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The In-Law’s Basement with a Baby on the Way

The Story

When Packy McCormick quit his job at Breather in late 2019, he briefly tried to raise money for a physical community concept. A few people talked him out of raising, others talked him out of building before having a community. His wife Puja said “it’s a dumb idea, but in much nicer words” (Source 1).

Then the pandemic hit. Puja was pregnant. “Shake ups are really scary and they can be good,” McCormick said. “I decided to go all in on writing. A few of my friends were like, what the fuck is Packy doing? They were just kind of making fun of me” (Source 1).

He was living in his in-laws’ basement with his income close to zero (Source 2). His wife was “getting a little restless” with the financial situation (Source 2). He was writing a newsletter that had about 400 subscribers.

Despite all of this, he kept writing. Within two years, the newsletter would have over 100,000 subscribers and generate millions in annual revenue.

Lesson for Creators

The gap between “this looks insane” and “this was visionary” is just time and persistence. Almost every element of Packy’s situation screamed “get a real job”: baby on the way, zero income, living in a basement, friends mocking him. The fact that he kept going isn’t just stubbornness. He had a pregnant wife and in-laws watching. He had to produce results. Sometimes external pressure creates the urgency that side projects never have.

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