Sunday, November 19, 2006

Saturday...

Yesterday's Wharton Entrepreneurship Conference was a blast! The quality of the panelists in all the conferences was awesome to say the least...I was awe-inspired, motivated and zestified (a word i juz created) over and over again!
To be able to speak to with wildly successful entrepreneurs after each conference was really great...over here, I guess millionaires are nothing because we are talking about billionaires...and there are many, who at a young age of 30, have assets of $80 million and more...and mind you, they are all in USD!
Entrepreneurship is so commonplace here, one of the panelists said something which i totally concur with....US, with its attitude towards entrepreneurship and with is huge market, is the best place to start one's business in...the sheer size of its market is enough to catapult any ordinary sounding business to success....
That said, of course one still has to have a sound business model and a winning strategy....
I shall briefly pass on 3 tips that I have picked up from the conference yesterday and from my learnings so far to all who are also passionate about entrepreneurship....

  1. Opportunities are everywhere. Don't be so narrow minded as to keep your eyes fixed on just one possibility.
  2. Team building is of CRITICAL importance. The most important factor, as highlighted by almost all the panelists, is the quality of the people in the team.
    Choose people who can complement your skills, your strengths and who can cover up for your weaknesses. Imagine yourself in a fox-hole. Who will you want to be in there with you to fight the war? That should give you an answer as to who to choose to be in your team.
    Ultimately, it is not just about the skills, the most essential is the character of the team mates, in particular honesty, integrity and enthusiasm.
  3. Enthusiasm was ranked as the #1 factor in what VCs and angel investors look out for in a management team and not that of the business model as commonly perceived.
I can go on forever. Trust me. I can.
But for those who are interested, contact me directly. =p

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Wanna just mention something else...
Had some idea and was chatting with ZW abt it and at the same time, checked out how things have been for him...was glad to know that even though his exam preparations are not yet too good, his spirit and morale is still high up there....which has alwaiz been the case....
He said that I always manage to motivate him....well, in the same way, he has always motivated me as well...
Simply by knowing that in the face of difficulties, he can still be so positive, so strong and nevertheless retain the 'i won't die' attitude, that is already enough inspiration for me....

Another example....XM, a friend whom I only came to acquaint this year, and in the most unlikely of ways....
I remember that when I first knew her, the impression I had was that she didn't really yet know what she wanted to do after graduation....or perhaps it was just because of a lack of understanding on my part at the beginning stages of a new friendship....
Today, things have turned around 360 degrees. She tells me of her plans, and note, i said 'plans', not 'plan'....
Ambitious plan A, with a well-thought out contingency plan B.....sounds exactly like what I did when charting out my own goals prior to applying for NOC back last year.....
And that itself, I told her, is the right attitude and mindset to adopt, to have and to retain, and which will be the eventual critical success factor she will look back in future and tell other people about....

That again, is another source of motivation for me. In fact, it is really gratifying when I know about my close frens' plans, their lofty ambitions, their dreams and goals and the routes they have planned to get there...
In essence, I respect people who seek to find and achieve what they want in life. How to do it?
I can summarize it in a few sentences.

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Imagine a straight line that represents your life.
Plan where you want to be at 5 or 10 years from now.
Next, devise a plan of how you are going to get there.
Have contingency plans in place to cover your rear end in case anything doesn't go according to plan along the way.
Start taking incremental steps to achieve the small goals along the way that will eventually lead you to your main goal, your ultimate dream....
.................................................................

Simple? Well, it IS and it ISN'T...
That is just talking....and talking doesn't bring one anywhere...
Start your concrete actions now....

The same applies for me too, I gotta get back to work now already. Many plans, a very lofty ambition, uncertainties along the way, but I can take it. In fact, I have to take it whether I like it or not. That is life.
I have many other inspirational sources too from other friends, but again, I can't possibly name all.

I wish for all the best for my friends and for myself.

Adopt the 'i can do it' attitude if you haven't...
you can never go wrong with that...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Um.. Din really notice the change in me till u mentioned.. Haha.. Tks for ur guidance all along.. I have learnt a lot from u.. =)