26 April : Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship (PSE), Day 1 : Opening Speech by Secretary Locke

1. I was rather exhausted and excited the previous night and had to take a sleeping tablet to help me sleep. However before I went to sleep I informed the front desk to give me a wake up call at 6am and if I still did not wake up, authorized them to come into my room to wake me up.

2. I also asked my wife, Vani to call me at 6am in case I slept off. 

3. But no sleeping pill can keep me in bed I guess. Its going to be the day we will see and hopefully get to shake the hands of the President of the United States !

4. Some delegates and I planned to walk to the Ronald Reagan Building but there was a slight drizzle and we decided to take a taxi. 

5. The day began with Secretary Locke giving the opening address. It was truly an inspiring speech. It reflects the American Dream.

5. In his speech, Secretary Locke narrated the story of how his grandfather emigrated from China to Washington and found a job as a servant. His father too a Chinese immigrant had a grocery store.

6. Secretary Locke, when he took his oath as Governor mentioned that his mansion was 1 mile away from where his grandfather used to sweep floors a 100 years ago.

7. "....100 years to travel a mile", he said to an applauding audience.

8. His bio says, Secretary Locke is the first Chinese American to hold this post in a President's cabinet.

Is this possible in any other country?

More stories as I overcome and adjust to the rhythm here...

...meeting Mr Pradeep Ramamurthy from the White House

Seen here with Ms Pandith and Mr. Pradeep Ramamurthy.

Mr. Ramamurthy is the Senior Director of Global Engagement at the White House National Security Council.

Mr. Ramamurthy will also moderate a session on Cultural Entrepreneurship on Day 2 of the Summit.

I've interacted with Mr Ramamurthy a few weeks ago when the White House held a web media briefing for all media worldwide. Mr Ramamurthy was leading the session.

25/4 - With Madam Farah Anwar Pandith

I am seen here with Madam Farah Anwar Pandith.

Ms Pandith as she is more popularly known is the Special Representative to Muslim Communities for the US.

She was appointed in 2009 by the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Refer to wiki on here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farah_Pandith.

I have met Ms Pandith in KL late last year - apparently she saw a feature of me in a Malaysian newspaper on her flight to KL. She took the page with her, got to the Embassy and told them "find him". 

Withing 30 minutes I was tracked and was "summoned" for a meeting with "our important guest from the US", said the Embassy staff.

I was on leave, driving in town in jeans and a casual shirt, unshaven for a few days and it was raining cats and dogs. There was no way I was going to go home to change, shave or freshen up. 

I decided to turn up at the meeting as I was - Ms Pandith and the Embassy people were the gracious hosts. Ms Pandith, had on the table the newspaper article.

We had an intense discussion and she was really a lovely person to talk to - sharp, articulate and no-nonsense. She followed-up briskly with meetings and points after that. There were others at the meeting too.

Follow- through and follow-up ! A trait I know many of our entrepreneurs don't possess or lazy to put to use.

I think by just following-up with people we have met we achieve a great deal, build credibility and forge real relationships.

Ms Pandith is the embodiment of that and I learned a great deal from her.

Oh yes, Ms Pandith mentioned back in November when we met she wanted to introduce me to someone. Now this is April and I am sure she has a lot on her mind but NO - she remembered and made sure I got introduced to that person.

Now, that is something I guess some of our VIPs and even us can emulate?

25th April - Washington D.C : The Presidential Summit Reception and the Kauffman Reception

I attended two receptions this evening - one hosted by the State Government at 5.30 to 6.30 pm and the other hosted by the Kauffman Foundation from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.

Both events were held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel but in different rooms.

They were well attended - almost all the delegates to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship (PES) was there at both the events.


People looked happy to be here. They were networking like there is no tomorrow.

I was somehow unable to find our Malaysian delegates.

On my part, I was like fish in the water - at home, meeting and mingling new people and listening to all their awesome stories.

In the next few blog entries, I hope to write about each one of them - whoever I can photograph and put up,

Cheers

24 April 2010 : Arrived in Washington D.C

1. The flight landed at the Dulles International airport at about 10.50 am. 24hour journey from Kuala Lumpur with a 3 hour stop-over in Incheon, Seoul.

2. As usual in long journeys, I don't eat or sleep much. One meal, at the most and loads of water and perhaps about 4 glasses of wine. Most of the flight time I use, to read - no movies either. This is the space I feel I am least interrupted to devour my books.

3. Immigration was very easy but I was sent to a B section : Customs session for some questions. I was made to wait for a few minutes and then was called forward to answer some questions.  

4. "I believe sir you are here as the guest of our government?", the officer asked. 

"Yes", I replied. "You have any documents for this?"  he continued. 
"Oh yes, here there are.." I said with a smile showing him all the invitation letters I have been issued by the State Government and the US Embassy.

5. He took them, read them and then looked up at me and smiled...perhaps wondering what most people must be wondering - "how in the world did this bloke get invited to this stuff". ;-)

6. "Sir, you are all set, enjoy yourself " he said, handing me back all the papers.

7. Was greeted by the signs that read "Entrepreneurship Summit" as I emerged into the main hall of the airport.

8. The driver from Titan Limousine was waiting with my name - got into the Lincoln and off I went to the hotel - the Grand Hyatt.

9. Lovely hotel, checked in with no fuss - electronic all the way.

10. Once in the room, freshened up to go explore the Washington D.C 

More photos on my Facebook in album :24/4 Washington D.C : First Impressions.

My Inspiration and Jet-Fuel

Come August 2010, Vani and I would have been married for 20 years. 


Apart from being a fantastic mum to our 3 kids, Vani has been the silent force and a fabulous sounding board in all my hair-brained ideas, some of which became ventures.

Apart from being my business adviser, she is my best friend. We fight, of course. It is not smooth all the time but, that is part of our relationship. Two strong willed people with strong minds - not easy but it works when you share the same values. The values we share is at the core of our relationship. 

When I first announced to her that I wanted to be an entrepreneur about 18 years ago, she did not flinch. She was, I suspect rather amused.

At that time she was building a career as an up and coming accountant in a big multi-national accounting firm.


When she heard about my intentions of starting a boutique consulting firm which we tag-lined "an entrepreneurial business services firm" even then, she gave up her own ambition bought into my scheme, agreed to sell our small flat and also borrow some money from her uncle to venture into the unknown..

"What do you know about business? We are not business people..young married couples buy house, buy car and start a family. Not sell everything to start a business" her parents said, looking gravely worried.


Only one person encouraged the idea, Vani's uncle. He said "..if you must, start now when you are young since you've already gotten some working experience. Cut your umbilical cord with working life - if you fail, you can get back to work or start all over again. But do it, don't deliberate too long", he said.


The uncle is a Senior Partner of an multi-national accounting firm.


The rest is history. 


Thank you Vani for always being there for me and for most of the time staying back or staying behind so that I can pursue my dreams. Thank you and I love you a lot.


(Readers, sorry for this soap opera here, but without Vani by my side, I could not have come this far..) 
 

Thank you to the team @ Warisan Global

Before I begin to write about my journey to the US, I think it is only right to say a big THANK YOU to this fabulous team of mine.


About 40 of us (some are not in the picture - they may have either gone out on assignments or meetings) , WG is like a big warm family. 


"Hi Dash, good morning". This is the standard greeting when they see me. No one calls me "Mr Dash" or they will be fined RM10.  

The same applies to all the seniors - they all are either (Kakak - sister) or are addressed on a first name basis.


This team works hard, smiles a lot and are crazy in a nice way. 

They will not blink to stay back beyond the normal office hours. No word of "penat" or "tired" is heard - its actually "illegal" in WG to associate with those negative words. If they are tired or exhausted, they just stay home and work from home.


I thank them all from the bottom of my heart to have contributed in their own way to make this trip possible for me. 

If they were not conscientious, I would not have been able to do what I love - to go out there to connect with entrepreneurs. To rock entrepreneurship. They are the "wind beneath my wings" !


TO this team I say "may the force be with you" and THANK YOU all once again. 


Remember - I love you all and remember your KPI - make the boss redundant !


Cheers

"Adventures of a Bystander"

1. Peter Drucker's book, Adventures of a Bystander is my all time favourites - ever since my days as a young and "still wet behind the ears" entrepreneur.   

2. This book is Drucker's "rich collection of autobiographical stories and vignettes, in which this legendary figure paints a potrait of his remarkable life..."

3. On why a "Bystander" Drucker explains:

Bystanders have no history of their own. They are on the stage but are not part of the action. They are not even audience. The fortunes of the play and of every actor in it depend on the audience whereas the reaction of the bystander has no effect except on himself. But standing in the wings - much like the fireman in the theatre - the bystander sees things neither actor nor audience notices. Above all, he sees differently from the way actors or audiences see. Bystanders reflect - and reflection is a prism rathar than a mirror, it refracts." 

4. So why am I writing about this book before my trip to the US?

5. I promised to write about my experiences during this trip and for this I had to make one clear decision - to report as it is or to report with my own lenses and prejudices looking out?

6. The idea of a bystander or an outsider has always attracted me. Perhaps it stems from my childhood trainings in yoga and the philosophy behind it - to always be detached but completely involved participant !  

7. In fact more often than not I operate or think as an outsider - I have rarely felt I am an integral part of anything - always on outsider looking in and working from the periphery.

8. In fact at times the environment helps reinforce this perspective even further in me.
 

9. Anyway, this is the decision : to report things as they are, as a bystander where possible.

10. Reporting in this manner would enable the readers make up their own minds and leverage on these observations the way they deem necessary or fit.  

So ...lets begin from here and slowly take the journey . At times pardon my nonsensical ramblings..especially when the Shiraz or the Cabernet is too good;-)

Cheers

A Personal Bias

Perhaps I should have said this upfront.

My earlier blog, Evangelizing Entrepreneurship attracted close to 26 comments (including my responses) on my Facebook.

Very positive and passionate - mainly from a very good friend, Nazrin Hassan.

Nazrin is an old friend. We have known each other from our Technopreneur Association of Malaysia (TeAM) days - where he and I were council members until I left two years ago. Nazrin is currently the Vice President of TeAM. He also holds a full-time job as the CEO of a Malaysian GLC (Government Linked Company) called the Cradle Fund Sdn.Bhd.(http://www.cradle.com.my)

Nazrin possesses a sharp intellect. IN fact some of us in TeAM would turn to him when we want either a candid view or an out-of-the-ordinary perspective on a particular matter.

I have always come away with a new perspective to my own situation whenever I have a discussion with Nazrin.

Anyway, at the end of the long and interesting discussion I think we came to some form of a landing - that it is important for the youth to work or do something to earn an income as long as they are not depending on their parents and evangelizing can happen simultaneously.

This bring me to my very personal bias which I should have stated upfront. Like many, I believe in sustainability.

When I was merely 15, my dad threw me a challenge "can you earn money to buy your own school books?" he asked. It was devastating at that time to hear that from your own father. I did not know how to respond but being a rebel I took the challenge.

I have never taken any money from him ever since - I always earned my own money.

I paid through school right up to my MBA. I even paid my own wedding expenses !

I am currently pursuing a post-graduate diploma in entrepreneurship in Cambridge University and and I can say this with a straight face - IT FEELS DAMN GOOD!

Neither my company nor I have any loans, apart from the usual car loan. I have never applied for any government grants. I started my first business by selling a small flat my wife and I owned and by borrowing a small sum of money from an uncle.

All dues have been settled since.

I am not saying everyone should walk this path i.e get married with their own money or don't take grants - NO.

What I am saying is this : get cracking and get sustainable.

OR FAST FAIL - its alright. You will come back fast enough if you have what it takes for this journey called entrepreneurship.

Then again, no one needs to agree. This is my view and a very personal bias.

Cheers

Evangelizing Entrepreneurship

A couple of weeks ago I was having a drink with a friend who is an established global entrepreneur. He has his company listed on a foreign stock exchange and is also expanding rapidly. A straight talking no-nonsense guy.

This friend and I shared a similar concern - that we see many young people these days are going around evangelizing entrepreneurship and some of them don't even have an income or a job or even a small venture to speak of.

"Why don't they put their money where their mouth is?", he asked, exasperated.

Frankly I think its good that the young people are excited about entrepreneurship and are promoting it to their fellow comrades. To be fair to them, they are actually doing a great job getting the message across and "spreading the spirit of enterprise".

There are, definitely more young people looking to take the plunge into the abyss of entrepreneurship now then when I first began 18 years ago..

However, if you yourself are not one, then just talking about it will slowly erode your own convictions - it's like selling food in a restaurant without a kitchen, all borrowed or "other peoples'" ingredients or experience and knowledge.

Start-ups by definition already begin with a HUGE uphill battle - the founders have a credibility gap to address, knowledge gap to deal with, raising money in a competitive environment and more. If the would be entrepreneurs are not given the "real" deal or what it really takes to kick start a venture, we may, I am afraid end up with many disillusioned start-up failed entrepreneurs. We can't afford that right now. We can't afford more fatigue or waste. But yes, we can and must expect failures. That is the nature of the beast.

My view in this is simple - do it or smart-partner with entrepreneurs, go with them and evangelize entrepreneurship. It can only be a good force for society.

Also, entrepreneurship is not about fame. It is all hard-work with no guarantee of success. So guys, find a problem and start-up.

Introduction

I have decided to create this new blog for one simple reason - to simply speak my mind on matters close to my heart or anything random, to record observations, perceptions and any insights that may arise from those observations.

In short to express a point of view of anything I feel compelled to say something about.

I may not be right with my views, in fact I may be entirely wrong. But to record these thoughts for the purpose of learning from or through them is the intention. To keep learning.

I will be traveling to the United States for 3 to 4 weeks from 24th April to 20 May. I hope to record my observations during this journey too..

So, welcome and thanks for dropping by. Stay on and visit me now and then - be free to share your views and challenge my observations or point of view. The spirit here is to learn and to deepen insights further. We may disagree but at least we have shared our thoughts honestly - that to me is a basis or a good start to a new friendship.

Cheers