What is soul? One of my friends shared this story. She knows a violin teacher who always tells her students to “play with soul”. At first, the students don’t understand what “playing with soul” means. But over time, they keep trying. And one day, they feel the difference. When a violinist truly plays with soul, … Continue reading What Is Soul?
If there’s one habit I strongly recommend to everyone, it’s this: Start your day with pen and paper. Before opening your computer or phone, take a blank sheet and jot down thoughts like: Trust me, this simple habit can change your life – it did mine 🙂 Continue reading Start Your Day With Pen And Paper
When people search for a “killer startup idea”, they often focus on completely new, novel concepts. But I think a better approach is to identify an existing behavior among a fringe group and make their process much easier. As we know, the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed yet. For example: 👉 … Continue reading Killer Idea vs. Making Things Easier
In my first job back in Korea, on one evening, I had a chance to sit next to a successful and wealthy businessperson. Our company hosted a dinner party with prominent guests, and I was lucky enough to be seated next to this successful entrepreneur from Taiwan. I asked him, “How did you become so … Continue reading Shine In Small Things
Are you a new grad or a junior professional looking to build or broaden your professional network? Here’s a good suggestion: Interview experienced people in your industry. Identify people who have achieved something interesting and meaningful, but aren’t widely known yet. Reach out to them, using warm intros wherever you can, rather than cold calls. … Continue reading Try Interviewing Others
Learn from my friend Alex Kwon. He pitched his company to a bunch of investors. Got rejected by most of them — nothing unusual there, it’s just the way it is. But he still wanted to keep building the relationship with these investors. Instead of sending boring update emails, Alex started offering something of value … Continue reading What Can You Offer?
I recently caught up with a gaming VC, and he mentioned that he primarily invests in teams that have worked together for a long time. It seemed like, for him, the length of time a team has worked together is just as important as the team’s track record. He said this is particularly the case … Continue reading How Long A Team Worked Together
People often focus on the monthly burn, but not as much on speed. If your company is burning $100K per month, a 3-month project delay adds $300K to your burn rate. People also care about speed, but not as much about direction. If you spend 12 months building a product only to discover problems you … Continue reading Monthly burn < Speed < Directions
Modern startup frameworks like MVP, A/B testing, and the lean startup methodology are great; they’re proven to work. But they can’t solve everything. Take, for instance, finding life’s mission and calling. You can’t really discover those through MVP. The Wright brothers didn’t build airplanes after A/B testing a variety of consumer products (“We’ll build car … Continue reading MVP and A/B Testing Can’t Solve Everything
A mistake I often made while running my previous company: Not being clear enough about the Sunday vision and the Tuesday goals. Both are necessary. You can’t reach Sunday without first getting through Tuesday. Focusing on immediate goals and rallying the team around them brings focus and simplicity. However, smart people need a big vision … Continue reading Sunday Vision vs. Tuesday Goals