The warpath started early today.

1 X expletive-filled email about 10 am

1 X Meeting where I am semi-calm and manage to not chew off evan's head.

1 X msn conversation where I'm still mad over Friday

And it's only 4:30 pm!

Back For a Short Visit

A little piece of paper sits on my keyboard and says 'Today's hardships leads to rewards in a later life.'

-five

"Singapore is like Sparta, where the top students are taken away from their parents as children and educated. Then, cohort by cohort, they each select their own leadership, ultimately electing their own Philosopher King. When I first read Plato's Republic, I was totally dazzled by the great logic of this organizational model where the best selects the best," he said.

"But then, as I reached the end of the book, it dawned on me that although the starting point was meritocracy, the end result was dictatorship and elitism. In the end, that was how Sparta crumbled. Yet, Athens, a city of philosophers known for its different schools of thought, survived. Sparta is long forgotten. (Do we want to be like) Sparta, a martial, well-organized and efficient society, but in the end, very brittle; or an Athens, untidy, chaotic and argumentative, but which survived because of its diversity of thinking?"

These Hard Times - Matchbox 20

Sweeeeet song. And in no way reflects how life is now =)

Follow Through - Gavin DeGraw

So many great songs in a day. Time to Blip them =)


-five

Have You Ever Seen The Rain - Creedence Clearwater Revival

Quote: Not just for me, but for who I am, what I stand for and for those that believe in me and for the future.

The First Post in A Long While

Alguien Soy Yo - Enrique Iglesias

I haven't wrote in almost 2 weeks.

Just didn't feel like sitting down and writing. And yet, here I am on a Monday morning, 7:30 am, half-asleep and listening to Andy talking to Shuying(sp?) and punching out my first blog post in a long while =)

I think I've been trying to get life under control and I hope it's working. Prioritizing things and re-examining life. Andy says I seem to be always in a world of my own and that's probably true. Sort out yourself first before you make your dent on the universe.

Somehow, that conversation with Hui Zhi still resonates. Is it just peer pressure or a real desire? Nobody really knows until you give it a try. But it's definitely fun.

I should be writing about my project but someone reading this isn't supposed to know so I won't. But it's going to be crazy fun. Haha. Cryptic, cryptic.

I don't have my pictures from Big Sur yet. And I wouldn't promise to do it anytime soon. But I will get it up. Soon.

So I'll leave you all with this beautiful song. Alguien Soy Yo by Enrique Iglesias.

Enjoy

-five

Pre-Lunch Song Upload

Dreaming with a Broken Heart - Johny Mayer

Damn you, Star 101.3 FM! Stop playing this song =) Hauntingly beautiful.

I'll try to write something tonight.

Work, work, work!

-five

What will be, will be

A thousand points to the guys in purple and gold. Go, Yahoo! =)

Be Like That

Met their Chief Architect of their Media Group 2 weeks back, by the way. Awesome guy.

Had a mentor session with Gokul Rajaram, former Project Management Director for Adsense. Pretty good session. But I would have liked for him to talk about his personal experiences rather than the concepts. Would have been vastly more engaging. But yeah, I suppose he can't really talk much about that. No matter, I thought what he said was pretty relevant and practically useful. Makes you wonder if one day, you can translate that into action.

In 2 weeks' time, it'll be the beginning of our 3rd month here. There's really something to be said of working in a foreign country. Beyond the resume part, this has been a... journey. It's not so much of the day-to-day things that happen but more of what you don't see but feel. I guess the one thing that you learn is that your life is what you make of it. True, there's always external factors but ultimately, it is very much what drives you forward. Your passion. And what you want to achieve. In life.

You learn to rearrange priorities. Slowly, you learn what is important to you and what isn't. And you discover that that truly matters to you. And you learn to take control of your life. And along that, your future.

Me-time is good =P

There comes a time when one wonders how life is. Putting in perspective the past with the present. And the part that the past, the present plays in the future. Looking back, I think sometimes, that's how exactly life is. Maybe that's why I actually put this old song on. Past, present, future. Dreams. Hope. And a lingering question. Of what it was and what it will be. And I guess there's only one last thing to say: What will be, will be.

i haven't gotten your letter yet, dad. Stop asking me!

love
-five

Elements of
Sustainable Companies

Start-ups with these characteristics often foretells the success of a business and the likelihood of it becoming a sustainable, enduring company. We like to partner with companies that have:

Clarity of Purpose

Summarize the company's business on the back of a business card.

Large Markets

Address existing markets poised for rapid growth or change. A market on the path to a $1B potential allows for error and time for real margins to develop.

Rich Customers

Target customers who will move fast and pay a premium for a unique offering.

Focus

Customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition.

Pain Killers

Pick the one thing that is of burning importance to the customer then delight them with a compelling solution.

Think Differently

Constantly challenge conventional wisdom. Take the contrarian route. Create novel solutions. Outwit the competition.

Team DNA

A company’s DNA is set in the first 90 days. All team members are the smartest or most clever in their domain. "A" level founders attract an "A" level team.

Agility

Stealth and speed will usually help beat-out large companies.

Frugality

Focus spending on what's critical. Spend only on the priorities and maximize profitability.

Inferno

Start with only a little money. It forces discipline and focus. A huge market with customers yearning for a product developed by great engineers requires very little firepower.

Writing A
Business Plan

We like business plans that present a lot of information in as few words as possible. The following format, within 15-20 slides, is all that’s needed:

Company Purpose

• Define the company/business in a single declarative sentence.

Problem

• Describe the pain of the customer (or the customer’s customer).
• Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

Solution

• Demonstrate your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better.
• Show where your product physically sits.
• Provide use cases.

Why Now

• Set-up the historical evolution of your category.
• Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

Market Size

• Identify/profile the customer you cater to.
• Calculate the TAM (top down), SAM (bottoms up) and SOM.

Competition

• List competitors
• List competitive advantages

Product

• Product line-up (form factor, functionality, features, architecture, intellectual property).
• Development roadmap.

Business Model

• Revenue model
• Pricing
• Average account size and/or lifetime value
• Sales & distribution model
• Customer/pipeline list

Team

• Founders & Management
• Board of Directors/Board of Advisors

Financials

• P&L
• Balance sheet
• Cash flow
• Cap table
• The deal

Now that my former boss has found her way here, I will have to stop all mentions of IFW. I wonder how long it'll take for my current boss to find this. I seriously doubt he'll ever though.

*wink*

Anyway, been a few days since I blogged so here are the thoughts, in between the laundry, the Ruby On Rails and attempts to connect to this music site.

*ruffles through his Gmail Calendar*

E145's over. This is the first time I've actually missed not going for classes. Bizbuzz was crazy. Too bad we didn't get into the last round but competition was INTENSE. Still trying to figure out whose team is 1+1=3. Not much over the weekend except the fact that I was at Stanford both Saturday and Sunday plugging away at that takehome exam.

Guys' Nights out at San Fran. Seriously awesome Thai restaurant. Unbelievable ambience and great food and crazy company. Full of hippies. Hahaha. We're not hippies yet. Not enough money. Poor surviving interns.











Still anxiously awaiting the arrival of my Arizona Diamondbacks vs San Francisco Giants tickets. Fedex is kinda weird. I don't think they use shortest distance to plot their items. They sent my tickets half away across continental USA (6 states, 2,000 miles!) from Emeryville, California to Memphis, Tennessee by some ground transport and then FLIES it back. (2x2000 miles = 4000 miles = 6,000 km. Thailand is only 1000km from Singapore...) It's now sitting at some Oakland Fedex facility. By the way, Emeryville is only 40 miles from Milpitas =P Hahaha. Crazy stuff.

And finally, today. MIT/Stanford Vlabs. The Future of Content Consumption. Didn't talk about anything new but it was interesting to hear about what people were actually doing to create the new wave of innovation. Met this cool guy there. Stayed in EAST PALO ALTO and running his own startup. Very cool dude. I wanted to check his site but it was down. Will remember to do it tomorrow.

Oh wells. And that's it. And my laundry is almost done. So I guess that's it now today. Heh. 1 am and I'm still up. Record breaking timing.

five, out.

WALL•E, Cookie & Life

So I'm sitting at Old Union instead of going back to work despite the 3 projects awaiting my attention. There's a few good reasons of course. So I better list them out before people start to think I'm a slacker.

1. Need to collect E145 exam paper at 5 pm PDT
2. Need to throw ball at 6 pm
3. Need to do Bizbuzz later at 9 pm, NOC Office

So there! 3 reasons and all good ones! And instead of working on my business case or reading up on Struts 2, I'm writing my blog. Heh. I guess this is a good time as any.

It has been a trying week and half. OAP submission, Facebook project, the finance monitoring and that whole database stuff. Not to mention a ruined Yosemite trip because some jackass thought that towing my car was appropriate. And of course, the flat battery. I'm still quite jumpy about my car, I tell you.

But this week is also a culmination of an entire quarter of a new life. A new world. A new school. New workplace. A new life. New friends and just a guy in a big city. And despite the ups and the downs(more downs), it has been crazy. I love my lessons in E145, with inspirational speakers, my team with Brad, Paul, Kirk and Huiling. I love the crazy NOC people, each with their own weird quirks and uniqueness. I even love my work though it's pretty crappy at times. As a self-proclaimed student of people, it has been a truly fascinating journey to see the interactions. And it has been a journey personally as well. Letting it loose a bit and understanding how a new society works and can be so different and yet familiar at the same time. Looking at the world differently. A world of hope and promise. Of dreams.

I was talking about my dream to visit Australia and see the stars once again. And along comes two things. My fortune cookie at yesterday's lunch says "Visit a faraway land that has been in your thoughts." and the story of a little robot called WALL•E.

Him and a million other little robots were put to clean up Earth after everyone left Earth covered in trash in the future and make it habitable again. But the cleanup failed with the exception of this little robot and he's left on Earth doing his duty all alone. But he has a glitch in his programming. He has feelings.

But it's not a story about science fiction. It's a love story, because, you see, WALL·E falls in love with EVE, a robot from a probe that comes down to check on Earth, and she's left there to check on and see how things are going and he absolutely falls in love with her.

So in the end, it’s gonna be WALL-E’s pursuit to win EVE’s heart, and his unique appreciation of life to become mankind’s last hope to rediscover its roots. In short, it’s going to take a robot's love to help make the world go round.

Maybe, we have lost sight of the world, passion and dreams and we just need something to remind us of it again.

love
-five

Chicken Rice, Claypot, Broth

Center fold okay? :P

Haha. Thanks leh, Lydia. Got it liao. Hahaha. I tell you hor, my housemate say your package like Red Cross. Hahaha. But don't worry, I beat the crap out of him for you.

But seriously, really appreciate it. I guess the feeling of receiving something from someone far off, especially in a strange country, is really quite indescribable. So thanks. + another 50 points. I think that makes you 400 liao =)

Baseball season is starting! Opening Day: 3/30/08.

Woot.

Random Ponderings

Everything users do creates value. How do we translate this value into something that benefits everyone?

Being Human

I gave up and popped two Tylenols. I really should go get breakfast in the mornings.

And don't hate people for doing their jobs.

Hits & Misses

It was a classic Google moment. Your S.A.T. score was the measure of your intellectual capability; your GPA represented the numerical summary of your ability to execute on that potential.

From a different perspective, grades, even though they don't really matter that much, in a way, determine how you make the best out of a bad situation. I guess it's just not cool when you have little use for something that you have little passion for.

By that benchmark, I probably suck as far as the executing goes =) But I don't rue the fact that I got a less-than-optimal CAP. Rather, I'm grateful for the opportunities that have led me to know great people and discover the meaning of life. And I guess that's what's life about. The hits and the misses. Just make more hits than misses and you'll be just fine.

-five

P.S. I would check my mail regularly if I were you. Yes, you. No, no... You reading this.
P.P.S If I don't get out this weekend, I'm going to hurt something. And I can't go to the range too =(

A Beginning of a Bad Week

Frustrated, sleepy and hungry.

Work, you stupid POS.

Bleah.

Witty Chinese Proverb That Was Not to Be

And life goes on. And we all learn from the stumbles and the trips from it. The tears, the scrapes from the fall just makes the future so much better. So I hope you'll feel better. Because you got hianyi, andy, ch & hida (yes, them too) and me. You're not the only one listening to this song, by the way =)



Distractions, be gone!

Holy crap.

5 days to turn out a prototype Facebook app.

Tying Our Fates Together

"How selfish so ever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it."

-Adam Smith

There has been a lot of talk about social entrepreneurship. How doing good doesn't necessarily equate to doing something non-profit. Do no evil, Google's motto reminds us of this constantly. With money flowing into cleantech these days, we're never short of people who profess to share both the social as well as entrepreneurial spirit.

I'm not a cynic when it comes to change. Admittedly, there are times where it would seem otherwise, but no, I do believe in social innovation and that such a thing exists. But perhaps sometimes, we look at issues critically and often we miss the point. Isn't technology, by its very definition, social? Something that enriches lives and changes fate. For the most part, technology, in its many forms and shapes, have made the world a better place to live. We see solar power as the one thing that will liberate us from the shackles of oil dependency. But yet at the same time, without it, would we have life as we know it today?

I like what one of the speakers during the AAMA event said about progress. About change. "The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of rocks." We change to progress. Change isn't just about innovation. Progress isn't just about profits. The future is about the people. And making lives better. Social entrepreneurship.

In the home of country, here's another song to break the monotony of the day. Sorry for the crappy quality but I didn't really feel like nitpicking on it.

Here it goes.

Looking Beyond to Reach Self-Discovery

There are many paths in life. And you, and only you, have the chance to choose the one that you want to walk.

生命的道路雖有許多. 而只有你才能走出属于自己的未來

Re-evaluating life has never hit home so hard. I don't know why. And I don't need to know. All I know is to find the answer. To choose my road and walk it. The how is as important as the why.

Priorities. Habits. And what truly matters. Questions that have been asked but never really answered. And for once, it suddenly becomes so important.

And I truly have no idea.

But I know where to start and how to find it. And hope that it will be enough.

-five

Capturing the Moment

Got back last night. Or rather, this morning as some would have it =)

Parents are here, sleeping the jet lag away in my room and I'm almost going down myself so I'll just stick a fabulous song here. Courtesy of Sourdough Saloon, Beatty, Nevada. Enjoy. Will try to write something nice and long tonight with lots of pictures. I think we all have something to learn from this beautiful piece of country.

Remember this name: Rubicon Project

Every day, at least 5 companies get funding in Silicon Valley. That's almost like 20-40 million per day. And THAT is pretty scary.

And I am more and more convinced that I'm on the right track here. Hmm....

Life in the Valley

One often wonders about the power of the Web. And the intricate links from one end of the network to the other. Or whether six degrees of separation really does exist? And what are the behavioral patterns people actually adhere to on the Internet.

Anyway, enough of the inane babbling. I'll be trying to update my blog with a lot more content in the upcoming weeks. Social commentaries, views on venture capitalism and dreams and so forth. Forget everything else. Then again, I'm not even sure I'll be able to do that =) So, keep up your bookmarking and let the good times roll.

But of course, first up, some links to some very good blogs.

Chris's A Seven Month Siesta. Very inspiring and very cool insights. I really need to figure out how to put MY nice photos up as the main banner. Will try to do that asap.

Fellow temporary Californian Cailin's blog. She has been to more places than me la.

Ill

Fell sick. Damn, head is throbbing and not really thinking. Just sitting in my cubicle in a daze and just wishing I could go sleep.

Bleah

A pretty darn good song.

Enjoy.

Paradigms

Selected quotes. Will have more next time.

"In Singapore, drivers are not allowed to make a U-turn unless a sign specifically allows them to do so, while in some other countries drivers may make U-turns freely so long as the ‘No U-turn’ sign is not present."

"There are just so many ways to fail."

Photos & more Photos

Finally, after multiple not-so-subtle hints from different people that I should update my blog, here it is =)

So where do I start....? Hmm... Actually, been more than a week since I updated it. I'm too lazy. Anyway, I'll just let the pictures do the talking for Tahoe. But trust me, even so, the pictures don't do the place justice.



Lake Tahoe was awesome. First time skiing. And it was a great roadtrip =) And the view was spectacular. Makes you feel almost insignificant in comparison. Will be back for more next winter!

Yesterday was San Francisco. It was pouring so we didn't really get much sightseeing in. We did get a few pictures and had some really nice crab. Not your typical Singaporean chill crabs (I miss those) but freshly boiled crabs. Very different.

Surreality

Thought I might as well get a post in before I head off for the weekend =)

And this one comes with graphics. Hahaha.

You know how they always post museum pictures of those mega-companies when they were just starting up. Well.. here's my group's. Not exactly a multinational company in the making but still =P



Ohhhh... finally a photo of my room and a random shot of zk's Cooper's odometer. Pity I couldn't get those really cool scarecrows. Or sculptures. Not really sure what they were but damn they were impressive.















Lousy scenery shot of the hills surrounding the Bay area. Think these are the south and southwestern ones. Not exactly the best shots. You can't really tell how majestic those hills are until you see them. And it is a real pity I couldn't get a good enough angle to snap those with snowy peaks. Yeap, snow-capped hills. I could see them from our driveway. Real cool stuff.




Anyway, found Krispy Kreme. FINALLY. AT LAST! Donuts are sitting on the counter right now. Yay. And of course, the poor risotte that didn't make it. I think I turned up the heat too high during the simmer phase. Bleah.













Snapshots from Calif. Will be back with a ton more from Tahoe.

Don't make me worry, would you?

love
-five

Time once again for some updates on life in the US of A, the land of the free =)

Went to see a car today. Quite a decent one. But a tad too expensive for the mileage it had. So I don't think I'll get it. A pity though.

As usual, I felt like I was way over my head again, dealing with cars. Way over my head when I'm handling the codes. And keeping up but barely during classes. I guess it's a good thing, being challenged and that's what I came here for. Jumping into a completely new environment is daunting and exciting at the same time.

But I think slowly but surely, you start getting used to how things work. I got the damn invoice tool working today (FINALLY!) and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Lots of interesting events that I want to join but I'm suddenly reminded of that fact that I perhaps should be a bit more selective. Choose those I know I'm really interested in. But there's just so many! Hahaha.

Anyway, for the first time, I'm actually kinda excited about my OAP. Good feeling about it though Paul IS really in his own world :P I dunno. I still don't think that angle's going to work out. We'll see....

Tahoe this weekend. Should be fun. First time I'll see snow. And learn how to ski. Though I'm still wondering how the hell is the plan to get there. Probably the obsessive planner in me that NEEDS to know.

No photos today. Too lazy!

Be happy, busy beaver. Be safe.



love
-five

A New Home

109 Parc Place Drive, Milpitas, CA95035

New place, new beginning. And now it truly begins.

Under One Roof

We got our house today. Well... kinda. We're going to sign the lease tomorrow :P So, if nothing goes wrong, we'll finally have a place to call home.

So anyway, been a pretty normal 2 days(?). Nothing much really. Just life as usual. Except for the fact I now need to learn Java, MySQL, Hibernate, Struts, Apache Ant, Eclipse, jxl and Android. Oh yes, and CVS. Quite a challenge but like I said, I'm so way over my head that I can't even see the bottom =) Ah, took a snapshot of my poor empty desk and the coffee I grabbed from the cafe downstairs.


Great pizza at Pizza Chicago. Went there for dinner. Zhikuang and the uber big mugs. Andy and his grin. Too lazy to edit the colour for the photos =) Just another day in SV :P


















[begin random contemplation]
[exit IF boring OR != interesting]

What's it about Silicon Valley that makes it Silicon Valley? I don't really know. I haven't really been here that long. But I suspect it's the fact that anyone with a passion for technology, a passion for life and who dares to believe can succeed. Perhaps it's time to put down that conservative mindset and dare to believe.

love
-five


I used to read about it. Now I'm living it.

Rhythm

Everything is starting to set into a rather comfortable pattern though hectic. Work, rush to school, rush to view house, rush for dinner, rush home and rush to sleep so that tomorrow the cycle starts all anew. It's not as boring as it may sound. The whole SV experience is turning out to be pretty darn good and waaaay cool.

Getting used to the cold, getting used to the running around. And getting used to the juggling of work and studies. And so a new phase of life really begins.

And omg, it's so cold inside the house that my breath is condensing lah. Bleah. I can't wait for summer.



Anyway, some photos from a few days back.

We found this great Chinese place. Wong Kee or something. Authentic Hong Kong fare albeit at American sizes =) The roasted duck is awesome. We bought it for bootcamp. Got some photos of that as well. Bday boy Gerald and the leftovers. Damn that burrito was big.
















Anyway, cut to today. The famed San Francisco fog comes visiting =)

Classes at Stanford. Unfortunately I will not be showing my team photo unless per request. Hahaha...










After our meeting with the Ghostbusters, Huiling and me head out to Stanford grounds to snap some shots.

Helpful Stanford guy whom we stopped for directions and he whips out his laptop while on his bike to help us =) Go tourists! (He's shuai meh....?)



Hoover Tower.



And finally, the place I hope we'll call home. Well... at least the street beside it =)

Guess what.

Some really overdue photos. Here we go.

Dinner at Little India, 6th January. Boys' night out.



At the airport. Thanks to those who came.



*Insert 3 days worth of missing photos*

Sat, 11th January. When I got my camera back =)



Our 'refugee' camp =)



Jonathan watching Kah Meng play DoTA. Heh.



My brand new Smartwool socks. From Timberland. As you can see, I'm very proud of them. Lol. Cold toes no more!

Expect a lot more photos people =)

love
-five