Welcome to my personal website! I'm a passionate student at the University of Arizona, majoring in Management Information Systems at the Eller College of Management. My ambition is to combine business strategy with technology to pursue a career in finance, real estate, data analytics, and entrepreneurship. I thrive on creating value through innovation, collaboration, and integrity.
Email: nicholasbriskman@gmail.com
Phone: (301) 820-5521
I'm proud to have earned multiple Dean's List honors—including Dean's List Full Time, Honorable Mention, and with Distinction—across several semesters. These certificates reflect my dedication and perseverance as I navigated challenges in my academic journey. I strive to improve every day, grow intellectually, and maintain a strong sense of purpose in my pursuit of excellence. Additionally, my experience winning a university case competition sharpened my communication and strategy skills. Collaborating with a team to analyze business options and deliver a persuasive presentation taught me to think creatively and lead with confidence.
.png)
 copy.png)
During my Fall 2024 semester, I had the opportunity to participate in a case competition where we analyzed whether a coffee shop should add a patio or a drive-thru. My group chose the patio option and developed a detailed and visually engaging presentation. We proposed several innovative ideas to boost profits, including introducing a rewards app. This experience significantly enhanced my presentation skills and better prepared me for future projects.
In 2018, at just 12 years old, I was determined to start a business that required minimal upfront costs. I decided to create a YouTube channel. I experimented with various types of content, including vlogs, reaction videos, and reviews. While most of my early videos gained little traction, one review of a hoverboard unexpectedly reached over 10,000 views. This success showed me the potential of targeted content, but I realized my approach wasn't sustainable for channel growth.
Determined to pivot, I deleted my previous videos and transformed my channel into a hub for video game tutorials. Initially, I focused on GTA 5 tutorials, which garnered moderate engagement. Then, one of my tutorial videos went viral, reaching over 60,000 views—enough to meet the requirements for monetization. Building on this success, I created similar videos that consistently attracted large audiences.
By 2021, my channel was monetized, and I began generating monthly income. I also partnered with sponsors who sold GTA 5 money and accounts, adding another stream of revenue. By 2023, my channel had grown to over 20,000 subscribers. However, as life evolved with college and other responsibilities, I decided to take a break from YouTube. Recently, I've returned to creating content, gearing up for the release of GTA 6 in May 2026, which is projected to be the highest-grossing video game of all time.
In 2022, I used excess capital from my YouTube endeavors to invest in a rental property alongside my father. I put nearly all of my savings into the venture, and together, we purchased a condo in Bethesda, Maryland. We invested additional funds to renovate the property, including painting the walls, remodeling the kitchen, and adding new appliances.
However, finding a tenant proved challenging. For the first three months, the condo remained vacant, causing us to lose money during that time. Fortunately, we eventually secured a tenant who signed a three-year lease, providing a steady income to cover the HOA fees and mortgage interest expenses. After holding the property for about a year, we decided to sell it during a favorable market, achieving a great return on my initial investment.
Looking ahead, I aspire to build a real estate portfolio, acquiring multiple rental properties and eventually creating a real estate investment fund. My long-term vision includes having a dedicated team to manage buying, selling, and renting properties, turning this passion into a thriving business.
One of the projects I'm most proud of is RenterBooks, a website I built that helps rental property owners understand the real numbers behind their investment. My goal was to create a simple, clear tool that shows how much money you're actually making after expenses, loan payments, and cash invested.
RenterBooks lets you enter things like the home's price, down payment, loan details, renovation costs, rent, and monthly expenses. It then breaks everything down into an easy dashboard—showing your cash flow, monthly payments, return on equity (ROE), and other helpful metrics that make it easier to see if a property is a good deal.
I built this for new investors or anyone thinking about buying rental property. There's a lot of confusion online, and I wanted something that quickly shows the real financial picture without overcomplicating it. RenterBooks also includes tools for analyzing payments and comparing deals, but the main focus is on helping people make smarter decisions by understanding their returns clearly.
I plan to invest in rental properties when I'm older, and having a tool like RenterBooks will be a huge help as I grow. Building this site made me better at coding, design, and financial analysis, and it's something I'll keep improving as I learn more.
These projects demonstrate how I've used data to solve real problems in business, finance, and marketing. I worked with real company data to make predictions, run tests, and provide useful recommendations. Some projects include analyzing Amazon's online profits, predicting credit limits and default chances for Capital One, comparing salaries across universities, and studying stock performance for investment decisions. I also ran pricing tests for Walmart and studied credit card behavior to help improve marketing. Each project taught me something new about using analytics in the real world.
Online profitability modeling and strategic insights
Predictive modeling for Capital One risk assessment
Comparative analysis across university systems
A/B testing and pricing strategy optimization
Consumer behavior analysis for marketing insights
Financial performance analysis for investment decisions
I've been investing since I was 14, with guidance from my dad. From the start, I've consistently put as much money as possible into the stock market. The idea of letting cash sit in a bank account, losing value to inflation, doesn't sit right with me—I believe money should be working for you in appreciating assets. Along the way, I've made mistakes, learned important lessons, and steadily built a strong, balanced portfolio.
Since I'm young, my focus is on long-term investing because I can afford to take on more risk. During market downturns, I stay consistent with dollar-cost averaging. I also study the broader macroeconomic environment to help determine the best times to deploy capital. If I anticipate a market correction, I occasionally hedge using VIX call options—limiting the exposure to no more than 1% of my portfolio.
I'm always trying to learn more about business, money, and the future of investing. These are some of the books that have helped shape how I think about wealth, discipline, and financial freedom.
Napoleon Hill
Bill Browder
Karen Hao
Tommy Baker
Jim Cramer
Peter Schiff
Saifedean Ammous
Sheelah Kolhatkar