Original Thinking

He knew the lives of the rich had great possibilities, but he recognized that they mostly failed to...

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:38:52 -0400

He knew the lives of the rich had great possibilities, but he recognized that they mostly failed to use those possibilities fully. He also perceived that money corrupts the will to excellence. Believing that work is the only dignity, he condemned the self-indulgent rich for wasting their freedom.

$1b

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:17:51 -0400

So Tumblr got acquired for $1b. That’s nice. The money can be put to greater use. I am not belittling how difficult it was to create Tumblr. It’s just that we need fundamental progress on a number of items.

One is transportation. I want to get to Tokyo in 2 hours from Singapore. Think of the possibilities that kind of trip can open up! If I have a conversation with YF on viewing Sakura, we can be there in 2 hours the same day if we want to!

The other innovation is to ensure that we don’t destroy nature by our ability to conquer nature, e.g. we invented the steamships to navigate against age-old sea currents and weather. But the exhaust gas led to pollution in both the oceans and our air. In coming up with the more advanced form of transportation, we should balance conquering nature with protecting nature.

I passed my IPPT!

Sun, 21 Apr 2013 03:51:56 -0400

I tell myself stop avoiding and don’t give myself options. No procrastination. Quickly finish the static stations otherwise it is going to get hotter, not cooler, for the run and less chance of passing 2.4. After finishing static stations, I tell myself to skip the immediate batch and cool down a bit to join the next batch for the run.

I got off to a reasonable start. Not too fast, comfortable pace; a bit worried whether I am too slow. I clock 1:53 in my first lap. Second lap, I used the same pace without much problem. When I finish my third lap, I feel some panting - it was 6:10. I tried to keep to the same pace, maybe increase a bit. Didn’t want to see my timing for the fourth lap. I was sputtering when I finish fourth lap and start on fifth lap. I was walking a bit during my fifth lap. Just tell myself to move my legs and keep breathing. At the end of the fifth lap, it was 10:20 or 10:30 I think. My last lap I started sprinting, then stop to walk for a bit, and start sprinting again towards the finishing line - feeling not confident but just want to try for passing. When I pass the finishing line, I saw 12:37. I passed!!

I walked around a bit, feel really weak momentarily but happy. I must say I recover faster these days from 2.4 run rather than just feel like puking and lying down.

When Hell Froze Over – in the Harvard Business Review

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:26:11 -0400

When Hell Froze Over – in the Harvard Business Review

I have not seen the entrance/exit to the back of Chong Shan lit...

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 09:38:12 -0400

I have not seen the entrance/exit to the back of Chong Shan lit up for a long long time. When I was still in primary school, I would see the students streaming in towards that lit entrance. Or the hour before the morning session (or the hour in dusk after the afternoon session) where that footpath was quiet and the lights were up. During secondary school and JC, I would still occasionally look out of the windows and see this familiar glow of light.

A Different Approach to Refreshing Stock Option Grants

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:24:39 -0500

A Different Approach to Refreshing Stock Option Grants

Developing a 21st Century Entrepreneurship Curriculum

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 08:17:04 -0500

Developing a 21st Century Entrepreneurship Curriculum:

Amazing stuff will happen if this takes root deeply and broadly. Many Singaporean students just go through the routine when taking entrepreneurship classes which is the problem. There are too few role models to look up to.

A mrt for cars

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 02:48:51 -0500

Imagine a calliper and rail like structure that pick cars up and move in parallel to the roads. Cars queue up to be picked up and transported along the rail lines. Guarantee no jam.

The Vomit Moment

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:17:39 -0400

The Vomit Moment

The Power of Passion When Starting Your Company

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 22:14:22 -0400

The Power of Passion When Starting Your Company

Clarity Paradox

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:51:01 -0400

Why don’t successful people and organizations automatically become very successful? One important explanation is due to what I call “the clarity paradox,” which can be summed up in four predictable phases:

Phase 1: When we really have clarity of purpose, it leads to success.
Phase 2: When we have success, it leads to more options and opportunities.
Phase 3: When we have increased options and opportunities, it leads to diffused efforts.
Phase 4: Diffused efforts undermine the very clarity that led to our success in the first place.

McKeown recommends three ways to avoid the clarity paradox:
1) use more extreme criteria;
2) determine what is essential and eliminate the rest

Interesting demographic insight

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:07:51 -0400

“When I came to China 20 years ago, the average age of a Chinese worker was 24 - now the average age is 37,” says Chris Devonshire-Ellis, founding partner of Dezan Shira & Associates in Beijing, which advises firms on foreign direct investment (FDI).

“When a worker is 24, he’s interested in earning a bit of wages, chasing girls, buying cigarettes and beer,” Mr Devonshire-Ellis says. “Now that guy is 37, married, has a kid, car, mortgage, wants to send his kid to a good school, and travel abroad with the family on trips - that’s the demographic reason and the fundamental reason why (this shift) is happening.”

For example, MR Devonshire-Ellis says the cost of running a factory in Dongguan, Chinawith 300 workers would be about US$2.3 million. The same factory in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam would be US$650,000, and a similar factory in Chennai, India would cost about US$346,000.

“Companies are starting to think twice before building in China,” Mr Devonshire-Ellis says.

Still, the transition away from China isn’t always easy. Mr Rein tells of a US furniture maker who moved manufacturing to China in the 1990s, then moved production to Vietnam and Indonesia five years ago. The company, a client of Mr Rein’s, then moved production back to China a couple of years ago after the cheaper wages were offset by higher transportation costs and lower productivity.

“Even though it’s cheaper labour, anything highly skilled needs the right management oversight and supervisors,” Mr Rein says.

Although labour costs are rising, China still has the advantage of offering a complete “ecosystem” - infrastructure, clusters of supporting industries and highly skilled labour - to be worth the cost for some manufacturers, especially products on the higher end of the value chain.

"The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for..."

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 11:47:33 -0400

“The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified and pick yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, but it does mean you stand up and say, “I have something to say. I know how to do something. I’m doing it.””

- Seth Godin (via dpstyles)

The Power Of Honesty In An Entrepreneur – VC Relationship

Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:21:36 -0400

The Power Of Honesty In An Entrepreneur – VC Relationship

Dalai Lama...Learn to Live Now

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 09:35:00 -0400

Dalai Lama...Learn to Live Now:

Man. Because he sacrifices his health to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present: the result being he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.

Tenacious

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 21:56:52 -0400

Tenacious

Why I don’t like transactional work, risk and loss and risk allocation. Nobody wants to take the...

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 05:54:16 -0400

Why I don’t like transactional work, risk and loss and risk allocation. Nobody wants to take the negative when there is sure to be negatives. All day long, we are trying to think about negatives that can happen and try to allocate it. We are shot if we don’t identify the negatives, and we are shot if we don’t allocate the negatives properly. It is not like designing a new product or consulting for a solution.

"If you don’t believe you can do it you can’t. If you believe you can do it, and that belief is..."

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 23:12:33 -0400

““If you don’t believe you can do it you can’t. If you believe
you can do it, and that belief is founded on actual experience, on
truth, then you can. You cannot out-perform your self-image, unless
pushed beyond it by something out of your control. Progress and
overcoming can be driven by one or two acts: do the work, practice,
pay attention, improve performance to the degree that self-image
evolves, dragging performance with it, or take the headlong dive into
a situation you may not be equal to and hope you are more
capable than you believe.””

Negos with M&T

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 06:56:28 -0400

Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous, because it wounds a person’s precious pride, hurts his sense of importance, and arouses resentment. …. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain—and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.

When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic. We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bristling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.

Smile.

Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

Ask Ben to explain his markups. Let him a way out.

The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.

Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”

Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers; and say that is a great idea. They may reciprocate.

Dramatize your ideas. Say that the language has great impact.

"Things aren’t hard enough right now. it’s making everyone sloppy….sloppy thinking…sloppy..."

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 11:16:22 -0400

“Things aren’t hard enough right now. it’s making everyone sloppy….sloppy thinking…sloppy investing…ambition light…image heavy…uninspired entrepreneurship…we are wading through a sea of uninspired activity…searching…endlessly for that glimmer of ambition…that crazy look in a crazy founder’s eye…that says I would not last 4 seconds at Bain Consulting…where are you strange thinkers? Where are you weirdo’s? Do different…PLEASE…the fate of our ecosystem rests in your hands…in your mind lives the step function we desperately need…inspire us”

- Jordan (via brycedotvc)