Nicholas James Schrier (aka NJ)

Intro

Hey I'm Nick, that's me (middle).

You cared enough to find this site, and I'm grateful for your visit.

This is where I keep an updated version of what I'm working on, what I'm learning, and how I'm trying to build a more fulfilling life.

It would be rude if I didn't introduce myself…

Where It All Started

I was born and raised in Rochester, New York. A place where winters build character and the Buffalo Bills teach you everything you need to know about rejection and failure.

I left as soon as I could.

I moved to New York City and studied finance three blocks from Wall Street (go Setters). This was before Wall Street had fully been conquered by computers. The trading floors were loud, chaotic, and addictive.

I was hooked.

So I opened my first brokerage account with a $100 birthday check from my mom.

Like every aspiring day trader, I paid $10 commissions to trade speculative biotech stocks. I quickly lost all my money.

But I learned an early lesson: investing is about time in the market, not timing the market.

I've been investing ever since.

Around the same time, I discovered eBay.

I started selling things online, items you could only find in New York City. If you've ever walked down Canal Street, you probably know what I was up to.

It wasn't glamorous.

But learning to survive in New York was confidence-building. And more importantly, I saw firsthand how powerful the internet could be when paired with a little entrepreneurship.

Eventually I graduated and went looking for an investment banking job.

Unfortunately, banks weren't exactly hiring inexperienced bankers during the Great Financial Crisis.

So I pivoted.

I joined a sports marketing company and started driving around the country running game-day events at college football games. Coast to coast. Campus to campus.

It was an incredible experience.

That is, until a freak winter storm in Montana nearly sent us off the side of a mountain pass.

Near-death experiences have a funny way of clarifying things.

It was time to get a real job. And health insurance.

Corporate Chapters

After my cross-country adventure, the financial sector was still a disaster. Investment banks weren't exactly hiring junior bankers.

But I found a back door into Wall Street.

I joined Deloitte Consulting, helping clean up the mess left behind by the financial crisis. My dream of working on Wall Street technically came true — just not the way I imagined.

I wasn't advising an investment bank.

I was helping liquidate one.

I joined a Deloitte team facilitating the wind-down of Lehman Brothers Inc.

Not exactly the glamorous Wall Street career I had pictured, but it was a front-row seat to financial history.

Soon after, I made another leap.

I moved to Seattle — sight unseen — to join what I thought was a scrappy startup in the Pacific Northwest: Amazon.

It turned out Amazon was not a scrappy startup.

I walked straight into the most intense work environment I'd ever experienced. The culture was famously tough — there was even a viral New York Times article about it. I happened to sit next to one of the people mentioned.

But I loved it.

I built and ran e-commerce categories. If you've ever bought a watch or luggage on Amazon in Canada, those were my first stores.

The projects only got bigger from there.

Amazon became my MBA in scale.

I learned about flywheels, customer obsession, ecosystems, and what exponential growth actually looks like from the inside. During my time there, the company grew roughly 10×.

Watching that happen up close changes how you see businesses forever.

Jeff Bezos is a controversial figure in some circles. But in my view, he's one of the greatest entrepreneurs of this generation. Many of the lessons he built Amazon on still shape how I think about building things today.

Now I'm at Apple, learning a completely different playbook.

Apple is famously secretive.

So I'll share more about that chapter once it's finished.

Compounding To Freedom

Living three blocks from Wall Street during the financial crisis was eye-opening.

Very few people actually understood what was happening. The explanations were messy. The solutions were even messier.

Everyone had a villain.

Bankers. Politicians. The system.

I walked away with a different conclusion.

The system wasn't broken. It was poorly understood.

There were absolutely bad actors leading up to the crisis. But most of the anger I saw came from people who simply didn't understand how the game worked.

So I made a decision.

I wasn't going to opt out of the system to spite "the bad bankers." I was going to learn the rules and participate. I'd become financially literate. I'd understand markets. And I'd protect myself from the chaos that shows up every decade or so.

That decision shaped a lot of what came next.

Ownership is everything.

I still have the same brokerage account I opened in college with a $100 birthday check from my mom. I've been adding to it ever since.

Over time I've been fortunate to work at companies where ownership was part of compensation — RSUs, retirement plans, tax-advantaged accounts. I've taken advantage of all of it.

But the strategy has always been simple:

Keep buying. Stay invested. Let compounding do the work.

Trying to outsmart the market is tempting. But trusting compounding has done far more for me than any clever trade ever could.

And eventually something interesting happens.

Your money starts working harder than you do.

That's when you gain something incredibly valuable: options.

Today I can make trade-offs about how I spend my time without obsessing over the financial consequences.

That freedom didn't come from a big win.

It came from years of small, boring decisions repeated consistently.

Which is why I'm a huge advocate for personal finance. The ideas aren't complicated. The math is basic. But the payoff is exponential.

Taking intentional control of your finances is one of the highest-return investments you can make in your life.

And the funny part?

Everything you really need to know fits on an index card.

What's Next

Lately my focus has shifted toward real estate.

Nights and weekends that used to go into spreadsheets and markets now go into properties. I've been steadily expanding my portfolio, including projects in San Francisco.

Real estate scratches a different itch than markets. It's tangible. You can improve it, operate it, and create value in ways that go beyond simply owning a ticker symbol.

To support the portfolio, I started a small property management company.

Originally it existed for one purpose: manage my own properties the right way. But over time I've realized the mission resonates with others. I may eventually open it up to a small number of outside clients.

Not to build a giant property management business.

Just to work with people who care about doing things well.

Alongside real estate, I occasionally invest in small ventures — usually with founders who are building something interesting or mission-driven.

These aren't traditional venture investments.

They're small, early bets on people with a clear vision and the grit to execute it. If you're building something unique and think I might be helpful, feel free to reach out.

And then there's the coast.

After a decade in Seattle, I realized something about myself: I'm happiest near the ocean.

So I'm currently building a small beach home in Half Moon Bay. It's simple. Close to the water. A place to reset.

But it's also part of a longer vision.

One day I'd like to own a larger coastal home down in Carmel.

That's the goal I'm putting out into the universe.

Getting there will require creating a lot of value over the next decade.

But that's the fun part.

Personal

I don't tend to share many personal anecdotes on social media. But I'm never shy about sharing the ideas, interests, and principles that shape how I think.

At heart, I'm a student of markets, economics, and entrepreneurship.

I'm an investor in both financial markets and real-world communities, always trying to apply a compounding mindset — not just to money, but to leadership, learning, and real estate.

Lately I've been increasingly interested in how AI can accelerate learning, decision-making, and wealth creation. The pace of change right now is remarkable, and I'm enjoying experimenting with how these tools can amplify what individuals are capable of building.

Outside of work, movement keeps me balanced. Skiing, golf, and running scratch the competitive itch and keep me sharp.

My family keeps me grounded. Especially Zara — the love of my life, who thinks I'm okay too.

These days I'm based in the San Francisco Bay Area and spending more time exploring everything the region has to offer — especially along the coast.

I'm also always interested in meeting curious, like-minded people who are building interesting things or thinking deeply about the future.

If you know of great communities, groups, or circles in the Bay Area where thoughtful builders tend to gather, I'd love to hear about them.

Keep in Touch

Find me on LinkedIn, or just send me an email.