A simple way I would recommend everyone is to do like what I do, go buy yourself a domain name! It's much more memorable when I tell people my email address is bert@bertlim.net or iam@bertlim.com! It makes you easily remembered and greatly helps in your own self marketing. You don't have to get a blog if you don't want to but it doesn't hurt to get your domain name first. And the best part is that it's not expensive at all! Its not going to cost you hundreds a year, there are so many free options available these days and its easy for you to get it done! Here are some tips from me
Anyway, do start thinking of self-branding yourself. Even if you don't want to use it yet, buy the domain now! I posted this out last year...
I am reminded from many experiences that people often get worked up and go off tangent when they misinterpret words when in a discussion. And often when you are trying to clarify with these people, they often talk about their agenda and will not allow for others to explain to them their mistake. So have you encountered this before? I am sure each one of us has had a conversation like this before. And how did you handle it? Personally, I find that this happens to me when the other person is not very technical or uses another language as their primary language. The problem occurs when they interpret the meaning of a common word for something else. And they can’t understand sarcasm. How to deal with this? Normally I would let them talk until they feel they are right. Then start asking them back what do they mean. In these cases, it will then allow me to understand where did they misinterpret and correct them. Few rules to follow
In our working life, we come across some tough decision to make. It usually starts of small and you usually will not think of it much but over time, it gets bigger and bigger. What I am talking about today is on Ethics and doing the right or wrong thing. Like I said earlier, it usually starts off small like don't tell anyone that I came late, or back late from lunch or went home early. These are usually not very harmful and innocent in a way. But they grow... And what else happens is that the ones who perpetrate it are the ones you are close to at work; your staff, your buddies, your boss... And so what do you do? What shall you say? What can you do? My opinion is that no matter what, be truthful to yourself. Do you think it is right? Is this something that you can condone? Is this something you are OK with? I think it is also not right that you run off and tell on everything that you see is wrong... that makes you into the person that the whole place dislikes (Reminds me of the class monitors in school or the prefects) So, just do what you feel is right. If you disagree, say you disagree. If it's some thing serious, bring it up. If it's minor, then so be it. Be someone whom you can respect and do what you think is right for the company As you can see, the price of oil has been at its highest for quite some time. We all feel it daily as we can see the cost to refill our cars, the increasing price of goods and also especially the portions of food becoming smaller and smaller. But in a way, car manufacturers are to be blamed. They make a lot of money and are focused on selling more cars each year to make more money, like all businesses. I think that they are also to be blamed for the increase of oil demand worldwide! When you look at a car brochure, what do you see? Wow... the car looks good, it has a CD player! Reverse camera, 10 airbags etc. But what many of us immediately look at is... the engine specs. How many cc's? How much horsepower? 0-100? An of course, how may liters/100km... And we will rationalize to ourselves that we won't be stepping on the gas so much and we will drive sanely... All governments and safety groups will always tell you "Speed kills!", "Drive within the limits", "Penalty points and higher fines are the way". Public will cry out "I want an efficient MRT/LRT/Train system", "Public transport sucks", "It's not convenient to take the bus". And all these add up to more petrol being used. But there is a much simpler way to save petrol. If all governments around the world get all the car makers around the world to make cars that can't go above the speed limit, what will happen? We probably will get souped up Tata Nano's like the Aston Martin Cygnet. But won't that be much more interesting? We spend much of our time stuck in traffic jams, going to work and back. A small, comfortable car with a nice interior will be great. You can't use your 500+hp in a traffic jam at all and all that fuel saving technology like engine stop/start, cylinder deactivation, FSI, ultra high compression etc will not be so useful after all. It is just to make the cars pass through federal inspections to look good on paper. End of the day, if all car makers look at building a car that can do 100km/liter of gas, with a lovely interior will we still need so much petrol? Will companies like Ferrari, Lamboghini etc be relevant? I won't mind buying something like the Cygnet if it was affordable so I can use it as a daily driver.. but all small cars are either very cheap with bad safety or very expensive like the Audi A1, BMW 1-series. And cars like the Prius C, Honda Jazz have interiors that are not comfortable at all. Maybe I should go make my own car... but stupid JPJ won't allow it. I wrote this last year on my old site... so deciding to move it here Everyone only can work at 40% efficiency. The balance of 61% will come from your boss, his support and his motivation. So, your boss actually contributes 101% to your work. From -40% to +61%. It really depends on your boss whether you are motivated to work or not. Examples... When in a lousy company, you may feel at 0% but your boss motivates you to work. In a good company, but with a lousy boss, you feel like giving 0%. But when you are at 20% and your boss is enthusiastic and supports you, you will definitely work much better and when you raise your work to 40%, you will be giving it 101%. You will never be able to give 101% if you boss is not supporting you along the way. So decide as a boss where on the scale you will sit as your team's performance depends on it. Link to full article is here I always tell this to the people I work with. Bring solutions, not problems to your manager. It's just a simple concept that many don't get and it makes a big difference in how people perceive you. Why is this important is because you have seen the problem earlier and you would have more time to think of the problem. And the only reason you are talking to your manager is to get to know what is the best solution to move forward. So, always think of 2-3 potential solutions, be able to answer why each one of them works and also what do you think would be the best solution forward. This speeds up the decision making process and you will be perceived to be a person who can get things done instead of a person who has no But basically this will give you a good idea of where you will find your money and how you will get it up and started. What is a seed round, series A etc. :)
Have fun! As part of going through the Founder Institute program, I feel that there was a section that was talked about but not stressed enough. That is "To take care of yourself first".
Before we can start to build the next greatest tech company that will dwarf the likes of any of today's giants, we must always remember that we have to ensure that we are able to take care of ourselves first! It is probably no wonder why only those who are successful previously are able to continue their successes by starting up another company and another after that. Serial Entrepreneurs... So for those with a dream to become an entrepreneur, do remember that before you start, ensure that you can take care of yourself for the journey. Money is not going to fall out of the sky to fund you at all. Many funding grants are pay first, claim later type of deals. So if you don't have the money or can't raise angel seeding from your friends and relatives, it will be hard at first. Not impossible but hard. We can't think well with an empty stomach. :) It's been a while that I have been on my own and not working in any MNC. Lots of people think I have a few million stashed away in the bank. Only those who know me will know that is not the fact as I will be one who will be driving a nice car to work if I do.
Anyway, on my journey on being on my own, I find a lot of people wondering how they can do the same. The economy is bad, sales are down, everything is getting more expensive and yet I can do it. It's just a matter of simplifying you life. Stripping out excess and saving up to do so. If you haven't started saving, better start now. A simple example I always like to use is how many people own a nice car? How much does it cost a month for the loan and maintenance? If you don't have that, you have easily saved a few thousand there. I have met many who overspend because of their car or handbags and yet complain all the time they have no money. They wonder how others can afford a house or a new phone when they have to save up for it. It's just down to simple financial management. Cutting spending while increasing income. So if you want to have a simpler life, stop looking at winnig the lottery or making more money. Look at spending less first. Stop going on holidays and complaining of owing credit cards. Stop buying new phones and gadgets when they launch. Stop owning a car which takes up 20-30% of your monthly income. Live simply and happily. It's been a while since I written something, just lost the mojo and also the time to do so.
Hopefully it can restart itself and for me to share more int |
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October 2013
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