Software Startups to Rentals

[Noah Crocker]

Hello — excited to join the BP community!

Quick background

I authored my first program, age 9, in QuickBasic on a 486DX IBM laptop rescued from disposal by a family friend. It had an 80MB HDD, 4MB of RAM, and a blazing 16MHz clock. One year later, a friend joined me in learning QuickBasic and we started a "company" writing small DOS programs. We made one sale — $1 for a "Tag" game on a 3.5" floppy disk we sold to his neighbor. Things have changed, but software engineering remains a lifelong passion for me.

Professionally, I’ve worked for some of the biggest names in tech — Microsoft and Meta (Facebook) — where I developed a strong foundation in scalable software practices. I also helped scale two high-growth startups from their Series C-ish stages: Snap and Anduril Industries.

I love talking shop about the software industry and trading stories. Despite the noise about AI replacing developers, I firmly believe there’s never been a more exciting time to be in tech.

Why I'm here

I’m looking to bring more balance and diversification to my finances and my life. I'm eager to learn a new industry and apply both entrepreneurial thinking and technical skills to real-world problems.

My current focus is learning about real estate investing, particularly short-term rentals (STRs). I want to deploy some of the capital I’ve earned in software more creatively and effectively, and I see real estate as an ideal next chapter.

I live in Irvine, CA, but I'm especially interested in investing in Michigan, my home state, with the goal of eventually returning to be closer to family

Looking forward to learning from all of you and contributing where I can