Hackathoner was not built in a boardroom. It was not funded by venture capital. It was not created by someone who had everything handed to them.

Taifun Kemerci grew up without financial privilege. His parents could not give him much — not because they didn’t want to, but because it simply wasn’t possible. From a young age, he had to work to afford the basics. He cleaned sewers. He washed windows. He washed dishes. He knows what it feels like to work physically hard for very little money. He knows what it is like when your hands get dirty just to keep your bank account from running empty.

“I didn’t want to suffer. That was my drive. I wanted something that I enjoyed — and that could make me financially free. Something that didn’t torture me, but paid me well.”

That search led him to one of the most important turning points of his life: the book Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. The message was clear and changed everything: you must acquire Income Generating Skills — skills that create real income. Not the skills the school system teaches. Not the skills that make you the perfect employee. But the skills that make you financially independent.

That realization was the origin of Hackathoner. Built to give others what he once wished he had himself: a clear, structured path to the skills that truly matter in life. Skills that don’t just move people forward a little — but skills that can catapult them decades ahead, financially and personally.