Voyages of Discovery

Seeing that we are close to the submission of our first assignment, I think its apt to post some stories of inspiration here.
From the 15th century onwards, the Portugese (rapidly followed by everyone else, they were the trailblazers here) started sending out ships to explore the known and the unknown world. This was made possible by vast improvements in ship design, the capability to navigate better, travel far away from the coastline, and into the wind. It was also enabled by other technological inventions during the Middle Ages, such as the compass and firearms, which gave the Portugese a superiority over any other civilizations they encountered.

Subsequently, the discovery of many new worlds, acquisition of great wealth and slavery were made possible, and empires were constructed. All these were due to the great vision of the Portuguese, led by Prince Henry the Navigator (1394 - 1460).

From these early voyages, Europe discovered the entire coastline of Africa, the Americas, and then a route to all of India and Asia - all within a few decades of Portugal's discoveries.


What was to come
1487 -  Bartolomeo Diaz navigated to the southernmost point of Africa, which he named the Cape of Good Hope.

1492 - Christopher Columbus landed in America by accident.

1497 - Vasco da Gama navigated around the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed all along East Africa.

1498 - Vasco da Gama reached West of India, and opened up the spice trade.

And as we know today, whoever controlled the spice trade at that time became immensely

wealthy.

Lessons Learnt 

1. We need trailblazers. We need them to create value and change the world that we live in.

2. Columbus did not set out to "find" America. He wanted to find a new route to India. America was a "by the way" discovery he made. Sometimes, we may just find better

stuff along the way. You never know what's in store for you! All it takes, is some guts

and persistence.

 3. It seems easier to succeed by following the path that is tried and tested? Not sure if

everyone will agree here. But Vasco da Gama makes it sound like a good bet. :)

All the best!

key technologies shaping our world

Having had Mr. Simone Brunozzi give us a lecture on cloud computing services provided by AWS, I feel compelled to read up more about this service that everyone seems to be talking about these days. At the same time, I feel even more privileged to be in this class where everyone seems to be ahead of most other people where technology is concerned. It's good to be close to the forefront of cloud computing, and good to see how it'll all work out. 


Cloud computing providers enable common business applications ranging from enterprise level to SME level, to be delivered via a web browser, while data and software are still stored on servers. Having read from here, cloud computing enables new key technologies to be easily scalable, and eliminates the costs usually associated with testing out a new applications (correct me if i'm wrong). Hmm, does this mean we're on to an era where new applications and software will be so much easier to test, and thus commercialize? Imagine the possibilities. 


While I do not know yet how cloud computing can eventually be implemented on a large scale across all levels of businesses, i think The Big Switch is something that we may look forward to in perhaps the next five to ten years? As of now, the benefits to businesses in how it can potentially reduce costs, yet increase reliability at the same time are definitely reasons why MNCs will want to adopt cloud very quickly. 


Another point to note is that only the big players are providing cloud computing services (Google App Engine, AWS, Microsoft Azure). There's Morph Labs from the Philippines though. Heh, wonder if we can start providing cloud to small businesses and SMEs. 

The Early Stages

And before we know it, we have reached our second deadline. The past few days have been one of the most exciting days of my life. Sure, there have been periods in my life when I have experienced similar excitement, and similar passion and energy (as mentioned previously) in working on a project.

Somehow, I have unwittingly developed a strange attachment to SoC's Level Two. Heh, it's really weird spending more time at SoC than at Business. Another thing that I particularly like is how I always see different CS3216 teams working on their applications in the basement, and at Level Two. We see each other, say hi, exchange ideas and talk about the progress of our applications. It feels like I'm in a hotpot full of ideas and full of excellent people living out their dreams at least for a semester, and possibly living out their dreams for the rest of their lives. :)

Hmm, let me attempt to chronicle the past one week:
14 Jan - we formed and confirmed our teams
15 Jan, 10am - we sat down together at Level 2 SoC and talked about several ideas. In particular, we talked about an application for textbook selling among NUS/NTU/SMU students (Lin Myat), education for kids, a real-time buyer-seller application enabling B2B, B2C and C2C interaction. And so the team went into the technical aspects of the application.
16 Jan - Workshop and we had a brief discussion - well, meeting times and such.
18 - 21 Jan - As Justin puts it, one of the most hiong periods ever. But nonetheless fun. Heh, although I didn't really understand the technical jargon and the long lines of code - it's been great to sit around listening, sometimes try to give ideas, learn photoshop while everyone else is coding, and yea.. bring food and coffee. Oh, in the midst of it all (haha, to make myself sound slightly more useful), contacting several companies for which we could potentially work with.

And I think Google Wave is full of potential if we can make it work for corporations. My concern is, are we way too ahead of time on this before everyone else catches on?

Good Luck Everyone! BOOMZ! :)

Voila!

The past few days have been a blur. Never have the first week of school been as hectic, and it's been a long time since I last felt such passion and energy. It's so unlike previous semesters when I have to drag myself to school to attend lectures. These days, I look forward to school, look forward to meeting new people, look forward to broadening my network and possibly meeting people with great ideas and passion.

I think this is what it means to have a vision, and to be around talking to people with ideas and drive . I guess this kind of energy has always been in everyone of us, it's just that we are too jaded, too jaded by the monotony of our lives.

And I'm glad to say that because of this new-found energy, I've had many great ideas of late! I believe they can succeed, and this is all thanks to CS3216 here at NUS. These days, I am constantly looking out for and talking to different people everywhere, hoping to assemble the dream team to start a business, and to act on an idea. This is fantastic. This module has empowered us all.

The Week of 11 - 17 Jan 

We started the week with CS3216. Tonight, we end the week with a Facebook Seminar meeting later. Hmm, wish I could say I expected this, and then I would be able to add this quote "beginning with the end in mind". I certainly believe this quote will be something that we cling on to and look to for wisdom and courage in the coming few months.

I must say I was quite intimidated by the coursework at first, and I thought I would not be able to even find group mates. I had loads of pre-conceived notions, that perhaps, I would not be able to find programmers/designers who may want to work with me? Perhaps, it's just like in business school, where some people would only choose project mates based on CAP (since I have no programming experience and am still finding ways to contribute at this stage). Ha! That was my biggest misconception, at least till now. :)

And to end this blog post, I have resolved to learn PHP and do design by the end of this course. This will be motivation. :)

Who Are Our Facebook Users?

Heh.. I thought I would post something just for laughs. Many times, when we build a product or business, or have an idea that we think would work, we usually miss out on one important thing - that is:

WHO IS THE END USER?

Well, I certainly hope the following images serve to give us a clue on who exactly are our targeted Facebook audiences. Enjoy :)

1. Hi! I need a boyfriend.


2. Wassup?




3. The Cam WHORE.




4. Gimme a BREAK!



5. Excited Young Parents Club


Before we start building that great application, let us just remember something that Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba once mentioned:

"Where there's a need, there's a market"

On a side note, I thoroughly enjoyed today's workshop. But hey, the main thing that worked for me today was the chance to really interact with people and talk to people with great ideas and personalities. Hope I didn't miss the point today :P

What's Failure?

Hmm, so I've been snooping around CS3216 blogs, dialogue with successful Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Start-Up@Singapore, and classes back at my beloved business school lately. 

Heh, I'm glad to say that while this is potentially my toughest semester yet, this is probably gonna be my most interesting semester to date. Almost every module that I'm taking seems to finally have a practical significance to life and business in general. (One bad thing however - after CS3216 class, Biz class seems really boring... ) 

So recently, there seems to have been much talk about what success is, how would you define success? Heh, my personal take on this is.. why bother? Who else can best define your own success apart from yourself? 

So perhaps, having read what has been said.. I'll like to ask "What's Failure?" And well, just my 2 cents' worth - the greatest failure in life is not participating. the next greatest, is not participating enough. 


heh, go figure. 

10,000 Hours & What It Takes to Make an Idea Work.

And so today, I walked into CS3216 with still that bit of apprehension. I think in the next 3 months of my life, I will be living on the edge, and possibly building a global business brand soon enough.

As I mentioned today during "Show & Tell", I was different from most people in the class. I don't have a programming background, nor am I very good at design. All I can say is, I did computing for first 3 months in junior college, and I know basic Photoshop. However, this is not where my talent lies, and I am not born to write code. Yet, I still hope to be at the forefront of technology, the forefront of ideas, and I hope to be where the action is.

You see, this world is so beautiful because we have so many different people. People who are skilled at different things, and because of this, we have survived two milleniums. Because of this, we have built great organizations, governments and companies. Because of diversity, globalisation today is possible.

So, what I am trying to say here is that I am good at setting up business, and I believe I can complement programmers and designers.

Virtual Business Challenge (VBC) in 2004

Diversity was the crux when three friends set out to sell a game called VBC in Hwa Chong. VBC was basically a game whereby students signed up at a website to run virtual petrol kiosks, and compete with other teams to run the next virtual ExxonMobil, and in the process learn vital business skills.

And who were in the VBC team? Three people.

1. A Programmer - my friend was very good at programming in PHP and MYSQL, and he programmed the VBC game.

2. A Designer- he was good with user interfaces, photoshop and dreamweaver.

3. Me. Marketer, Salesperson, Accountant, Administrator etc. - brought the team together, came up with the concept of VBC, and how to make the game more appealing to students in Singapore, how to make it more relevant? brought in the perspective of a user, the perspective of someone who would play and use VBC. Subsequently, marketed it to 6 other schools in Singapore.

Our Success

In 2004, VBC spread to 6 schools in Singapore from merely Hwa Chong, and had 500 participants. It was a success, and it proved that a team of diverse people could work together to achieve stunning results.

So I had a great team to work with in JC, and we did many other things as well. For instance, we took part in Start-Up@Singapore at that time, and got to the semi-finals, where we met tons of people - entrepreneurs, VCs, judges, mentors, investors who gave us guidance and critiqued our business plan, which was really important because it broadened our network.

And seriously, I think we got this far because we had complementary skills, we could understand and communicate with each other, had common visions and single-minded ambition. You see, when you have got people who are really good at what they are doing in a team, synergy creates the maximum impact. In short, you free up time for people to focus on what they like and what they do best. It's a lot easier, because when people do what they like and what they do best, they are happier as well.

10,000 Hours 

And so it's been 5 years since my time in JC. During this time, I served my country, worked a variety of jobs, got started with investing and looking at great companies, participated in an overseas community involvement project in Vietnam, and last but not least, I'm back at Start-Up@Singapore as Sponsorship Director. In this period of time, I substantially broadened my network of contacts, honed my business skills in business law, online marketing and retail entrepreneurship, accounting for businesses, finance and how to raise equity and funds for start ups.

And to end off, I'm in CS3216 because I will like to recreate a winning team. And I believe I'm at the right place at the right time.

Please comment! and please let me know what you guys think!

The Day Before School Officially Starts

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
- Mark Twain 

As I type this post, I am filled with apprehension about tomorrow. I guess its always the case before school starts, and it really does not matter how old you are. Somehow, I just don't seem to grow out of this weakness.

This holidays have given me ample time to recharge and take stock of my priorities. I have become closer to my family by virtue of a family trip back to visit my grandmother in Malaysia. The renewing of familial bonds with my cousins and extended family helped me to realize the importance of kinship. Not that I have not realized it before, just that, I have re-realized it. The hustle and bustle of daily life really saps the energy out of a person, and being the workaholic that I am, it inevitably sucks time away from being with family and friends. And hence, no matter how busy this semester gets (and I foresee it to be my busiest semester), I have resolved to take time out for my family every week.

The holidays saw me grappling with several choices, and I am glad I am finally making gradual advances in certain goals that I have set for myself.

Having read the readings/videos assigned for CS3216, I am glad to be living my life by the motto as stated at the beginning of this post. And I ask myself, how do you catch a tiger, if you're afraid to go into its lair? Jack Ma of Alibaba did that, and he caught Yahoo! (ya hu). And hence, I take another risk, and plunge head on into what could be a most difficult semester. Apart from getting acquainted with programming languages and design, what I really hope to achieve (as in my previous post), is to meet passionate and driven people. People who can complement me in terms of skill sets, in terms of perspectives, opinions, dreams and ideals. People who can challenge me, and close that comfort zone so that I do not again go back in there.

And hence, although I had ideas coming into this module, I will choose to listen, for I believe I will be very much inspired by fellow visionaries in this class.

Personally, I do not believe in reading too much into success stories (disclaimer: i try to be really humble at all times). I think it is inspiring, but I am tired of all that. I am tired of talking to successful people just to "learn" how they did it. I don't see the point. So what if Bill Gates and Warren Buffett were really successful at the things they did? So what if they were lucky, and so what if they found their real passion from a young age? Man, if I were successful one day too, I could say all that to a crowd wanting to have that once-in-a-lifetime interview with me too. Still, I fully agree that both men were visionaries, had very strong value systems, and persevered in the things that they did. And I fully respect that.

My point is, today's world is different. Although Warren Buffett's investing tenets would last more than a lifetime and would still be relevant many years down the road, the circumstances are different. The key to success today lies in being able to adapt to these changes, and being able to be flexible and not simply trying to follow/copy other people (this is a frustration I face many times in working with people). The same applies to Bill Gates.

Instead of watching all those Ted videos and getting inspired, let us build our own success story. We may not ultimately build the next Microsoft or Apple, bt we may just end up building the next Dell. Likewise, we may not become "one of the greatest value investors" of our time, but at least we would enjoy investing and picking out good companies and businesses. And maybe, just maybe, make a lot of money in the process?

And now, I am back to fretting over "Show and Tell" tomorrow.

Cya guys! 

CS3216 funnn :)

hi!

first post written for CS3216, and i am looking forward to a semester of learning from passionate and like-minded people, friendship, and most of all, FUN!

Personally, CS3216 is an experiment that i have undertaken at NUS, putting at risk tangibles like CAP to undertake something new and completely different from my "boring" major back at NUS Business School, Asia's Global Business School - . wow. let's hope it all turns out well.

Let's go straight to the point from now on.

I hope to meet and learn from fellow coursemates who may be passionate in certain fields of study, whatever that may be. As i believe passion and drive to be important character attributes in successful people, i have no doubt the people that i meet in this class will be able to give me new perspectives, and new outlooks regarding contemporary issues in today's world.

i also hope to be at the forefront of exciting and immense technological changes that are radically altering the way we live our lives. Just look at Gmail, I remember distinctly receiving an invite in 2004. Today, it is perhaps the most used email application in the world. And just look at how the mobile phone has evolved. 7 years ago, my mum provided me with my first mobile phone (i was a bit late), and i used it just to call or send sms. Today, we've got tons of iPhone applications and even a superphone that Google just released. Can we bring forth the next wave of mega changes in the lives of people? Or are we just going to ride on it, and watch how it changes our lives instead?