From a 28-Year-Old Unemployed Person to an Independent Developer Selling VFD Clocks Worldwide

Three years ago, I was a 28-year-old unemployed person with no proper work experience and no clear direction in life.
This was not confusion, but a manifestation of incompetence. I knew nothing, even my way of thinking was rigid, I was timid and afraid of failure, my life was a complete mess.
For relatives and friends, I was just a topic to talk about — a failure, a negative example.

In the tenth month of my 28th year, one of my cousins saw my situation. At my lowest point, he told me, “Maybe you are not that bad, as long as you learn to persist.”
It was this cousin who led me into the field of cross-border e-commerce and told me, “If you also like digital products, you can learn software and hardware development with me.”
(He was the only relative who had not seen me for many years, yet gave me the greatest affirmation.)

Stage 1: From Restlessness to Enjoying Busyness

At first, I sat in front of the computer like a fool.
To me, computers were for playing games, watching movies, doing all kinds of entertainment — except for studying technology.
Then my cousin guided me from registering a Google account, applying for a Gmail email, to learning the simplest HTML.

Gradually, I realized that I was not a fool.
I clearly recognized that there is not much difference between people; what we need is a clear goal and a powerful inner world.
It’s better to have a bit of pride than to feel inferior, because confidence is a kind of foundation, and doing things requires this foundation to believe in yourself and persist.

I believed that I could learn front-end technology, so during that period I was accompanied by VSCode and Mozilla Developer Network.
At first, my cousin told me that I needed to sell products on Amazon — that was my final goal — but now I needed to learn how to list products on eBay, and to write product pages using HTML, to train myself through that process.

From a person who knew nothing, suddenly entering an industry that I once thought I could never reach gave me great confidence.
I could even study in one place for more than 12 hours a day — something I had never done before in my life.
Not even when playing games had I ever stayed in one spot for 12 hours.
I even began to enjoy it more and more, as if I could see my future ahead of me.

Stage 2: From Asking Others to Learning Independence

At this stage, I had a little bit of contact with sales and also understood what a product is and how to sell, but I was still a beginner.
Every day I encountered all kinds of problems. This situation was like a beginner trying to learn how to set up a VPS server — maybe in his understanding, he doesn’t even know what a VPS is, what its purpose is, or where to start.

Yes, I had countless questions at this stage. But my cousin told me, “What you need is to learn how to use search engines.”
That is also why, as I mentioned earlier, in the first stage I had to have a Google account and a Gmail email — because I needed to search for problems on Google.
Yes, if you want to start solving problems, the first step is how to express your own needs.
“Stating your needs” is more important than solving the problem itself, because only by correctly expressing your question can you accurately find the answer.

From this stage onward, my thinking began to change.
When I encountered a problem, I was no longer flustered, nor did I habitually go ask others for help.
Instead, I calmed down, thought carefully, and broke down the problem:
Why did this problem occur?
What conditions are needed to solve it?
Where can I find the answer?

Breaking down every step — that’s when I felt I started to mature.
I no longer complained, and I was no longer afraid of facing problems.
Because when a person starts a business or learns a skill, encountering and solving problems is the entire journey.
Only by constantly improving your ability to solve problems can you walk this path steadily.

Stage 3: The Closed World and the Open World

When I thought I had learned some skills, I became a little proud, because I had never had anything worth showing off before.
I had just begun to mature, I had learned something, and I thought I was different from others.
In my own little world, I felt strong.

But when cognition moves ahead and I follow behind, I realized maybe I was not excellent at all, even a bit clumsy.
As I was exposed to more information and more complex problems, I felt myself becoming smaller.

It was at this time that I came into contact with some peers — cross-border sellers, self-media creators, bloggers — those people we often see on the internet.
But only when you understand deeply do you realize: if you want to do well in any one profession, you may need more skills, stronger thinking ability, and better judgment.

You need to discern directions and make the right choices for yourself.
At this point, I stopped being proud and became humble, because I knew that in this field, I was nothing special. There are many stronger people.

But I also realized one thing — if I want to stand firm in this industry, it’s not something that can be achieved in a few days.
I would not change industries anymore. I would stay here and persist.
Even if I became anxious, frustrated, or felt my youth was wasted, I knew that learning is a lifelong process.

When you have that understanding, you won’t rush anymore, because this isn’t a race — it’s a habit, a mindset.
As long as you keep learning and improving, emotions like anxiety, frustration, and inferiority only waste your time.
I kept moving forward, and those emotional problems — I had to jump over them.
Because emotions not only waste time, they also make you make wrong judgments and choices.

Stage 4: Learning Sales and Understanding Sales

This stage and what I am about to write are purely my personal thoughts.
Sales is a wonderful profession that requires a large amount of practical experience and many different skills.

As a cross-border e-commerce seller, I believe I need to have these skills:
programming, hardware development, website design, social media operations, advertising, making photos and videos, and constantly improving my sense of aesthetics.

Each of these skills alone can be a profession.
But a strong salesperson can often complete all of these tasks alone.

That was what I understood in the previous stage, because I had seen many strong individuals who could do all of these by themselves.
Of course, this just means that as a good salesperson, you need to constantly refine these skills.

And in the actual process of selling, you learn user thinking — you learn to personally feel the market, develop unique insight and aesthetics, and be able to complete tasks in a short time and predict the possible results.

All of this requires a lot of practical experience.
As I mentioned before, improving cognition and continuous learning continue into this stage.
When so many skills are placed in front of me, I tell myself: keep going, skip the emotions, and don’t waste time.

Stage 5: Officially Starting My Own Business

I registered my own company, my own trademark, and found some people who share the same values as me.
We formed a complementary team: one develops software, one develops hardware, and one focuses on sales.
The three of us share one thing in common — we all love digital products and enjoy finding topics and inspiration within them.

When we were looking for a project, we discovered something interesting:
In the clock industry — specifically the category of original counters and Nixie tubes — there was no further development.
People loved these old electronic clocks, but their unchanging style made the sense of freshness hard to maintain.

After a period of research, we discovered there was another type of electronic tube — VFD Tubes.
And these VFD Tubes come in two different forms:
the first type is the original counter type, similar to Nixie tubes;
the second type is a display screen style, capable of displaying DIY content.

This was the kind of display device we saw in our childhood — in cash registers, DVD players, and special audio equipment.
Our idea was born from there: to make an originally designed brand, and a novel VFD Display Clock.

From then on, my partners and I began looking for manufacturers, designing screens, writing firmware, designing appearances, producing the first version, fixing bugs, redesigning circuits, and finally launching our products on e-commerce platforms.

The process was not smooth.
At first, our attention was all on the hardware. We thought more beautiful appearances and fresher designs were the key to attracting customers.
But this led to some unreasonable designs in the firmware.

That’s also why, as I said before, a qualified salesperson needs a lot of practical experience.
During the actual sales process, we collected customer feedback, learned what customers really wanted, and exposed all the problems caused by our inexperience one by one.

This process was painful.
It was like baking what you thought was a perfect cake for your beloved — she smiles happily, but when she eats it, it doesn’t taste good.
On one side, you feel recognized and happy; on the other, you feel disappointed and anxious.

It was through such experiences that we accumulated knowledge, corrected mistakes, and gradually presented better products with stronger brand identity and better user experience.

I believe that there is no absolutely perfect product in this world, because needs and the process of solving them are the best questions and answers.

There’s a good example — I once thought being a salesperson meant mastering too many skills and making too many sacrifices. Was it really worth it?
My cousin told me:

“What you understand as sales is simply buying and selling. The correct understanding is the relationship between trouble and solving trouble.”
(In other words, the buyer encounters a problem, and the seller happens to be the one who can solve it. That’s why products are created — and what kind of products need to exist.)

Stage 6: Understanding Brand Tone and Collecting User Profiles

In the continuous process of selling, advertising, and shooting materials, I began to truly understand what style and tone mean.

I learned professional photography, started buying equipment — a camera with two lenses (a macro lens and a fixed-focus lens) and a high-resolution body.
These were the most basic setups, along with triggers, flashes, background boards, and light blockers.

I knew this wasn’t a small amount of money.
At first, renting equipment might have been the best option, but later I realized that renting meant I couldn’t shoot whenever I wanted — that would affect my efficiency.

I emphasize these details because advertising requires timely updates of materials, and improving aesthetic sense and shooting style requires a large amount of actual experience.

Some people said I could find professionals to do the photography, but for a small startup team, professionals cost more than any team member’s salary. We couldn’t afford it.
And I was willing to learn, because I knew that as long as I kept going, one day I would achieve what I wanted.

Later, I started placing ads on different platforms — short videos for social media, white-background product images for traditional e-commerce, and stylish lifestyle shots for our brand website.

From the data and feedback, I learned what kind of people liked our products, what kind of people would buy them.
I kept summarizing, testing, collecting data, summarizing again, and testing again — only through repetition can you find your true user profile.

Maybe these should have been understood in the early design stage, but ideas are just ideas — data never lies.

Stage 7: Debt and Profit

Entrepreneurship inevitably comes with debt, because not every project succeeds or makes a profit.
So reducing debt and generating profit, in my opinion, is what a company should focus on.

I know what I’m about to say may be viewed differently in different regions, but to reduce debt, you must first understand what debt is.
For example: mortgages, car loans, buying meaningless items, pursuing material life — these are all debts, because they are one-time investments without returns.

They cut off your cash flow quickly. Maybe today you earn a lot of money, but you can’t guarantee you’ll earn the same tomorrow.
And in business, you must invest, test, reinvest, and retest — all of this costs money.

Production, transportation, sales, and withdrawals — these all operate in cycles.
You must calculate your cash flow cycle carefully.
Don’t let debt delay your main work!

Stage 8: Breaking the Comfort Zone and Planning for the Future

After gaining some experience, entrepreneurship may enter a stable period.
But this period is actually the most dangerous.

A small mistake or carelessness can make you collapse instantly.
For example, if a product causes a customer loss — whether physical or financial — the final responsibility is yours.

So I learned to calm down and slow the rhythm of everything.
Only then can I feel at ease.

Because I don’t have that much experience, I can only be cautious and do everything I can.
I hope you can also calm down — going slower doesn’t hurt.
We are not competing for speed with anyone.
We just want to be safer, so that the road ahead still awaits us.

LGL Studio — A Brand I Deeply Love

LGL STUDIO, a brand I deeply love, is like my own child.

I am still working hard, still persisting, and I will continue to become stronger.
I will stay humble, and I hope you will too.

Because persistence can truly change your life.

The reason I’m writing this blog post is that I’m currently learning SEO and trying to figure out how to get more traffic to my website.
While searching for information everywhere, I happened to find this platform — and realized it's also a place to share startup experiences.

I know that if I post high-quality content here, maybe my website's rating will improve.
But honestly, I’m not sure what counts as “high-quality” content, so I just wrote down all of my experiences and thoughts.
This is simply what I genuinely think and feel.