The main gains of this trip to my beloved homeland is to meet with my employee and enjoy flexible, relaxed schedules.
De-clutter from brain-clogging stuff from the last two semesters in grad school!
Should entrepreneur go to school to be a one? Last year, I would have said, "Yes, yes! Absolutely!". And now, I don't know anymore if I can say so. What I know is that if one wants to be an entrepreneur and an activist, aka, a social entrepreneur, graduate education is precious. Although I was slaving myself to afford DC living, I got so much out of the human rights course I took and founding and running a brand-new student organization. [Hell I can always find work for myself. The sky is the limit.] Now, it's time to process it all. I am processing courses that did not apply so much but open up doors in my mind, and human rights discourse that pushed me beyond my previous intellectual limits. I am processing an up-and-coming business partnership that gets me so excited that all I think about is shoes, shoes, shoes. I am processing this overwhelmingly optimistic outlook of the social business that was going to go nowhere without my precious friendship with my employee/colleague.
Isn't all beautiful when all of your employees have the best interest of your organization?
Well guess what?! I got one. We had our first working meeting today and ... expand!!
She is offering her nationwide connections to delegate our work with such an innovative model of financing and decentralizing work, which I have yet shared -- a solution that I'd offer to those operating in countries with high youth unemployment rates.
She is ready to travel and conquer, recruit and train, and execute and expand!
Compensation is no problem to me, though I have to beg to ask others to help with my other business that's the source of funds for this one venture. It's all worth it!
De-clutter and expand away ...
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Product development
Took the first step on product development
The Kano model, anybody?
"Kano is a technique for classifying customer needs and determining appropriate levels of innovation for products and services."
http://www.uie.com/articles/kano_model/ ... applied to Flickr
The Kano model, anybody?
"Kano is a technique for classifying customer needs and determining appropriate levels of innovation for products and services."
http://www.uie.com/articles/kano_model/ ... applied to Flickr
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Travel
Two miraculous weekends. The light at the end of the tunnel let me meet three other pilgrims. We all came from different directions, having conquered different sets of milestones: birth, education and upbringing, places traveled, relationships, life lessons.
The world is indeed small. The weaver of this web of network is kind and generous. A connection formed through a pair of fabric souvenirs, and another through my sister. It is easy to say that our commonality is just our nationality, but nationality has always been a lame excuse for me not to explore friendships and relationships. My nationality, in my experience, implies self-interest of survival, lack of commitment, and apathy. But guess I am wrong!
I met my first business partner ever. My effort of venturing out to the east side of the DC Metro area was fruitful. Thanks I-4 Workshop. Thanks curiosity and courage. I cannot be happier about my inclination to listen before speaking. I listened to a life story and a dream of this young man with this inquisitive mind. His mind brought me to the shelf of ideas in the back room of my mind. I picked up an idea that I thought I was going to pursue in loneliness, and then laid it down for display. Talk about vulnerability! The whole duration of the workshop felt like a Grand-Canyon-size dam just broke. I have never been to the Grand Canyon; I never tasted this water before. 48 hours of optimism and ideation. I was putting together the pieces of the puzzle with no boundaries or pattern, now with a buddy. Low-cost ... Engineering ... Customization ... All parts contribute to the value of the product. A product! And here comes along another. Three engineers/businessmen/creators are about to embark on a journey of original production. I met my first TWO business partners ever.
And it did not stop there. They may call me crazy but I skipped two class sessions for California. Another meaningful travel (thanks for the reminder Afar Media ... I am expecting your first shipment).
California. There lives a woman (with the mind of a man, some say) who falls in love with her ideas and dreams everyday. She shared this love with me, along with good food and hospitality. No wonder she is adored in her marriage.
We talked about problems and solutions. About our endurance and our craving for challenges. What's next?
Bali. Plot of land. A house. A store. Consignment, of goods and Ideas.
"Can I be your business partner?", I asked. "Oh my God! ...", she replied.
She has got a wealth of knowledge, experience, leadership, and drive.
And I am still overwhelmed. I can't put what I have into words.
The world is indeed small. The weaver of this web of network is kind and generous. A connection formed through a pair of fabric souvenirs, and another through my sister. It is easy to say that our commonality is just our nationality, but nationality has always been a lame excuse for me not to explore friendships and relationships. My nationality, in my experience, implies self-interest of survival, lack of commitment, and apathy. But guess I am wrong!
I met my first business partner ever. My effort of venturing out to the east side of the DC Metro area was fruitful. Thanks I-4 Workshop. Thanks curiosity and courage. I cannot be happier about my inclination to listen before speaking. I listened to a life story and a dream of this young man with this inquisitive mind. His mind brought me to the shelf of ideas in the back room of my mind. I picked up an idea that I thought I was going to pursue in loneliness, and then laid it down for display. Talk about vulnerability! The whole duration of the workshop felt like a Grand-Canyon-size dam just broke. I have never been to the Grand Canyon; I never tasted this water before. 48 hours of optimism and ideation. I was putting together the pieces of the puzzle with no boundaries or pattern, now with a buddy. Low-cost ... Engineering ... Customization ... All parts contribute to the value of the product. A product! And here comes along another. Three engineers/businessmen/creators are about to embark on a journey of original production. I met my first TWO business partners ever.
And it did not stop there. They may call me crazy but I skipped two class sessions for California. Another meaningful travel (thanks for the reminder Afar Media ... I am expecting your first shipment).
California. There lives a woman (with the mind of a man, some say) who falls in love with her ideas and dreams everyday. She shared this love with me, along with good food and hospitality. No wonder she is adored in her marriage.
We talked about problems and solutions. About our endurance and our craving for challenges. What's next?
Bali. Plot of land. A house. A store. Consignment, of goods and Ideas.
"Can I be your business partner?", I asked. "Oh my God! ...", she replied.
She has got a wealth of knowledge, experience, leadership, and drive.
And I am still overwhelmed. I can't put what I have into words.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Spring Break: Inspiration #4
"There is no substance under the things with which I am clothed. I am hollow, and my structure of pleasures and ambitions has no foundation. ... And when they are gone there will be nothing left of me but my own nakedness and emptiness and hollowness, to tell me that I am my own mistake. ... Therefore I cannot hope to find myself anywhere except in Him." New Seeds of Contemplation, by Thomas Merton
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Spring Break: Inspiration #3
The science of creativity
Relaxation, individual contemplation, dissent.
No to brainstorming or politeness.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
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