May 2012
2 posts
aurummm asked: Hey! Thanks for the follow :)
Anonymous asked: Hi Will, I would love to understand the VC scene in Toronto for early stage startups? Thanks! Dave
April 2012
1 post
Blake Masters: Peter Thiel’s CS183: Startup -... →
blakemasters:
Here are my class notes, typed in essay form, from Class 4 of CS183: Startup. Errors, omissions, and/or poor phrasing are my own. Credit for good substance and wording is Peter’s entirely.
CS183: Startup—Notes Essay—April 11—The Last Mover Advantage
I. Escaping Competition
The…
March 2012
1 post
Create Content: The Psychology of Tackling Hard... →
dmvaldman:
The thing about hard problems is that there are many difficulties and few solutions. Sounds obvious, but what’s often overlooked is the psychological component to this asymmetry. There’s a simple reason why tackling a hard problem can lead to depressive symptoms: you’re necessarily wrong 99% of…
December 2011
1 post
yongfook: Design is Horseshit! →
yongfook:
In direct response to: http://designerfund.com/infographic
I’ve created products / services in the past that have garnered praise for their design. I love good design and I am good at design. But I’ve never called myself a designer.
Here’s my pitch. This talk of designers as the new…
October 2011
4 posts
2 tags
The consequences of being a Non-Technical...
Recently, I’ve seen a deluge of posts on HackerNews that detailed candid accounts entrepreneurial pursuits that didn’t end the way they originally intended. I’ve read posts that detail it takes several at-bats before you connect or 3 years to get traction. I only lasted a little over a year. Well, it’s my turn to add to that list.
If you’re reading this,...
1 tag
1 tag
The Murky Waters of Sales
Just the other day, I watched an episode of This Week in Venture Capital with Mark Suster.
At one point in the show, he had mentioned that at some point, a “young person” or aspiring entrepreneur should take up a role in sales as it’s a lifelong skill that will pay off in spades down the road in one form or another.
While I was on the fence and had iffy feelings about Sales as a...
2 tags
Cultivating Habits
In a previous post of mine, I wrote about Consistency and Rituals. Today, I’m going to write about my process that leads up to building consistency and rituals - cultivating habits - desired ones at that.
For those who know me, it’s been a bit of a hobby of mine to soak up anything personal development or productivity related. From blogs like Leo Babauta’s “Zen...
August 2011
1 post
Forcing outcomes
Sometimes things can’t happen no matter how badly you want it to make it happen — at least not in the timeframe you originally wanted.
I realize that with Date Ideas first iteration in Rails 3 proper (finally!!) behind me with its imminent launch, despite several setbacks and months of delays, that I accept it for what it is - something that can grow organically and where me and my...
July 2011
4 posts
2 tags
On consistency and rituals
Recently, I’ve been experiencing a stellar run this week where everything just seemingly “clicked” and I’m on a roll in terms of productivity, my workouts, and nutrition. This was a direct result from reflecting on Jason Goldberg’s (of Fab.com) fantastic blog post, “13 Things You Must Do Every Week as a Startup CEO”
Breaking this down further, I realized that there were certain things I did on a...
2 tags
Daytum.. how I love thee..
Brought to you by Nicholas Felton, famous for his “Feltron Annual Reports”, Daytum.com is one of those unique tools that you never knew you really wanted or needed until you actually start using the product. Their tagline is “Daytum helps you collect, categories and communicate your everyday data”. Through my experiences, it allows me to visualize all of the boring data I collect but still...
Startup Festival Recap and Lessons Learned
Startup Festival Recap and the Lessons I Learned First off, props to Phil Telio, Alistair Croll, Rebecca Croll, Guy Vezina, all the volunteers (too many to name) and anyone else who helped promote and pimp the shit out of Startup Festival.
It was a fantastically fun and action packed event drawing some of the biggest names in the startup world. I learned so much, especially at the off festival,...
betashop: The CEO of a startup must be the primary... →
betashop:
One of my more controversial viewpoints is that the CEO of a startup must be the primary product manager.
My extreme position on this is that I am personally responsible for every last pixel that makes it onto the screen. There is no better use of my time than to ensure the user experience maps…
June 2011
1 post
2 tags
Advantages of being Asian and running a startup
I love being Asian. I mean, you get all these perks just because of your heritage! Some other things that are automatically assumed when you’re Asian are:
That I’m smart (not really) because I’m Asian and wear glasses
That I’m to be underestimated (which I totally love)
Your parents unconditionally love you and it’s cool if you’re nearing 30 and living in the basement....
April 2011
1 post
betashop: 13 Things You Must Do Every Week As A... →
betashop:
Being the CEO of a startup is a hard and complex job. Here’s my quick list of the 13 things every startup CEO should make sure to do each week:
Remember your One Thing. Your startup can only do one thing well at a time. Know Your One Thing. Write it on the wall. Repeat it every day. Put it…
February 2011
1 post
3 tags
Head to the Valley, son.
I’ve heard time and time again from friends, mentors and acquaintances that heading to the Valley is the best idea for your startup. I hear that the culture of the Valley/Bay area is a LOT more different that in Toronto. Everywhere you turn in terms of coffee shops or restaurants, someone is either doing their own startup or an investor. And deals are always being done - even as favours...
January 2011
1 post
Core Peer Groups: How I Found a Co-Founder, Built... →
brianbalfour:
The $5M Keg
In 2007 I was 23 years old, working full time as a product manager at ZoomInfo while moonlighting on a number of entrepreneurial side projects. I had previously started a few companies with angel funding and a couple small exits, but certainly nothing of scale. In a whirlwind of a…
December 2010
1 post
A quick glimpse of 2010
In previous years, I used to write massive posts on my successes and failures for the year. This time around after checking out my friend Malcolm’s post on his Recap of 2010, I was inspired by the simplicity of the post. His year was in bullet points, detailing the major events and progress that happened in 2010.
I’ll do the same.
Entered into a fantastic relationship with Irene
...
November 2010
1 post
If you want something done..
… you should learn it yourself.
I’ve taken my advisor’s advice and started to take up Ruby.. but for fun so I understand what’s going in when it comes to web development.
I’m starting with The Pragmatic Programmers Learn to Program: Using Ruby by Chris Pine and HTML, XHTML & CSS For Dummies. Yep. The basics is “teh hawtness”!
Thanks to Zach...
September 2010
1 post
2 tags
Startups and Froot Loops - almost done with...
Viral Loops, Gratification Loops, OODA Loops, Froot Loops - which one of these doesn’t belong? If you’ve guessed Froot Loops, congrats. However, this crappy analogy encapsulates exactly how I feel after being catapulted into startup land – that we didn’t really belong at first.
This is more or less my long overdue post of my acceptance into Extreme University, the startup...
June 2010
2 posts
8 tags
Execution through Elimination
Having a brilliant business model, marketing plan and strategy won’t matter if you’re not taking action and making something happen. The crucial part of bringing anything to life is getting out there and pouring in the hours and sweat equity - otherwise known as execution.
I’m not going to write a long winded or motivational post of what it takes to execute on a daily basis and...
3 tags
March 2010
1 post
2 tags
Freelancing To Follow Your Dreams
So it’s been a little over a month since I left my full time job and made the jump to work on my website http://www.cheapdateideas.ca on more of a full-time basis while I do freelance work on the side.
When I decided to make the jump, I thought it was best (and by best, I mean the most “risk averse way”) to follow my dreams by doing some freelance to augment my income and more importantly, free...
December 2009
2 posts
1 tag
Entrepreneurship
“My mindset is like a marathon. My effort is like a sprint” - Gary Vaynerchuk
So it’s been a few months now where I’ve considered myself to be a fledgling first-time”entrepreneur”.
It’s funny how out of improving my dating life, a relentless journey in personal development, sucking at accounting, and a few girlfriends later I’ve decided that I...
November 2009
4 posts
1 tag
First Tumblr Entry
Hello, world- I’m evaluating tumblr vs posterous!
Just posted with the tumblr iPhone app