Becoming a millionaire at 25 didn’t make me happy. Now, I invest in the health and happiness of my employees and myself.
As told to Kelly Burch ...
As told to
Kelly Burch
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Courtesy of Brandon Card
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Brandon Card, founder and CEO of Terzo. It has been edited for length and clarity.
In my 20s, I looked like a corporate guy through and through. I worked for Big Tech — Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM — and was on track to become a young executive. I could have had a great life in those positions, but I wanted something more.
Although I was working in corporate roles, I spent all my free time connecting with entrepreneurs. I wanted to start my own venture. While I waited for the right opportunity, I spent my weekends learning about what other entrepreneurs were doing.
I made lots of money in my day job: I could live well off $200,000 a year, and still have six figures to invest. I started angel investing in risky, early-stage startups. It was essentially gambling. Many failed, but some succeeded.
Because of that, I was a millionaire by the time I was 25.
I bought big-ticket items, but didn't get satisfaction
That achievement didn't feel like much, to be honest. I was surrounded by extreme wealth. Some of my colleagues lived in $20 million houses. With $1 million, I couldn't even buy a small house, so it didn't feel significant.
As my wealth grew, I made some indulgent purchases. I bought cars, two homes, and a boat, but they didn't bring me happiness. I realized I got much more satisfaction from investing in entrepreneurs than I did from material items. I had the ability to impact other people's lives by investing in their ideas, and that felt better than anything else I could spend on.
Today, I don't own a car, and I only recently bought a house again. I spend on self-improvement, but not on flashy items.
The pandemic made me realize money can't buy safety
By 2020, I was ready to invest in my own idea. I'd been watching AI carefully, and could see it was about to take off. I was ready to risk losing my corporate trajectory in order to follow my dream. I joined forces with my best friend and former college football teammate to cofound Terzo. I invested $1 million of my own money into the AI platform, which allows companies to track all their third-party spending.
Just as the company launched, the pandemic hit. At the same time, I lost my grandmother and a cousin, who was a child. I was so worried about my mom and dad, as well as the rest of my family, that I moved to upstate New York to be with them.
There were a lot of tough days and sleepless nights that year. I wasn't thinking about my wealth. The pandemic underscored what I already knew: money is a tool that you can use to help others, but it's not everything. Health is the real wealth.
I invest in mental health
Despite that difficult start, Terzo did well. In 2022, we raised $16 million in Series A investment. Then, in January 2024, my friend and cofounder died. Losing him was the worst day of my life. I was reeling personally and professionally; many people thought the company was over.
Luckily, that hasn't been the case. I've continued to grow Terzo, and I'm getting closer to my goal of running a billion-dollar company.
I've used my financial success to make myself more balanced and break down stigma around mental health. I speak openly about seeing a therapist, in hopes that others at the company will feel comfortable talking about that too. Eventually, I want to hire in-house mental health professionals whom all Terzo employees can see.
Many big companies talk about supporting mental health, but really doing so takes time and money. I'm in a unique position where my company is nimble enough to try something new but established enough to have the finances to pay for it. I'm hoping I can set a standard for mental health care within Terzo, and that Terzo can set off a domino effect for other companies.
Promoting mental health helps me honor my cofounder's legacy. I know he's watching over us and is so proud of this company.
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Kelly Burch
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Kelly Burch has been writing about personal finance for more than a decade.She's particularly interested in how finances impact the most intimate parts of a person’s life, from educational and reproductive choices to love, immigration, or estate planning. Kelly has written about these topics personally and explored them with experts, including entrepreneurs, multi-millionaires, financial planners, and more.Kelly is a first-generation college graduate and homeowner who integrates her personal experience creating financial stability into her reporting. She’s a career journalist, with work appearing in “The Washington Post,” “The Chicago Tribune,” “Boston Magazine” and more.Kelly lives in rural New Hampshire with her husband, two children, and two dogs. When she’s not behind her desk, she can be found getting lost in the mountains and lakes around her home.Follow her on Facebook or Twitter, or learn more here.
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