA's:

spencerstuart.com/~/media/pdf files/research and insight pdfs/fortune-500-cfo-index-report_032317.pdf

scratch that, should have said... 37% of the CFO's at Fortune 500 companies.

>But the idea of being a basic salary cuck ten and then twenty years from now and probably not leaving philadelphia area depresses the shit out of me.
This is what you wanted. This is what you paid for. Grow up and get over it.

Your CPA figures were quite low unless you're working in a flyover state. And I don't understand where you're getting this "20% investment yields $12mm in 10 years" figure from.

Neat, so the bottom half of the F500 are all companies making less than $10B yearly and not highly acquisitive. They can't afford to hire/need to hire high value finance execs to fill those roles.

37% to you is a high number?

Why are accounting cucks so deluded. I can at least admit doing the CPA route was a mistake. You need acceptance my friend, I know the thought of making 1 mill a year at 55 years old help you get though thous days working 80 hours a week for little pay. But reality is you will quit and go into industry for 80k a year for the rest of your life.

Accounting undergrad here.
Is there any way for me to break into high level finance?

No. You could try audit > transaction advisory services > investment banking, but good luck. You'll need it.

>year1: 80k
>year2: 83k
>year3: 85k
>year4: 87k
>year5: 90k
>year6: 93k
>year7: 95k
>year8: 97k
>year9: 100k
>year10 103k
>Total 913K

lmao, you really did just graduate. as someone who makes 80k at the mill, 80k turns into 20k really quick with taxes, 401k matching, rent, food, gas, internet, phone, power, water.

What would your recommendation be to do instead if Im just about to finish up. Rather than go into public accounting, should I try to start soemwhere else with what I have or is the deck I have to play?

You think accountants don't pay taxes, 401 matching, rent food, gas, internet, phone, power, water? Take 60k off the accountants salary every year and they have a negative net worth until 15 years in.

Then account for the fact to make big money as accountant you have to be in a expensive city like Vancouver. In Van accountants are starting at 38k/year out of Uni and houses are 1.5 million. Working in a mill I can live in a town where houses are 300K and clear 85k/year.

This. People forget about taxes and expenses. That's why we don't see doctors and engineers who are multi-millionaires. The only way to make it other than investing is to become CEO or own your business

Does anyone have a source on this mill wage
Sounds too good to be true for an 18 year old to make 90k with no experience

>doctors
>engineers

Not even in the same realm of pay, and there are plenty of multi-millionaire doctors, it just takes them until their 40s/50s to get there after med school debt.

Base rate at mine was 30/hour. Weekends $45/ $60 hour. And that's BASE rate. you can go up to $40 hour pretty easily. Then you also have you pension which is decent but not great. Plus FULL dental and health, which in my experience is miles better than I am getting in public practice. This union in Candoot, non union in America is probably pennies on the dollar.

I'm not really sure why everyone is so mad.

I'm not saying that working in a mill or any other industry for that matter isn't honorable work. Nor am I saying you can't make a good life for yourself with it.

But OP is graduating with an accounting degree. Telling him to go work in a mill would be an absolute waste of his schooling and would probably not be in his interests.

He's chosen accounting, so our advice should be geared toward helping him to perform best in his chosen field.

And that being the case, getting his CPA is still the ticket.

dude how the fuck did you not have a B4 offer before graduating? are you literally retarded?

this is wrong, year 1's in the US at B4 firm start at 55k

55K / (8/12) = 36K year 4.

Ya big diff

Big 4 is a meme.

Actually the most common degree possessed by millionaires is in engineering, but of course it requires you to perform well, save, and invest. Doctors have much higher earning baseline but your net worth is very dependent on your specialization, loans, and ability to not spend all the money you earn in order to show people that you are a doctor. Of course the top tier doctors/surgeons will always make more than the top tier non-ceo engineers, but if you’re talking about purely numbers over a span of years they are not too far apart. Especially for people going to med school nowadays since the value and prestige is not the same as it was 30 years ago.

there is a huge difference between 20k and 36k are you fucking joking lmao? Thats almost poverty level tier. also
Anyone who starts B4 undoubtedly will have an easier career path than someone who goes mid tier or small tier CPA firm. Furthermore, anyone who goes industry will most likely be managed by someone who was previously in B4. It is a very easy and intelligent start to your career. Going industry from the outset can lead to you getting shoehorned into a role with zero progression besides finding a new company. Atleast B4 offers very clear cut linear progression in terms of salary and expectations.

millionaire engineers take on business roles and get MBA's. They do less engineering work and start doing things like managing groups of engineers or establishing their own engineering company. Rarely does one make the big bucks as an engineer just doing engineering work at a company, most generally get their MBA's or start their own companies.

Do ANYTHING to avoid wagecucking. Start a business, rob a bank, sell yourself, invest in crypto. Start in a 9-5 in and 15-20 years you’ll be stuck in a godforsaken cunt of an office, vomiting every morning and thinking of necking yourself ever other day....ahem, or you might enjoy it.

Godspeed.

>there is a huge difference between 20k and 36k are you fucking joking lmao? Thats almost poverty level tier.

Long term it makes little difference especially when comparing to trades workers like above.

>Anyone who starts B4 undoubtedly will have an easier career path than someone who goes mid tier or small tier CPA firm.

Fair enough, but at the end of the 10 years your still going to be wage cucking compared to a smart trades worker... I guess if your devoted to the wage cuck life then it makes scene.

Working in office is the most feminine thing possible. Shit pay for years and catty office politics... Accounting jobs should be reserved for women. Real men need to make more thank 36k year kek.

>compared to smart trades workers
you mean the guys who have to get back surgery, knee surgery, and have general ailments from working in a mill? Have you ever noticed the lung cancer and mesothelioma advertisements are never looking for office workers and professionals, but gross lazy trades workers who were exposed to every kind of cancer causing factor known to man? Tradesman literally trade their future health and wellness for accelerated cashflows related to their skills.

I’m on $91k(aus) which isn’t a great deal down here but respectable but I’m still trapped in a hell of my own making. Take it from an old cunt, be your own boss while you still have a soul.

t.Someone who has never worked a trade in there life.

Only office workers are brain washed enough to think these guys are still destroying there bodies. The work is easy AF now; it's not the 1950s anymore grandpa. Also look at the analysis above if your smart you can retire in 10 years.

you are literally the only one talking about mill jobs
I have a feeling you are being fed information from a SPECIFIC WORKER who happens to make ALOT of money based on STATUS
nothing to do with reality where most are paid $10/hr after 1 year

Thank you, for the advice. Thankfully, my dad and I have made a decent amount that I can invest into businesses while I do my CPA. Otherwise I would forget about and be doing a trade to save up.

you didnt even bother to discount FCF to a NPV so naw I aint gonna look at that shit. You are right, every single tradesman I see does not have a fucking beer belly and move like they could have a hernia any second.

I work there in the summers in between Uni semesters... Cleared 23k in 3 1/2 months doing nothing bby gurl...
Enjoy slaving away at big 4 working 80 hour weeks for years to eventually burn out and take a industry job for 80k/year.

starting your own business is often romanticized, so I'll give an ancedote opposite of it. My father is a very successful small business owner in the USA. Family trips to europe, resorts in mexico, renting homes in the islands, etc. He has worked 7 days a week 6am-7pm easily for the last 20-25 years. Yeah you are your own boss, but if you realize how important it is to constantly be working you dont just start the business and kickback. Business owners who "make their own schedule" and "relax" generally are shit business owners.

you tell me, i'm gambling my ass away in crypto trying to escape working in law.

each month i'm more depressed, this is no life, slavery pure and simple. deep inside i know crypto'll not save me and i'm starting to make other moves and try to get a gov job

I am confused, are you in canada? 23k CAD for 3 months is pretty garbage tbqh

>Enjoy slaving away at big 4
you're the one who has a degree in accounting
if anything you said was true youd work there, but you dont and its not

Attached: 98746513156987469.png (401x450, 57K)

Trust me I know the life, my dad and I purchased a rental property which ran a few years ago. Bought it at 1,200,000 mill and sold for 1,600,000 a year later and made 120,000 in rent. I spent probably 2-3 hours there a day fixing random shit and doing payroll and the books.

78k in Candoot is great when accountants at big 4 in Vancouver are starting at 38k/year...

Independently wealthy thanks to working with my parents and 1mill+ in crypto. If that wasn't the case I'd be doing trades saving up. I'm giving advice for normal people not setting them up on bad assumptions.

>Implying most accountants reach CFO
>Implying most CFOs pay 450k
>Implying many of those positions are nepotistic
>Uses the top x% of a profession to say someone should enter the field
You must still be in high school/college

MBA from a top ~15 school and network your ass off

>That's why we don't see doctors and engineers who are multi-millionaires. The only way to make it other than investing is to become CEO or own your business
Which is what many physicians do...

For wagecucks, the only salvation is living frugally and investing. I'm making 70k out of college in an expensive-as fuck area, but I found the most affordable apartment I could, I cook all of my food, I have cheap hobbies. I'm saving/investing 55% of my income and can retire in ~10 years. Once I find a job in a cheaper area, even if I never increase my salary, I'll be saving about 75% and retiring even faster.

I don't pretend to enjoy my job, but if I need to do moderately soulless work for ~10 years and then I'm free forever, I think that's a pretty good deal historically speaking. I'm not working in a fucking coal mine or something.

I'm not saying don't try and increase your salary, I'm shooting for $100k within 5 years, but planning your future around being a fucking CFO is nuts. The odds are not in your favor. Start buckling down and saving now, and your worst case timeline will not be that shitty.

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such is life user. just remember to never get too comfortable

solid pre-crypto Jow Forums post

The fucking blind leading the fucking blind.

The world is so fucking flush with cash right now at the lowest interest rates of all fucking time you have to be an absolute moron to not be asking banks and lending institutions for all this free money. Hell even SBA loans are 100% guaranteed it's free fucking money. These losers talking about 4% compounding god I almost fucking puked.

Just buy fucking businesses from motivated sellers. Recruit a "dream team" on LinkedIN of established industry vets, get a good in house lawyer good in house accountant. Recruit a Big 4 accounting firm to audit your M&A on a delayed or "rolled" fee basis. Same with the top 4 law firm. Delayed or "rolled" fee basis. Then start fucking cold calling businesses to buy with institutional money. Assisted Living Homes are a great place to start.

Here's all you need to look for:

FREE CASH FLOW COVERS DEBT SERVICE

Find 3 Assisted Living homes, company 1 ~200k revenue / mo, company 2 ~150k revenue/mo, company 3 ~ 300k revenue (10k per bed a month x30 beds, you do the math moron). payroll per month for all companies ~300k , debt service $25k/mo (50%/50% P/I) , legal frees, nonrecurring costs around $110k/mo , That still leaves us with about $215,000 a MONTH in free cashflow. $215k a month. I'm looking for more ALHs to buy right now as well. Will probably exit in a few years to a large corporate conglomerate for around $50million.

>can retire in ~10 years.
unless you can retire on less than $500k, not going to happen

Retire = can cover my expenses in passive income and live the way I currently do forever. I think that's the most reasonable way to define it (though yes, I'll likely work a few years extra to make myself more comfortable).

So yeah, if you can live off of $20k, you can retire on $500k (4% is the commonly agreed on safe withdrawal rate).

Is there an equivalent accreditation or qualifications that CTOs need?

I'm a software engineer working at a well known US company after I graduate in the UK and I want to know what I need to learn to go beyond Managing just a small team and become a leader/director/CTO in Technology.

you've never lived on your own and paid your way, so how do you know you can live on $20k? i live a simple life, have my modest home paid off, and still spend about double that

This x1000000. Unless you’re like me and married with children then I’m sorry to say you’re most likely fucked.

Tell me more

you need FUCKING BALLS jesus christ

I'm in the same boat.
I'm still holding onto the dream of being rich one day (not a millionaire, but a decent amount of residual income so I don't have to be in an office for 40 years).

My plan is to keep saving my money and invest in real estate. Once I get 35k saved up (including my crypto portfolio) I'm going to cash it all in for my first rental property.

How much do you need down for a SBA of 2mil?

I am living on my own and paying my own way right now. I'm not living with my parents, using their car, or relying on their insurance. In my current city I am living on $28k, and I've scoped out the city I plan to move to and expect to spend about $19k. It can be done, and I'm not really living in a hovel, I just don't have any expensive hobbies. Using public transit right now, but the $19k I'm looking at for a future city is factoring in the cost of a car.

I can post my budget, I'm not bullshitting you. What are your expenses such that $20k seems impossible? Are you in an expensive area?

What is there more to tell you, it's fucking simple, doesn't mean it's easy.

You recruit a dream team off linked in, you get financing based on their experience (you give them % equity in the company of course, ~10% to chairman, 5% to other 3 key members, 3-2% to in house law & accouting, you keep the rest)
Once you have the dream team you start cold calling banks and financial institutions, you ask them if they are in a lending mode, banks give away hundreds of millions of dollars, money is literally free right now, look at SBA lenders, Banc of California Celtic Bank, Huntington Bank, there are so many fucking lenders. You get the money based on the credibility of your dream team.

Then once you have commitments from lenders you go find the fucking DEAL.

FREE UNENCUMBERED CASH FLOW COVERS DEBT SERVICE.

And then you BUY a business that is already operating making $$$$$$$$$ from owners who WANT TO SELL because they are either fucking old and dying and none of their relatives wants the business, just find MOTIVATED SELLERS, and then buy their business for x2years profit, so if they are making $700k a year profit then you buy it for $1,4 million, SBA loans. Now you have bought a fucking business and as long as free unencumbered cash flow covers debt service you are golden. Make the owners stay on a few years pay them salary and do owner private finance. Then go find another business in the same industry, doesn't need to be the same state, rinse and repeat. Roll them up, so now you have 3-5 of them in the same industry doing all the same thing and the money is just rolling in. Float them for 3-5years, or longer it doesn't matter, then package them in a sale for 8-10x EBTIDA and you're fucking RICH.

No shit Sherlock, do you have experience working in technology?Is there an equivalent accreditation or qualifications that CTOs need?

I'm a software engineer working at a well known US company after I graduate in the UK and I want to know what I need to learn to go beyond Managing just a small team and become a leader/director/CTO in Technology.

I'm intrigued by your assisted living homes, we rarely have those in the UK only care homes.

0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Get two or three banks to finance it. Need a dream team with credibility cuz it's likely (just like me) that you have NONE. Until you get your first few deals under you.

go ahead and post your budget, meanwhile i'll load up my mint account and see if i can poke holes in it. i do entertain friends / go out to dinner, am generous with gifts and whatnot, like to drink expensive stuff. i'm guessing that's where most of the extra goes. I don't get overly concerned as i know I'm still saving the majority of my income and i don't plan on retiring for another 5 years or so.

i don't live in an expensive area, my taxes/HOA fees are around $600/month

At C-staff level, specialisations tend to blur away.
Technical aspects matter less (for a CTO) than you think. It's all about networking, power-politics, influence, sociopathy etc. Refer to "48 Laws of Power" (Book), if you are willing to hand over your soul to a devil.

If you are a typical tech-introvert (God forbid INFP), best strategy would be: let the aspiration go.

Once you've done that - Frugality, Purpose and Investment should be able to help you to some degree.