We're Not Building an Empire. We're Building an Exit Strategy.
Current Reality: Two Gen X entrepreneurs (mid-50s) replacing decades of corporate/blue-collar grind with location-independent income—while optimizing our health so we actually have the energy to enjoy freedom.
What Makes Us Different: We have the credentials, the business scars, and the urgency. We're not 25-year-old "hustle culture" influencers. We're showing Gen X how to compress the timeline.
Meet Muhammad & Mark
Muhammad
The Guy Who Built the "Wrong" Kind of Success
Business degree. Primal Blueprint Expert turned Certified Primal Health Coach (PHC) and Business Expert through the Primal Health Coach Institute. Built and ran businesses that looked good on paper but destroyed everything else.
Spent years working in businesses—and running one—that made money but destroyed health and relationships. The kind of "success" that leaves you wondering what you actually won.
Now obsessed with the integration nobody talks about: How do you build wealth without sacrificing vitality, relationships, and the life you're supposedly building the business to support?
I know what it's like to grind hard, make revenue, and still feel trapped. And I know the true cost of optimizing for the wrong metrics. Now, I help entrepreneurs optimize for the right ones.
Mark
The Marine Who Sees What Others Miss
Business degree. Former Marine. High-end sculptural welding—the kind where technical precision meets artistic vision, where discipline creates beauty.
Spent years in corporate customer service roles at a public utility. Excelled at understanding systems, solving problems, making things work. The kind of operator who sees the inefficiencies everyone else accepts as "normal."
Can analyze a business structure, create art from raw steel, and spot exactly why most "good jobs" are actually well-designed traps. Understands that being excellent within someone else's system doesn't make you free—it just makes you a valuable asset to someone else's dream.
Military structure to corporate structure. Different uniforms, same constraint: serve the mission, follow the protocol, retire eventually. Performed well in both. Realized that mastery without ownership is just high-level servitude.
Mid-50s and done following other people's blueprints. I know what it's like to be twice as capable as the job requires and half as free as you deserve. Building the freedom business while showing other high-performers that your competence should serve your life—not someone else's bottom line.
Why We're Qualified (And Why That Matters)
We're not "aspiring" anything. We've been there:
✓ Real Business Experience
Built businesses, made revenue, learned expensive lessons about what "success" actually costs
✓ Certified Health Expertise
Primal Health Coach certification + Business Expert certification from Mark Sisson's Primal Health Coach Institute
✓ Blue-Collar + White-Collar + Entrepreneurial
We've worked with our hands, managed operations, and run our own show. We speak all the languages.
✓ Gen X Reality Check
We're not building Instagram lifestyles. We're building sustainable freedom for people who don't have 40 years to wait.
Translation: We're not teaching theory. We're sharing what we're actively building—with the expertise to know what we're doing and the humility to admit when we don't.
What We're Actually Doing
The Problem We're Solving
Most Gen Xers are stuck in a trap:
- Trade time for money in jobs that drain them
- Sacrifice health building businesses that become new prisons
- Follow advice from 30-year-olds who've never had a mortgage, kids, or real responsibilities
- Told to "wait until retirement" while watching their energy and vitality decline
We're building the alternative: Location-independent income that supports life, not replaces it. Health optimization that fuels business, not sacrifices it.
The Integration Nobody Else Is Teaching
Digital Income + Startup Systems + Primal Vitality = Actual Freedom
- Digital: The platforms, tools, and strategies that create location independence
- Startup: Real business models, revenue generation, sustainable systems (not "passive income" fantasies)
- Lifestyle: Health optimization, energy management, designing life you don't need to escape from
We're not health coaches who dabble in business. We're not business coaches who ignore health. We're integrating both because you can't have real freedom without both.
Our Philosophy (The Honest Version)
We Believe:
"The Corporate Plan Is Broken"
Retire at 65 with enough money but not enough health or time? That's not a plan. That's a prison sentence with good behavior.
"Hustle Culture Is Killing You"
Building a business by destroying your sleep, health, and relationships isn't success. It's just trading one cage for another.
"You Can't Hack Biology"
All the productivity tips in the world don't work if you're running on 5 hours of sleep, eating garbage, and sitting 14 hours a day. Fix the foundation first.
"Gen X Has An Unfair Advantage"
We remember life before the internet. We've seen economic crashes, job losses, and broken promises. We're skeptical, resourceful, and don't fall for shiny objects. These are features, not bugs.
"The Mexican Fisherman Had It Right"
If you haven't read our take on The Mexican Fisherman parable, start there. We're not anti-success. We're anti-delaying-life-until-success.
We Don't Believe:
❌ Passive income exists (it doesn't—it's just leveraged active income)
❌ You need to be "all in" and burn your boats
❌ Success requires sacrificing your health
❌ You should wait until you're "ready"
❌ Location independence means being a digital nomad (unless you want that)
What We're Building (And Why You Should Care)
Free Resources (Start Here)
Weekly Podcast: "Digital Startup Lifestyle"
Real conversations with people who've built location-independent income. Plus our own weekly check-ins on what's working (and what's face-planting).
Weekly Newsletter
Same insights, written form, plus curated resources. No fluff. No 47-part sequences. Just value.
Blog / Resources
Deep dives on business models, health optimization, mindset shifts, and tools that actually matter.
Paid Programs (When You're Ready)
We're not hiding this behind "DM me for details." Here's what we offer:
The Vitality Freedom Sprint (8-Week Group Program)
For Gen X professionals and entrepreneurs who want to build location-independent income while optimizing health. Not one or the other—both.
Investment: $1,997 (or 3 payments of $697)
What You Get:
- Weekly group coaching (business + health optimization)
- Proven frameworks for digital income
- Primal health principles for sustained energy
- Private community
- Done-for-you templates and resources
- Accountability that actually works
Next Cohort: [Date TBD - Join Waitlist]
1-on-1 VIP Coaching (Limited Availability)
6-month intensive for serious players who want personalized strategy for both business and vitality optimization.
Investment: Starting at $5,000
Application Required: Not a fit for everyone. Let's talk.
Coming Soon
- Monthly Membership Community (Q1 2026)
- Self-Paced Flagship Course (Q2 2026)
- Live Retreat Experience (2026)
Who This Is For (And Who It's Not)
You're In The Right Place If:
✓ You're Gen X (or Gen X-adjacent in mindset)
✓ You're tired of trading time for money
✓ You want location independence but not at the expense of your health
✓ You're willing to do the work (not looking for "hacks")
✓ You value authenticity over Instagram perfection
✓ You're inspired by Ferriss, DeMarco, and that ilk but need the real-world version
✓ You have income, skills, or runway—this isn't for broke beginners
This ISN'T For You If:
❌ You want overnight success or "passive income" magic
❌ You're looking for get-rich-quick schemes
❌ You expect us to have all the answers (we're figuring this out too)
❌ You think health is separate from business success
❌ You're not willing to invest in yourself
❌ You want someone to do it for you
Our Commitment to You
What We Promise:
Radical Transparency
We share our numbers—subscribers, revenue, what's working, what's flopping. No smoke and mirrors.
Consistent Value
Weekly podcast. Weekly newsletter. No ghosting. No "I'll get back to you when I feel like it."
Real Credentials + Real Humility
We have the certifications and business experience. We also don't pretend to know everything.
Integration Over Optimization
We won't teach you to build a seven-figure business that requires 80-hour weeks and destroys your health. We'll show you sustainable models that support the life you actually want.
What We Won't Do:
❌ Sell you courses we haven't tested
❌ Promise results we can't guarantee
❌ Pretend we've "figured it all out"
❌ Disappear when things get hard
❌ Promote products just for affiliate commissions
Start Here
If You're Just Discovering Us:
- Read our philosophy: The Mexican Fisherman, The Digital Nomad, and The 4-Hour Workweek
- Take the Free Assessment: The Gen X Freedom Audit – Get your personalized roadmap (15 minutes, actually useful)
- Join the Free Newsletter: Weekly insights delivered. No BS. No spam.
If You're Ready to Take Action:
- Join the Next Cohort: The Vitality Freedom Sprint – 8 weeks to build the foundation
- Apply for VIP Coaching: Limited spots available – Let's see if we're a fit
If You Just Want to Follow Along:
- Podcast: Subscribe Here
- LinkedIn: Muhammad | Mark
- Twitter/X: @DigitalStartupLifestyle
The Bottom Line
We're two Gen X guys who refuse to wait until 65 to start living.
We have the business scars, the health credentials, and the determination to build something that works—not just for us, but for the generation that keeps getting told to "be patient" while the world changes around us.
We're not building an empire. We're building an exit strategy.
If that resonates, you're in the right place.
Welcome to the community.
Last Updated: September 30, 2025
Current Status: [Update monthly with real numbers]
Next Milestone: 250 subscribers by Thanksgiving
Questions? Thoughts? Want to tell us we're crazy? Email us: [contact@digitalstartuplifestyle.com]