How It All Started: My Programming Story

This is my story. It doesn’t start with a computer, code, or software. It starts with family, work, absence, and curiosity.

Childhood: work, street, and family

When I was about 5, 6, or 7 years old, every afternoon and vacation I went with my brother Rafael to work. Sometimes I accompanied him to sell blocks, other times we simply went out together. I really enjoyed those outings. Going to work with him didn’t feel like work, it felt like quality time.

My brother has always been my best friend and a great figure in my life.

The farewell that changed everything

Over time, my brother migrated to Panama. That basically left me with nothing to do. I had my sister Liliamira, but I didn’t connect with her the same way I did with him. His farewell hurt me a lot. Really.

After he left, I felt I had to find something else to entertain myself, to distract myself, to fill that void.

A Christmas gift and my first phone

At that moment, an aunt, Ivonne, came and gave me money as a Christmas gift. By the way, I love my aunt Ivonne very much.

With that money, I bought my first phone. I went with my cousin, an uncle, and my cousin to buy it. It was a Motorola G5.

I really liked a game called Minecraft, but that game was paid. Later at school, when my friends all had phones, I was finally able to play with them and they taught me about apps called HappyMod and LuckyPatcher. There we downloaded cracked games: Minecraft Pocket Edition (an old version but quite fun), Clash Royale cracked with all cards, etc.

The desire to create my own game

That Minecraft was on the phone, and I liked it so much that I wanted to create my own. At that time I was about 8 years old and I researched and saw that it was made in a programming language called C++. I watched a couple of tutorials but eventually abandoned it because I felt overwhelmed, but the interest was always there and I kept playing. In the end, I didn’t create anything or continue learning C++.

My sister’s laptop and Minecraft Java

Later, when my sister started studying architecture, she went to Panama to visit my brother, and he gave her a laptop. Then she came back and she would spend time making plans, renders, etc. She used it for long periods but also let me use it a few hours a day.

There I downloaded Minecraft, but it was paid. I didn’t know, and I was playing Bedrock. Then I looked up how to play Minecraft and saw a version called Java Edition, and to play it for free I had to download a program called TLauncher. There I created my account and played for free. I loved it, it was much better than Pocket and Bedrock. So I kept playing.

The discovery of servers and Discord

Then I got a server. When I discovered servers it was incredible. I could play with other people, which was amazing to me. I also discovered something called Discord where I could talk to people, and every day I would join to play and talk to strangers who eventually became friends.

The server was called PixelPiggies. I played a lot, about 6 hours a day. At that time I was 8 years old and played a lot. Then I played that server for about 4 months and it closed because the owner had economic problems, etc. I was left bored.

The decisive moment: learning to create servers

Then I wanted to create a server and saw that I had to learn Java and manage hosting, Linux, and a bunch of tools. So that was the moment I wondered if a computer could have two operating systems, and it turned out it could. So I did a dual boot: I left Windows for my sister and installed Kali Linux, a distribution with hacking and security tools.

My first real contact with programming

I started learning Java by watching a YouTube tutorial. It was a Peruvian who unfortunately passed away, named Programación ATS. This time I got interested and started learning Java. The part that cost me the most was object-oriented programming, which was pretty crazy for me at the time, but I really wanted to create my server so I didn’t give up.

An Example of Object-Oriented Programming

To better understand this concept, here is a simple example of how OOP works in Java:

// Class that represents a Minecraft player
public class Player {
    // Attributes (object properties)
    private String name;
    private int level;
    private int experience;
    
    // Constructor (method that creates the object)
    public Player(String name) {
        this.name = name;
        this.level = 1;
        this.experience = 0;
    }
    
    // Methods (actions the object can perform)
    public void gainExperience(int points) {
        this.experience += points;
        if (this.experience >= 100) {
            levelUp();
        }
    }
    
    private void levelUp() {
        this.level++;
        this.experience = 0;
        System.out.println(name + " leveled up to level " + level);
    }
    
    // Getters (methods to get information)
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
    
    public int getLevel() {
        return level;
    }
}

// Using the class
public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        // Create an object (instance) of the Player class
        Player player1 = new Player("Sebastian");
        
        // Use the object's methods
        player1.gainExperience(50);
        player1.gainExperience(60); // This will make the player level up
        
        System.out.println("Current level: " + player1.getLevel());
    }
}

This example shows how OOP allows you to create “templates” (classes) that define objects with properties and behaviors, enabling you to create multiple instances (objects) of the same class, each with its own state.

Discord communities and accelerated learning

Then on Discord I joined communities. I joined one of a content creator for servers called Ajneb. There I gained a lot of experience, talked to many experienced people, and learned a lot by asking questions. I discovered Docker, IntelliJ, VSCode, libraries, APIs, etc. I learned all those concepts that helped me improve my path.

At 8 years old, almost turning nine, I was making Minecraft plugins. I had the ability. Then I started doing business for servers, since on that Discord server there was a place to offer your services. I got my first sales, my first jobs. It was configuring existing plugins from Spigot, BuiltByBit, Polymart, Modrith, but I still kept learning.

I became very good at OOP and programming logic

I became very good at OOP (Object-Oriented Programming). I programmed a lot and loved creating program logic.

My first income as a developer

I sold my first plugin for $70. It was a staff core to manage a Minecraft server. Then that person asked me to make a core for a game mode, something quite extensive, and I charged $300. It was a pretty big job. I worked with two people: soyAldo and RiviG. I don’t know what happened to them in life now.

Working for big networks

I worked for big networks such as:

Voltyum
Infection
Revenge
VirtualHit
HaliaCraft
Dextrality
Blotcraft
UniversoCraft
Blurkitt
NightBox

And I earned a lot of money. I worked on servers and also sold add-ons. One month I made almost $3000 from so many sales and configurations.

My first network and my first bankruptcy

With that money I was earning, I made a decision that at the time I thought was brilliant: stop working for other networks and create my own.

I was about 11 or 12 years old and I thought: “If I can make these servers work, why not have my own?” So I started my own Minecraft network.

The most expensive mistake of my life (up to that point)

The problem was that I knew absolutely nothing about managing money or business priorities. I made mistakes that now seem obvious to me, but at the time I didn’t see them:

Mistake #1: Excessively expensive servers I hired an OVH Advanced 3 dedicated server that cost around $350 per month. For a network that was just starting and had no players, it was crazy. I could have started with a $20/month VPS, but I wanted “the best”.

Mistake #2: Buying plugins instead of advertising I spent all my money buying premium plugins instead of investing in advertising to attract players. I had the most beautiful server full of features, but nobody knew about it. I had all the plugins I could think of, but only 5-10 connected players.

Mistake #3: Not understanding cash flow I didn’t understand that the $3000 I had earned that month didn’t mean I would earn $3000 every month. Money ran out quickly with fixed monthly costs, and I kept spending as if money was infinite.

The inevitable end

After several months burning money on expensive servers and unnecessary plugins, with no real investment in growth, I ran out of money. I had to close the network.

It was hard. I had gone from earning $3000 in one month to having to close my own project. I felt like a failure.

What I learned

But that experience taught me lessons worth much more than the thousands of dollars I lost:

The best server isn’t the one with the most features, it’s the one with the most players: You can have the most technically impressive server, but if nobody knows about it, it’s useless.
Marketing > Infrastructure (at the beginning): When you’re starting out, it’s better to have a basic server with 100 players than an incredible server with nobody.
Scale according to your needs: You don’t need a $350/month dedicated server if you have 10 players. Start small and grow according to demand.
Cash flow is king: It’s not how much you earn, it’s how much you have left after expenses. And you need a cushion for bad months.
Invest in growth, not just in product: A perfect product that nobody knows is useless. A decent product that everyone knows is a business.

This was my first real business lesson. It hurt, but it was necessary. And interestingly, years later when I created Invitex, I applied everything I learned from this failure.

My first successful product in the market

That staff core I had developed I modified and uploaded to the platforms mentioned earlier. I published it for $9.99 if I remember correctly, and that plugin reached more than 500 sales. I used my PayPal account, which got disabled because I exceeded the maximum limit for my account type, and my parents had to provide their identity to unlock it.

Desktop applications and losing code

Then I continued learning more and more. I mastered the language very well. At 10 years old, I could make my first desktop applications. I had one similar to what NotionSite is, but I lost those codes because I lost my old GitHub account due to a phone that had the 2FA codes (two-factor authentication).

The leap to web development

I also wanted to make web applications since I realized I could do more than just Minecraft plugins. I started learning HTML and CSS. I made my first static sites. That’s how I spent my 10 years learning.

Almost turning 11, I learned JavaScript. When I was almost 12, I decided to leave Minecraft and dedicate myself to web development because I saw that it could generate more income.

TypeScript: JavaScript with superpowers

I started with JavaScript but didn’t like it because it was different from Java and the typing was weak. I continued until a friend told me: “use TypeScript.” I tried it: JavaScript with superpowers and more similar to Java’s structure. So I learned how to use it.

My first web applications

Well, I made my first web applications. The first one I made was a todo app. The design was horrible because I didn’t know how to create designs, but I could program them with HTML and CSS. I made the backend in Java, but it was different from making plugins. It was a bit different; I had to learn about REST architecture and concepts like HTTP, HTTPS, TCP, and more protocols. I learned them through research and continued scaling toward more applications.

I made that todo, I made a pill reminder app. It was a web app that worked with SQLite. I learned more about servers and Linux. That year I spent fully in web development.

Angular, Flutter, and cross-platform development

When I reached 13, I already loved Java but wanted to work on projects with friends and they didn’t know Java. Also, Java is a quite complex language, it has many things, and developing an app was not profitable in terms of time. So I looked into Node: it was JavaScript on the server side, what is known as backend. The part that drives an app.

I started learning Node. Then I started looking at other databases like PostgreSQL because for Minecraft plugins I used MySQL. I liked Postgres; it was more robust and had better performance. And with Node I could create apps quickly by adding Express, its HTTP framework.

And that’s where my journey began. I kept learning more and more, never stopping. I always learned to develop to contribute to existing tools and create new tools that make life easier for us humans. That was always the goal.

Constant growth: 13 and 14 years old

Then time went by. I always stayed consistent, improved my app level, set bigger challenges, and pushed myself to learn. I spent many hours. From creating plugins to becoming a web developer, I spent more than 9 hours a day. Always. I didn’t go out. I loved being on the computer, talking to people on Discord, programming, and creating apps.

And so 13 and 14 years old passed. I discovered GraphQL, WebSockets, and also that I wanted to develop mobile apps. So I looked into Kotlin, a course that a friend named Juan Comella gave me, a great friend from school. Well, I didn’t like Kotlin and it was only for Android. If I wanted to make apps for iPhone I had to learn Swift, which meant double code.

Until I found cross-platform tools to develop for both with one codebase: Dart + Flutter. That powerful framework, Flutter, was a beast for mobile apps and I got motivated to learn it too.

Mastering React, Angular, and Flutter

By then I mastered React, but when I learned Flutter I left React and started learning Angular since I always liked developing and preparing for large-scale software.

DevOps, architecture, and design patterns

At 15, I learned AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, microservices, a lot of DevOps tools, security, maintenance, clean code, design patterns, architectures. I had already seen these before but here I started reinforcing them and staying consistent.

Fullstack at 16 years old

I reached 16 and was already fullstack, both mobile and web. It was incredible all that I mastered. At 16 I was a very good developer of high-scale software.

Invitex: my first major business project

So I created Invitex, my event management software. I sold it to event planners. Currently more than 40 event planners use it and we continue growing. If you’re interested, you can contact me.

The philosophy behind everything

And that’s how it all went. I kept learning. It was all driven by a passion: creating scalable solutions and automating human processes.

Epilogue

This is my story. A story that started selling blocks with my brother Rafael, went through the absence of that important figure, and found in technology not only an escape but a passion that became my profession. A story that includes my sister Liliamira, my aunt Ivonne, friends like Juan Comella, and all the people who in one way or another contributed to this path.

I didn’t omit anything because every detail, every person, every moment, was part of what I am today: a developer who at 16 had already created software used by more than 40 companies, who had earned thousands of dollars selling his own products, and who continues learning every day to create tools that make people’s lives easier.

The path was not easy, but curiosity, persistence, and passion for creating always kept me moving. And that’s what I want to share with you.