My Next Internet Millionaire Farewell Post

**This post was approved by the producers of the Next Internet Millionaire**

It felt very strange to watch Episode 11 and relive many of the emotions I felt that day while in the Judgment room.

I went in to that competition as Thor Schrock and I walked out again as Thor Schrock and that was important to me.

What some of you may not know is that Joel’s politician comment was closer to home than he might have realized at the time. A few years back I flirted with a run for mayor of Lincoln, NE – a city of about 125,000 people at the time.

I was very young, less than experienced in politicking, and probably not the most qualified candidate in the field.

As I learned some of the ropes and met with people I found out how easy it is to lose who you are when people around you want you to be something you are not. If you are not rooted solidly in who you are and what you believe, you can be pulled off your moral compass a little at a time until you are a completely different person than when you started.

Joel Comm Is Not Handing Out Success

Throughout the competition I always wanted to win, and I hoped it would be me working with Joel on a JV project. But I managed to stay grounded by my core belief that no one in life is going to hand you success. Joel Comm can’t do it, Eric Holmlund can’t do it, even Donald Trump can’t do it. Success can be found in every day, and in every opportunity (which IS what Joel is offering) if you are determined, patient, and most of all, steady.

The most important thing to me in this competition (or game, or whatever word we can all settle on) was that I was not going to walk in there and be something that I wasn’t. I still had the opportunity to develop a killer idea and bring the right people together to execute it. There was no loss in my involvement with Next Internet Millionaire.

Your Questions Answered

Some of you have had some questions for me, and I have been unable to answer them until now. Here are three of the most common ones I have been asked over the past couple weeks:

1) Do you and Jason Marshall still talk, or are you two going to have a guest appearance on the next UFC match?

What many viewers may not know is that Jason and I were roommates for the last two days of the competition. We shook hands and buried the hatchet that day, and I have nothing but respect and admiration for who he is. In fact, Jason has a seminar coming up called Back to Basics Crash Course and I wish him nothing but the best.

2) If you had Episode 10 to do over again, would you do anything differently?

To those who have voiced question about my honesty, integrity, or actions on the show all I can ask is that you speak to me and find out for yourselves what kind of a man I am. I can tell you for certain that if a friend in my future asks me for an opinion about a situation, I will still give her my honest assessment regardless of who disagrees.

I can also tell you that my business partners know that I will not walk into a competitive environment and disclose all of our assets and liabilities to our competition before we compete just because my competitors ask for the information.

I did not do anything in the competition that I would not go home to my mother and defend (and after she watched episode 10, Lord knows that’s what I had to do).

It is very surreal to watch people saying such hateful negative things about you while you are unable to respond because of a non-disclosure agreement.

Once the show is concluded and I am free from the agreement, I could probably offer explanations that would change a lot of minds out there, but by that time I think the negative comments will have been long forgotten by everyone involved. If you still have questions at that time, please contact me and I will be happy to sit down and have a straightforward, unbiased conversation about what happened and what was emphasized.

3) If you have learned so much while you were there, what have you done with that knowledge since you were eliminated?

It has been a constant whirlwind of activity since my elimination both personally and professionally. My company has launched an awesome new computer system for the Christmas season. I also launched an awesome new online remote PC support service (SEE JOEL & MARLIN! IT WOULD HAVE WORKED J), and I have added more than 300 new customers I the past 2 months alone.

I haven’t earned that first million yet, but my wife does want a new Kia Rondo – everyone has to have goals J

Thank You to the NIM Editors and Producers

I was really happy that the producers left my thank you message to my supporters in at the end of the show. There were three charities I was sponsoring with my appearance on the show – the Lincoln Crisis Pregnancy Center, the Lincoln Lighthouse, and the Neil Schultz Gift of Hope Fund for ALS victims.

They, as well as many of my customers and supporters have diligently followed the show each week and have called or emailed to congratulate me on advancing through the ranks.

If it were not for their support I probably would not have been on the show at all, so I owe the entire experience to those who voted for me, those who promoted me, and those who rooted for me each week. You all have my thanks from the bottom of my heart.

With that, I am departing the Next Internet Millionaire stage a winner, and my son is thrilled to have me at home again doing what is truly important in the big picture. I will take my seat with each of you now and watch Charles and Jamie battle for the title. Don’t turn that dial, because something tells me this is going to get VERY interesting