1. The problem asks: "How many did he start with?" which implies we need to find the initial quantity of something. 2. To solve such problems, we often use the formula for initial quantity when given final quantity and changes: $$\text{Initial} = \text{Final} + \text{Changes}$$ 3. Since the user did not provide any numbers or context, we cannot calculate a specific value. 4. Please provide more details or numbers related to the problem so we can find the initial amount.