Before Atlantic Tech existed, most of my business education happened in the gaps of an ordinary workday. I was driving for Lyft, and whenever I had free time, I was online, looking for opportunities and trying to understand how people were building something of their own. I had no business degree and no mentor in the industry, so curiosity and an internet connection had to do a lot of the work. That stretch taught me most of what I know about being a self-taught entrepreneur.

An Education Built Between Rides

Driving rideshare gave me something I did not fully appreciate at the time, which was flexibility. Between trips and at the end of the day, I could spend hours reading, watching, and experimenting. I treated that time as seriously as a class, because in many ways it was the only class I had access to.

I was looking for more than a single answer. I wanted to understand how online businesses actually worked, where the money came from, and what skills people were paid for. Every hour spent learning was an hour invested in a future I could not yet see clearly.

Freelance Platforms Became My Training Ground

Fiverr and Upwork were some of my first real classrooms. They showed me, very directly, what businesses were willing to pay for and how competitive the market for digital skills had become. Spending time on those platforms taught me to think about value from the buyer's perspective, which is a lesson I still rely on.

They also taught me how quickly reputation is built or lost online. Reviews, response times, and the quality of each delivery all added up. That early exposure shaped how seriously I take Atlantic Tech's public image today.

Learning From People Who Were Already Doing It

YouTube was the other half of my education. I listened to content creators who were building businesses online and paid close attention to how they were making money. Some of what I watched was hype, and I learned to recognize it. Much of it was genuinely useful, and it gave me frameworks I could test on my own.

I believe there is real value in that kind of learning. In many areas today, a motivated person can learn an enormous amount from YouTube and other free resources. Educational content has lasted because it gives people something they can use, and it gave me something that hours of scrolling never could.

When the Pandemic Changed Everything

In 2020, as COVID took hold, the world moved online almost overnight. Everyone was at home, and businesses that had relied on in-person customers suddenly needed to reach people digitally. The shift accelerated a transition that was already underway, and it created opportunities for people who understood how the online world worked.

That was when I began forming the foundation of Atlantic Tech. The hours I had spent learning between rides suddenly had a clear purpose. I founded the company that year, and I have been building on that foundation ever since. I chose to build it in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and choosing Cheyenne over Silicon Valley shaped the kind of company it became.

What Does It Take to Become a Self-Taught Entrepreneur?

Becoming a self-taught entrepreneur takes discipline, a steady habit of learning, and real belief in where the work is leading. Learning on your own demands that discipline every day. Nobody assigns the reading or checks your progress. You have to decide what matters, find the right sources, and apply what you learn before you feel ready. I also believe it requires an almost unreasonable level of belief in yourself, because for a long time you are the only person who can see where the effort is leading.

My blue-collar upbringing helped here. I grew up understanding that work is how things get done, and that steady effort counts for more than talent alone. That mindset carried me through the long stretch when progress was hard to measure, and it still shapes how I think about building things that last.

What Online Learning Cannot Teach

For all the value I found online, some lessons only came from experience, and many of them were painful. Videos can explain how to run a campaign, but they cannot prepare you for the weight of a decision that affects people who depend on you. They cannot teach you how to find the right people to grow with or how to recover when a choice goes wrong.

Those lessons came from building Atlantic Tech, working alongside independent contractors around the world, and making mistakes I would rather not repeat. Online learning opened the door, and experience taught me how to walk through it.

Staying a Student

Even now, I continue to learn every day. The tools change constantly, especially with how quickly AI is developing, and staying useful to our clients means staying curious. The habits I formed during those early days of searching, testing, and asking questions are the same habits I rely on today.

For anyone who feels they are starting without the right credentials or connections, I hope my path offers some encouragement. The resources are out there, and many of them are free. What matters most is the willingness to keep showing up and doing the work, with a clear sense of why, because success without purpose rarely satisfies for long.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can you become an entrepreneur without a business degree?

Yes. I founded Atlantic Tech without a business degree or an industry mentor. I learned by studying creators on YouTube, working on freelance platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, and applying what I learned. Experience filled in the rest, including lessons no course could teach.

What free resources help people learn business online?

The resources that helped me most were YouTube channels from people already building online businesses and freelance platforms that showed what clients actually pay for. The key is choosing educational content you can apply, and learning to recognize hype when you see it.

How did the pandemic create business opportunities?

When COVID took hold in 2020, people and businesses moved online almost overnight. Companies that relied on in-person customers suddenly needed digital reach. That shift created openings for people who understood how the online world worked, and it was the year I founded Atlantic Tech.