Hey Reader,

Yudi here,

A quick announcement...

Today’s newsletter is a little different.

Just a small personal note.

A few weeks ago, Kaitlyn and I moved into a new house in North Carolina.

Six bedrooms. A massive backyard.

The kind of space where you walk in and instinctively look around like… “Wait, this is actually ours?”

When we first stepped inside, Kaitlyn literally started jumping. I just stood there quietly for a moment.

And the first image that flashed in my head was not this house.

It was the Kandivali local train in Mumbai.

Packed crowds.
Long commutes.
Sweaty evenings after class.

Then another memory came.

$1.00 tacos.

When I first moved to the U.S. as an international student, that was one of the cheapest meals I could find.

You start doing little calculations in your head.

If I spend $5 today, that’s $5 less for groceries later.

So you make tradeoffs.

Not dramatic ones.

Just quiet ones that nobody really sees.

You say no to trips your friends are taking.

You skip buying things you kind of want.

You choose the cheaper room in the apartment.

You work during the day.

You build something at night.

For me that “something” slowly became YouTube.

And honestly, for a long time it didn’t look like it was going anywhere.

There were years where I felt stuck.

Friends moved to bigger cities.

Some landed big tech roles.

Meanwhile I was in Chico, wondering if I had made the right decisions.

Even recently, moving to the East Coast wasn’t an obvious choice.

Leaving our first home.
Starting again in a new state.
New community.
New routines.

There were many late-night conversations where Kaitlyn and I asked each other:

“Are we sure about this?”

Because when you look at someone’s life online, you usually see the clean version of the story.

The highlights. The milestones. The house.

But you don’t see the quiet phases.

The uncertainty.

The periods where progress feels slow. Or invisible.

That’s actually the phase most international students are in.

Sharing apartments - Counting expenses - Applying to jobs - Waiting for visa results.

Trying to build a life in a country that still feels unfamiliar.

It’s not glamorous.

But it’s real.

And when I stood in the living room of this new house, the thought that kept coming back was this:

None of this happened because of one big moment.

It was hundreds of small decisions.

Choosing the cheaper option when money was tight.

Choosing to work on something after a long day.

Choosing to keep building skills even when results were slow.

Choosing to stay patient when life didn’t move as fast as you hoped.

The big milestones look dramatic from the outside.

But when you live through them, they’re actually built very quietly.

One small choice at a time.

So if you’re reading this from a small apartment, a shared room, or a late-night study session somewhere in the U.S., I just want to say this.

​You don’t need to figure out the entire future right now.​

You don’t need to know how everything will work out.

You just need to focus on the next step that moves you forward.

One better project.

One stronger application.

One skill that makes you more valuable.

One opportunity you take seriously.

And over time, those small decisions start stacking up in ways you can’t see yet.

I’m incredibly grateful for the journey so far.

For the people who supported me.

For everyone who has watched the videos, sent messages, or shared kind words over the years.

I truly mean it when I say this.

You’ve played a part in this journey.

If you’re currently in the $1 taco phase of life, please keep going.

Your future self is already walking through doors you can’t see yet.

— Yudi J