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Comments & Mentions On Other Websites & Blogs by Chua Kee Peow Journey of an entrepreneur by Coen Ching on 11 Jul
2006 Benefits of sharing your ideas and experience I was therefore very glad today when Kee Peow of Kaplen I.T. Services Private Limited sent me an email commending me on my blog, saying that my articles are “thought provoking and interesting”. Thank you Kee Peow. He said he was particularly drawn to my piece, Part 2 of My Story, especially on the point where I firmly believe that entrepreneurship is an attitude, a belief. He went on to add that entrepreneurship is also a lifestyle. I think this word is powerful as well and it adds to the many meanings of entrepreneurship. Indeed, if entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, then what you do, guided by your belief, is a reflection of your attitude and living out your day-to-day life becomes a lifestyle which you are immersed in entirely. Kee Peow went on to share with me (and us) about the importance of forming a good team to manage the business. He agreed with me that the team that the founder(s) of a company form, can indeed make or break the business. Overall, I guess Kee Peow today shared with me, not just his experience, which comes from actually starting and running his business, but I felt also, his feelings about having gone through it all. Times of triumph and times of despair. I very much felt that my article must have tugged a heart string of his, and his email, a heart cord of mine. I have today, met a friend and a good person to add to my network of business contacts, all from sharing my thoughts on a blog. Though one example, I was able to receive a valued response in a short period of time (2 days). Imagine how much more you would be able to learn from others because you are able to touch them yourself? Do you see the power of reaching out and yet drawing in the right people? What’s stopping you to start sharing?
Learning From The Football Business - In Celebration Of The World
Cup In response to comments by Claris Tan: Thank you, Claris, for your support and comments. Hope you enjoyed reading this article. I am very glad that you mentioned the point about the perceived significance of each member on the team. Sometimes I agree that the striker is getting way too much glory for their work. If you noticed, the defensive midfielder (aka the anchorman) is very important to the team because he wins the ball from the opponent while the opponent is attacking and then passes the ball for the creative ones to attack. It may seem like a simple job but many teams have failed miserably when this job is not done well (think Real Madrid when Claude Makele left for Chelsea). Looking at business/startups, I have always been conscious of the contribution of those on the team that performs this “anchorman” role. He/She usually is not outspoken, silently making sure that all the things in the company runs smoothly, like getting the invoices out on time, making sure emails are replied, being secretary at meetings, etc. Supporting crews are important to the company and it is important that their roles are celebrated and lauded. Imagine if their roles are not fulfilled, it will be mayhem in the company. In response to comments by BL: Thanks, BL, for having me on SGEntrepreneurs.com. Though I am not a Chelsea fan, I am quite impressed by Jose and his work in Porto and Chelsea. Indeed, the “Special One” has some good man-management skills and has delivered on many occasions in different “companies” or teams. On the role of Star players, I think rather than treating a team as having no stars, sometimes, a little star management is needed to keep the talent.
SGEntrepreneurs on 15 Jul 2006 In response to comments by Ramcen & Claris Tan A very good article, BL. Ramcem, it is good that you are taking time to mentor the next generation of entrepreneurs. One point to note though, is that times have changed and perhaps treating the coach’s instructions as “imperial edicts” may be not for our time. Many a time in business, we need to be bold enough to question “why is the market/people doing things this way? Any ways we can do it better than them?” To foster this kind of mentality in our business folks, they have to have an enquiring and very very independent mind that think through instructions, words, advice, books, etc that they come into contact. Nevertheless, I believe that it is important to question with tact and respect for others. Wisdom can come from many ways, and learning to disagree is important. To add on to Claris’ point, I am happy to see that many funding, mentorship, entrepreneurial venture schemes here have quite a few hurdles to pass through before handing out the good stuff. These hurdles can incl, interviews, biz plan presentation, experience, good teamwork, multiple reviews by various agencies/committees, etc. It would take a tough and patient businessman to get through all these I feel and to some point, a few of them have mentioned that these hurdles can have the possible effect of defeating the help that was intended in the first place. I guess good things come to those who wait.
Don’t Reinvent the Wheel: Buffett donates to William and Melinda Gates Foundation In response to comments by Claris Tan & others: Claris here tells a good story on technology business, kinda like a business school case study. So here I digress from the main discussion on collaboration. Like Claris, I am very pro-education. Education maketh a man (or a woman for that matter). The devil, as they say, is in the appreciation of one’s education. Having been in business for several years, I have been very very appreciative of my education. Now I truly understand why many adults go back to school to get their degrees, second degrees and MBA. To me, it is all about the perspective as you go through education. When we were back in school, sometimes it is hard to truly understand the underlying message from these cases, real-life examples until you go through them. That is why if you work and study, you can really really gain more insight into the meaning and perspective offered in books/lectures. So to crystalize the point, the art of merging textbook information with business/work experience is the key to gain from our education and if 10 years after you leave school, and all you learnt is this skill, I think it would more than suffice.
What are you waiting for? Just Do It! on 29 Jun 2006 General Comments: This is definitely a very interesting article and close to my heart. But I think amidst the discussion, we need to note something about business and entrepreneurship. That is we need to gain experience, incremental experience. This is an important factor in learning to innovate and how to not fail in business. And the most important quality that is needed - patience. This further relates to BL’s article on why we must just do it, and just do it early. Time will give us more opportunities to succeed. Many people give up too early and cannot delay their gratification. To share something I picked up when I was in the university years back. A professor quoted some research saying that those people who can delay gratification longer turn out to be much more successful in life. Now that’s food for thought for all of us. I’ve always heard many folks saying that we need to innovate, have a unique, Google-like idea to start a business. But how are inexperienced, no industry knowledge persons going to go about doing this? One solution is to first start a business in a related field. And then you can steer the ship towards a direction/area which when you work long enough with your clients/suppliers, find that has some unique qualities that you can tap. I say this because in many high tech industries/ventures, the mumbo jumbo tech stuff can be very intimidating even to those in the know. And to know how to innovate and change things, it’d be good if you know where in the system there are flaws/inefficiencies to fix. I was at the E27 event (a very cool event) recently and the yearbook.com.sg founder is a good example. He is not too experienced with technology (and very readily admitted it, kudos to the man) but went ahead with a rather simple technology. I am hopeful and encouraged that with patience, persistence and a learning attitude, he would find a way to generate strong revenue through innovating his company/technology once he finds his way within his industry. So hang in there, man.
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