My parents thought I was wasting my life playing video games. I became a millionaire by 27.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dima Beseda , cofounder of Spiry. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I was only 3 when my dad brought our first computer into the house, but it changed my life. At a very young age, I realized that video games had clear-cut rules. I liked learning how to achieve something in the games and ultimately beat them.

When I was 13, World of Warcraft came out. This was a whole new type of game: a world waiting to be discovered. My successes in the game paid off in the real world: boys from older grades at school started to show me respect because of how well I could play.

My parents…

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