Taking a short break from writing...

Due to my current busy schedule, I am currently taking a short break from updating this blog. I am sorry for the long silence. Will be back soon...with the updates I promised..

Cheers folks..

Brewing Knowledge & Experience..

I received an invite from the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) today and it went something like this :

"What would it feel like to be able to share a day with Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank and at the same time to share a word and a handshake with President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton? To also be one of only a select few in the world to be invited to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship and spend a month in the USA as a guest of the US government visiting select Universities like Harvard and Stanford, Entrepreneurial companies and government agencies and studying the Entrepreneur ecosystem in the USA, now that would be 'awesome' in his own words"

Until the words "Presidential Summit" appeared, I was wondering who the invite was talking about ! Thank you TeAM for such a nicely worded invite.

Anyway, the invite then went on to give a link to this blog and to my horror I realized how long it has been since I updated the blog.

No, not that I have forgotten meeting all those great people, but the last four weeks has been meetings with more and more great people who have impacted many industries and lives !

To be absolutely honest, I plead guilty for not updating and sharing my experience as diligently as I would like to and as I have promised at the beginning of the project.

However, it has been a challenge - 4 weeks of meetings and on the average of 3 intense meetings a day and then some time to experience each city, dinners and even home hospitality I am usually invited to by kind American families.

Then when I get back to my hotel room, I talk to my family via Skype for a few minutes and before I know it, I am being woken up by the hotel ..."this is your wake up call, it is 7am". I then either go for a run or run for the next meeting that starts early.

However, I have been keeping notes, taking photographs and like any good beer or wine, my knowledge and experience is brewing or fermenting. The results, I promise would be worth your while.

I plan to share - not going to hold back anything. You can have my word on it - the knowledge and experience is once in a life time opportunity. 

This blog is set up for this purpose - for sharing my experience and observations...see you all soon in KL ! 

The TeAM talk is scheduled on 27th May at 6pm at Pappa Rich Bangsar.

Cheers

Visiting Harvard Business School - An Emotional Experience !

My program in Boston comes to a conclusion today. 

All I could say is, boy, what a lovely city and what an experience !

My first meeting in Boston on the 6th of May was at the Harvard Business School (HBS). 

The meeting was set for 10am and I was scheduled to meet Professor Paul W. Marshall.

Professor Marshall is the Professor of Management at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship.

Prior to returning to Harvard ( he was Harvard faculty on 2 previous occasions), Professor Marshall was Chairman and CEO of Rochester Shoe Tree Company.  He is very much a hands-on entrepreneur as he is a scholar.

Not wanting to be late, I arrived at the HBS gates at 9.30am. 

The unmistakable red brick building, carefully trimmed lawn and the crisp smell of the fresh air brought tears to my eyes.

As a teenager I have always dreamed of going to either Harvard or one of the IVY League schools. I was never a top "A" student to start with. To add to this, I never knew how to study for exams. But that didn't stop me from dreaming.

However, this did not mean I was a lazy student. I was extremely hardworking - a voracious reader and I would actively seek out the underlying causes of things - the philosophy behind it all.

"Dreamer. Attention span of a 5 year old" was one of the remarks on my report card in my early school days. These "generous" remarks from my "favourite" teacher obviously caused me a lot of pain, literally. 

My dad never passed the opportunity to spare the rod when we were growing up, especially when he sees such comments on the report card.

This dream never left me even as an adult. That is why when I got admitted to Cambridge University to study entrepreneurship, I took the opportunity, despite my already hectic schedule as an entrepreneur.

As I was walking down the driveway of HBS, I felt like I was walking into a holy place - a temple of knowledge. Many would think I am being a romantic, but so be it.

Arrived at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship at 9.45am and was just waiting around the lobby.

Professor Marshall emerged at 9.56 and led me through the door to the conference room adjacent to his office on the other side of the lobby.

He asked if I wanted coffee. I was too much in awe of him, I declined. He brought his Starbucks and sat down, loosened his tie and asked me to do the same which I did promptly.

He said, "I read your bio. It looks like you are on a mission to learn. I am happy to discuss anything you want, what shall we discuss? "

Such readiness to share, to teach and impart his knowledge. 

I said, "Prof, firstly, thank you for making the time. I really appreciate it. Sir, if you allow, I would like to go back to the basics - I want to discuss entrepreneurship in its bare bones level, I would like to know how early in one's life should one be exposed to entrepreneurship education. I would like to know your thoughts on how and when a young graduate should start a venture - weather he or she should work first or venture immediately, the role of governments in promoting entrepreneurship and your thoughts on affirmative action and its role in creating an enterprising culture and on grants etc.  If you allow me, I would like to video tape the discussion sir"

"By all means", he said.."but before that, how would you describe yourself ?" he asked.

"A scrappy, start-up entrepreneur, running a life-style business sir" , I responded.

He smiled and we began....more on in my next blog.

IVLP in Washington D.C

My IVLP in  Washington D.C ended yesterday. 

Here are the summary of the meetings I've had in D.C. between the 30th afternoon and the 4th, minus the weekends.

In total I had attended 5 meetings and a talk on Federalism.

 

The meetings were with the following organizations:

- Ashoka (www.ashoka.org)

- The US Department of State (www.state.gov)

- The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) (www.nfte.com)

     
- The Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) (www.cipe.org)

- The U.S Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship and 

- The Small Business Administration (SBA)

Some of the key experiences from these amazing meetings were:

1. At each meeting, a senior person who had done sufficient homework on me and the work of my company will be the one meeting me;

2. The person would be there on time and provide an overview of the organization, the type of work they do and also will share very openly some of the challenges they face;

3. They will listen attentively to your story, your work and then there will be an exchange of question and answers.

4. At the end of it, areas of synergies and future possibilities will be explored and very actionable steps will be outlined to be followed-through.

5. Before I reach the hotel or within 24 hours, email exchanges will take place thanking me for my time and also for coming over for the meeting and I will do the same.

This is the general format of all the meetings so far.

Take note - I have  emphasized the words "followed-through".

This, in my opinion is key to building a vast network.

I know some people in Malaysia - they will talk the big game but will not even have the courtesy to reply your emails or messages. 

These are some of my impressions and key lessons from these meetings:

1. Both the US Government and the private sector ( "for-profit" and "non-for-profit") display an immense amount of resolve to continuously find, fund and foster entrepreneurship. 

2. They do this in a very dedicated and systematic manner and every organization "talk" to each other to ensure the efforts are not duplicated but complimentary.

3. These organizations are in themselves entrepreneurial - they operate with a very lean team but they seem to achieve a lot;

4.Relevance -the system continuously find ways to keep their seniors relevant and functional.

Some of their programs such as SCORE has retired business people act as mentors or "door-openers" for the young entrepreneurs.

5. I see a lot of passion in the promoters.

There are many specific examples of these lessons which I will share as we go along.

Wanted to quickly provide and overview of the D.C IVLP experience.

Apart from the meetings, I also attended a talk on the US Government System titled Federalism. It was a very interesting lecture on the politics of America.

The lecture was by a professor from the George Washington University.

Overall, a great experience.

Pre-IVLP Preparations & Briefings

My IVLP officially began on Friday, the 30th of April.

However, a day prior to that, an officer from the IVLP office, Mr.Valery Nadjibe visited me in the hotel where I was staying during the Summit to help me checkout and move to another hotel in DC.

The new hotel, the Cariyle Suites turned out to be a boutique hotel with nicer and a bigger rooms then the previous one and the service more personalized.

On the 30th morning, I was given a full briefing on my program by an official from the US State Department and the IVLP Program coordination office.

The team spent the entire morning patiently going through the program objectives, my schedule for the next three weeks and also other house-keeping matters such as my insurance policy, the per-diem calculations and other protocol matters.

The entire process was so professionally handled - making you feel the way you should - that you are an important guest of the US Government, that they are making all the arrangements for you to meet key people in top-notch organizations and as such you too have to play your part and act in a responsible  manner.

TO be responsible means - be on time for meetings and also respect any confidential information shared with you.

The meeting ended exactly as scheduled - 1pm. 

I think we, as a country seriously need to learn to keep not only time but also our word. 

We need to be punctual, start meetings on time and end them on time. We also need to do what we say we will do. Very simple but how many people do we know who follow this?

To many broken promises and time wasting pursuits in our society.

We also need our VIPs to come on time so that events can begin and end as planned. 

We need to get back to the basics and get the basics right first. This does not take much. 

This is a reminder to myself too...cheers !

An overview of my trip in the US and the IVLP

I thought it would be a good idea for me to explain a little the reasons for which I am in the United States for a period of 4 weeks.

I know 4 weeks is a long time to be away from the business and family. 

As for the business, I am least worried as the team is, I believe well positioned to take care of the day to day running of the company.  

Moreover, a trip such as this gives one so much access to brainpower and network that it can only be good for the business and the country.

As for the family, yes I miss them. Enough said.


Anyway, I am in the US for 2 reasons :

One, as a guest of the President of the United States to attend the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship which was just concluded last week.


Second, as a guest of the United States Government for a program called the International Visitor Leadership Program or IVLP for short.

The IVLP is described by the State Department site (http://exchanges.state.gov/ivlp/ivlp.html) as :

".....the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange program.  Launched in 1940, the IVLP is a professional exchange program that seeks to build mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations through carefully designed short-term visits to the U.S. for current and emerging foreign leaders.  These visits reflect the International Visitors’ professional interests and support the foreign policy goals of the United States."

The IVLP alumni comprises of an impressive group of leaders, including some world leaders in various fields.

The alumni, of which I am now one, can network or access the network through the State Department portal. The portal in itself is a great resource of information and knowledge.

During the program introduction briefing here I am also made to understand that it is an extremely competitive process to be awarded the fellowship. One cannot apply for it - you have to be invited. 

So, if you are in, you are extremely privileged.

Usually the IVLP is made up small groups from various countries and they travel the USA visiting about 3-4 cities for a period of 2 - 4 weeks immersing themselves in the area of their respective professional interest and also in the American way of life. 

The visitors are also accompanied by a guide appointed by the State Department. These guides are known as ELOs (English Language Officers).

The ELOs are usually retired professionals or service people.

The function of ELO is to accompany the IVLP visitors the entire day and for the entire duration and during this trip ensure all logistical details are taken care of for the visitor.

The visitor focuses on the program and learning from it whilst and the ELO ensures that the logistics surrounding the travel and visits are administered with the greatest detail and precision. You technically don't have to "lift a finger" on your travel plans.

My IVLP is a little special. Firstly, there is NO group. I am the only one with my ELO.  

The program is custom-designed for me with Entrepreneurship as the focus area.

According to the Embassy and State Department, this IS the first time in the history of the IVLP a program with entrepreneurship as a focus is being organized and that too just for one person.

The objectives of the IVLP for me as set out by the State Department are :

- to examine how the government, non-profit organizations, investors and businesses promote entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship in the US;

- to gain a greater understanding of how entrepreneurship is promoted in academia;

- to understand ways in which communities foster economic development.

As you can see, the program takes me from D.C - Boston - Seattle - Salt Lake City - San Francisco.

The program includes visiting and meeting with experts in organizations such as Ashoka, the Senate, The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, The Center for International Private Enterprises, Babson School of Entrepreneurship, Harvard, MIT, Microsoft, Stanford to name a few. It also includes 2 speaking engagements to two group of entrepreneurs in Boston and Utah.

All your expenses (food, lodging and some incidentals) are also born by the State Department. You are given a decent per-diem to cover your expenses during your stay here.

So, this is an overview of my visit to the US...if you wish you can follow me through this journey.

I thank the US Government, The State Department and The American Embassy in KL for this opportunity. 

My thoughts on the Summit will be interspersed in between the IVLP program blog.

Cheers 

25th April - 4Site DC Event : Social Change in the WANA Region

The day before the Presidential Summit, I attended the 4Site DC event.

The details of the event can be found here : http://4sitedc.eventbrite.com/

The 4Site DC event was organized by my friend David Munir Nabti from Beirut. 

David and I have known each other through GEW and we have remained friends ever since we met in Kansas City in early 2009.

David, a Lebanese, was brought up and educated in the Bay Area in Silicon Valley and went to grad-school at the University of California, Berkeley.

The event itself had only about 20 to 30 people - all highly passionate change makers mostly from the MENA (Middle Eastern and North African Region).

There were many many interesting people at this event and some of them I met had very interesting stories to tell about their ventures.

One lady in the event who was particularly interesting was Susan Schindehette, President of http://www.miworld.com/. 

Susan was nominated best writer in People's Magazine for many years before she decided to leave her profession as a writer of the magazine to the story of human suffering.  She is, I later found out authored many books.

Susan spoke with conviction of her mission to tell the story of human suffering.  

Nabil M. Shalabi of Asharqia Chamber, in Saudi Arabia. (www.chamber.org.sa) is the other person I met.

Nabil is a funny in a very interesting sort of way - he is a deal maker, at least from my perspective. Throughout the Summit i ran into Nabil many times and he always had an interesting request or story for me.   

Nabil, started his venture when he was merely 9. I could relate to him. He now promotes entrepreneurship in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Nabil tells me has very good experience in managing incubator .

David, my buddy, explained his Karage concept and how he is building an incubator and a sort of a "can-do" hub in Lebanaon.

David plans to replicate his concept throughout the region.

Throughout the Summit, one theme was emerging very clearly from the Arab world- that the Arabs and the Middle Easterners are deeply concerned about job creation for their young people. 

They are gravely aware of the vast number of immigrants from Asian countries who are moving in there to take up jobs in restaurants, bars, hotels and other service sectors.  The "functional underclass" are immigrants and so are the young entrepreneurs.

It seems like the people in this region have to act fast to turn their young into hungry start-up entrepreneurs..

Ronald Reagan Building : Venue of the Presidential Summit

The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship was held at the Atrium Ballroom of the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington D.C

The ballroom set up was simple, with an aura of seriousness and arranged in an elegant manner - with round tables and chairs around them for the delegates and a small stage with a rostrum and settees for the panelists.

The backdrop simply read : Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.

No further fuss - no unnecessary logos, names of the VIPs etc on it. Simple and to the point.

2 huge screens on the left and right projected the images of those on the panel and also at times the focus was on the delegates.

The back of the room was set up for the media and their camera crew. 

Note pads were readily available if you need to use them. 

The delegates were in rapt attention during the proceedings but during breaks, they did what they know best - sprang from their chairs to meet each other or speak to the media. 

I arrived there early, as advised by the officials. Some of us were there at 9am. The first session was not until 10.15 am.

26th April 2010 was turning out to be a milestone in my life. 

1 May 2010 : Washington D.C

It is expected to be a warm day today. The sun is out early and people are out and about. I see many people jogging and some just sipping coffee by wayside cafes. 

I've been in Washington D.C for a week now and have begun to love this beautiful city.

The city is sprawling with ample spaces and gardens and the buildings are not taller than the Washington Monument, which is about 555 feet high.

When I wan in Bandung in 2008 I heard Charles Landry speak about Creative Cities. Charles Landry is the author of the book, Creative City.

In what makes a creative city, Charles said, " a creative city is a generous city. It gives value to space".

This is evident in Washington D.C. The place give you a sense of space and purposefulness.

It seems everything is there for a reason. People are busy and they go about their daily task in an orderly fashion.

Despite their busyness, people take time to smile at each other, greet each other and also are ever helpful. I have yet to find a person who was too busy to greet, smile or help me get to my destination.

Good people - what makes them generally? A sense of self-esteem?

I know some of you may be wondering, "what happened to his reporting of the Presidential Summit and his International Visitor Leadership Program ?"

Let me tell you this : writing about the Presidential Summit is not an easy matter especially one such as this - the first ever Summit on Entrepreneurship ever hosted by a President of the United States.

Writing the chronology of the events and what transpired is the easy part.

Loads of information on this is already readily available on the White House website and likely in other sites.

What I would like to write about is about the extraordinary people I've met and the conversations I've had with them. 

I don't want to rush into this narration. These people are extraordinary and some of the conversations has been life transforming ones.  

Another reason I was unable to quickly report was that the venue did not have free internet access and it was not easy to flip open a computer in a venue with so much conversation and networking going on. You don't want to miss anything.

It is also considered impolite to keep pounding on the keyboard as people are trying to passionately tell their stories. The media was there to report already - I am there to learn, talk, network, look at people and see the glint in their eye and to capture the energy that is changing the world.

So, join me in this journey. It will be a slow and careful one with the observations of a bystander.

Today, I plan to meet a friend by the name of Cludia Pompa from Paraguay. Claudia is studying at the George Washington University and I 've known her through the Global Entrepreneurship Week since 2008. 

Claudia and I plan to take a walk along the Ambassador's row and to attend some open houses and meets some ambassadors. Hope to meet the Malaysian envoy to the US, Mr Jarjis, if he is around. 

So stay tuned..

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