122 - Creating an Exceptional Career, with David Veksler

David Veksler is the Director of Marketing at the Foundation for Economic Education, a futurist, software developer, free market radical, and father. He has a fascinating life story that spans three continents and is an instructive example of how to build a great career. David has built a successful career in technology and marketing by consistently solving problems, pursuing new opportunities, and creating value in and outside of his job responsibilities. He shares some great stories that highlight how he learned new things to grow at work and find new opportunities. But marketing and software development are just part of what David does well. He is also passionate about personal finance and investing, and has written some great blog posts on the topic at davidveksler.com. If you’re interested in technology, finance, financial independence, and creating a great career, then you will get lots of value out of this episode! In this episode: - Immigrating to Texas from the USSR (Ukraine) - Discovering free-market economics and early intellectual influences - Beginning in software development - Taking opportunities vs. long-term career planning - “Why not me?” Mindset - Deciding which organization challenges are worth taking on - Documenting your work - Personal finance and investment strategy - The reason you have a job - Paying for daily expenses with freelance work - Bitcoin - Not following the news - Learning skills with deep dives to a point of competency - Creating vs. consuming