{"id":4430,"date":"2025-03-06T15:01:44","date_gmt":"2025-03-06T15:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portfellow.com\/?p=4430"},"modified":"2025-04-04T11:52:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T11:52:59","slug":"portfellow-founder-story-meet-taavi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/portfellow-founder-story-meet-taavi\/","title":{"rendered":"Portfellow Founder Story: Meet Taavi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you’re reading this, chances are you\u2019re interested in financial literacy, already an investor, or thinking about getting started. My name is Taavi Ilves, and my investment journey began in 2014 with a portfolio worth exactly zero. Fast forward to today, and my portfolio has grown to nearly half a million euros.<\/p>

But how did I get here? Let me take you through my story\u2014from my first side projects to my investing strategies and biggest lessons learned along the way.<\/p>

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From Early Tech Enthusiast to Investor<\/h3>

I\u2019ve always been passionate about technology. My career in IT started early\u2014I was coding by the time I was 16, and by the end of high school, I had developed a social networking platform that gained 30,000 users, with some even becoming paying customers.<\/p>

My professional journey led me to work in various tech companies, and today, I work four days a week as a software engineer at Bigbank. The rest of my time? I dedicate it to my family, hobbies, and of course\u2014investing.<\/p>

Since 2014, I have tracked every income, expense, and investment decision I\u2019ve made. Every month, I analyze my numbers with enthusiasm because, honestly, I love spreadsheets, charts, and financial data.<\/p>

How I Found My Way to Investing<\/h3>

While I started actively investing in 2014, my first exposure to the stock market happened earlier. I remember being in military service in 2010, placing a sell order for Tallinn Vesi stock at night, hoping it would be executed by morning.<\/p>

The real turning point came when I read Jaak Roosaare’s book, “How to Get Rich”, and attended one of his first investing workshops. Fun fact: That event also led to the creation of the now well-known Financial Freedom Facebook group, which has since connected thousands of investors.<\/p>

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Why Investing, Not Just Spending?

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At that time, I was a university student working part-time, receiving scholarships, and living a modest lifestyle\u2014sharing an apartment with fellow students. This meant I had extra money left over every month.<\/p>

I realized that instead of letting it sit in my bank account, I could put my money to work and make it grow.<\/p>

At around the \u20ac20,000-\u20ac30,000 portfolio mark, I had an “aha moment”\u2014I no longer needed to stress about money. I understood that if I continued growing my income and making smart investment decisions, my portfolio would keep expanding, and I could focus my energy on self-development rather than financial worries.<\/p>

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The Turning Point: Growth Through Community

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Starting my investment blog and sharing insights on Facebook connected me with other investors. Some were just starting out, while others were already far ahead of me.<\/p>

Attending conferences, investment club events, and workshops helped me meet people like Kristi Saare, Tauri Alas, and Kristjan Liivam\u00e4gi. Eventually, we formed a private investment group that has now grown into a 12-person mastermind, including some of Estonia\u2019s most prominent financial influencers and investors.<\/p>

This group has been invaluable\u2014a fast track for both knowledge and portfolio growth.<\/p>

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My Portfolio Today<\/h3>

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My investing philosophy has always been about building a diversified and liquid portfolio so I can adjust asset allocations based on market cycles.<\/p>

Here\u2019s how my portfolio looked in early 2023:<\/p>

  • 40% – Stocks<\/li>
  • 23% – Loans & Bonds<\/li>
  • 22% – Startups<\/li>
  • 9% – Cash<\/li>
  • 5% – Private Companies<\/li>
  • 1% – Crypto<\/li><\/ul>

    Unlike many investors, I don\u2019t currently own real estate, as I prefer flexibility and liquidity. My portfolio has evolved significantly over time\u2014from focusing on loans in the beginning to a much larger share in stocks and startups today.<\/p>

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    Biggest Lessons Learned

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    Start Now \u2013 Take the first step by saving, then the next by investing. The sooner you start, the better.<\/p>

    Keep Learning \u2013 Read books, blogs, and case studies. Learn from other investors\u2019 successes and mistakes\u2014but also from your own experiences.<\/p>

    Surround Yourself with Like-Minded People \u2013 If your current circle doesn\u2019t support your financial goals, find a community of ambitious, finance-savvy people. You\u2019ll progress faster together.<\/p>

    Ask Questions \u2013 You\u2019d be surprised how willing experienced investors are to share knowledge when approached the right way.<\/p>

    Take Calculated Risks \u2013 Whether in investing or life, risk and reward go hand in hand. Understand risk management and make informed decisions.<\/p>

    Set Goals \u2013 Define clear financial and investment goals with milestones and action steps. Writing them down increases your chances of success.<\/p>

    Increase Your Income \u2013 Whether by climbing the career ladder, negotiating better salaries, switching jobs, or even starting a business\u2014higher earnings accelerate portfolio growth.<\/p>

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    Why I Started Sharing My Journey

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    Together with Marko, I launched Off The Record (OTR) to provide more value to the investment community\u2014raw, unfiltered, and numbers-based insights.<\/p>

    We wanted to create high-quality investing content, free from unnecessary fluff. While we could share everything on personal blogs, a closed platform allows deeper discussions without unwanted distractions.<\/p>

    Our goal? Building a real investing community\u2014where people can exchange ideas, ask questions, and learn from each other.<\/p>

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    If you’re reading this, chances are you\u2019re interested in financial literacy, already an investor, or thinking about getting started. My name is Taavi Ilves, and my investment journey began in 2014 with a portfolio worth exactly zero. Fast forward to today, and my portfolio has grown to nearly half a million euros. But how did […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Taavi-Ilves-Portfellow-Story-600x400.png","author_info":{"display_name":"Portfellow","author_link":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/author\/admin\/"},"featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Taavi-Ilves-Portfellow-Story-600x600.png","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Taavi-Ilves-Portfellow-Story.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4430"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4430\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4533,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4430\/revisions\/4533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.portfellow.com\/et\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}