Ehy everyone 👋 is Antonio, CEO at Litlyx.

I thought it would be interesting to share my background, my wins, and my failures in a post on dev.

The Origin

When I was 7 years old, I really wanted to play video games, but my family couldn't afford a PlayStation or Gameboy. My dad had a computer for work, and when he wasn't using it, I would sneak in and use it to browse the internet. I did a lot of silly things back then, and I remember my mom yelling at me because the only way to connect was to attach the house phone's ethernet cable to the PC. By the time I was 10, I had figured out how to download game ROMs.

The Trauma

At 15-16, my phone got infected with a virus, and we were blackmailed badly. I promised myself I wouldn't be targeted by malicious hackers again and quickly dove into OSINT and Cyber Security. Within a couple of years, I was using an old PC with a virtual machine running Kali Linux, trying to track down malicious hackers for payback. Spoiler: I never found any and eventually gave up.

The Realization

Around 17-18, I realized I had a deep love for technology, especially Python and C#. I was a nerd who loved playing video games and decided I wanted to create them. I started learning Unity and, after 1-2 years, switched to Unreal Engine, moving from C# to C++ and dealing with "spaghetti code."

The First job

**19 years old. **My first job was unpaid, with poor working conditions, at a video game software house in Italy. It was rough, so I decided to switch and become a Mobile Developer.

The Innovative Ecosystem

At 21, I entered the startup ecosystem with an internship at an accelerated startup. It was full of unforgettable lessons. I learned Java and later switched to Flutter. Along with changing programming languages, I changed jobs. I worked at a small, scaling startup for 16 hours a day with promised stocks that never materialized. Fortunately, I left before they failed miserably.

The Mental Breakdown

All that pressure from endless working hours took its toll. I had a mental breakdown at 26 and stopped everything for six months. I went to a psychologist, who helped me overcome that dark period.

The New Vital Strength

After recovering, I launched seven SaaS projects. Six failed, but one succeeded and is now a leader in a specific market in Italy. With renewed energy, I'm currently launching my SaaS on Analytics, Litlyx, That is an Open-Source alternative to Google Analytics. but with much more to offer. Now i'm 28 years old!

I hope you enjoyed my story. I aimed to keep it simple and easy to follow, though there was much more to it. Please share some love in the comments.

And PLEASE!! Leave us a star on Github you will help us a lot!

Peace,
Antonio