Feb 25 2019
How I evaluate startup investments
Early-stage investing is complex. Usually, you’re making bets on companies on sheer gut feel. It’s slightly easier to invest in companies generating revenue from day 1 on a trajectory of growth. But considering investing in companies with just a product or idea, maybe some users and no revenue is incredibly difficult.
I believe early-stage investing is more of an art than a science. Even if you have a whole lot of data and access to sophisticated algorithms for making investment decisions, it comes down to a bunch of fundamental questions.Feb 20 2019
Climbing up the rabbit hole of social media
Over the last year or so, I’ve found myself constantly checking the feeds of the social apps on my phone. It escalated to a point where I felt it was taking time away from things I wished to do in my free time — read books, research, think, strategize for world domination betterment. I would pick up a book, but 5 mins in, I’d put it down to check my Snapchat feed or reply to WhatsApp messages.Feb 17 2019
What makes a good CEO?
I believe there are 8 defining qualities for a good CEO. Here they are, in no particular order:
Confidence in the vision and in themselves leading the vision
You can’t convince people to invest or work with you if you don’t have confidence in the vision. In order to convince people to invest or work with you, instead of for someone else with a similar vision, you need confidence in yourself.Dec 29 2018
Why do people need this? Well, no one really knows.
Successful products are first and foremost wants. Over time, they can become needs. If you want a cool startup idea and go looking for needs, you’re probably going to hit a wall.
Take Uber, for example. Up until 2010, hailing a cab on the streets or calling up a taxi company was inconvenient, but not painful. It usually worked just fine. Then, one fine day, Uber let you hail a cab through your phone.Aug 30 2015
Zero and One
Somehow I believe that everything is 0 or 1. If we can build sophisticated computer systems and graphics on simply this combination of 0 and 1, then what’s to say that the real world that we experience and feel is not simply built on the same 0 and 1?
How does 0 and 1 display such striking features of the world? What is the nature of reality behind what we see, experience and feel?Aug 10 2015
The Information Highway
The internet is the real-world equivalent of roads. Roads are how you get from your current place to a destination, like work, a shop, a restaurant, or home. The internet is the space you enter to get somewhere too — a news website, an online store, a picture. Travel time on roads is measured in minutes or hours. Travel time on the internet is measured in milliseconds or seconds.
You’re probably like “No shit, Sherlock”.Jul 30 2015
Humankind is fragile
The fragility of humankind is often overlooked. Humans are fragile creatures, who need guidance at every step along the way. The weaker ones (most) need to be pulled up by the stronger ones (very few).
I wish there was more talk in the open about matters of the mind.Jul 30 2015
In the elevator
I met a man in the elevator today who is about to get married. Today is his wedding day. He doesn’t look very happy. He says he has butterflies in his stomach.
What should I have said to him? Would it be a lie to say that he’ll be fine? Would it be right to ask if he wants to do it? There’s a 99% chance he won’t have the balls to back out if it’s not.Feb 17 2015
Warby Parker for this and that
I got my first pair of Warby Parkers this week. Overall, my experience with them has been pretty good.
It made me reflect on why Warby Parker works. It works primarily because they’re inexpensive. For most of us in North America, buying any half-decent pair of glasses is usually an expensive ordeal which can easily amount to several hundreds of dollars. Enter Warby Parker. The price point was the hook. The brand value, ordering process, friendly support, and a really well-made site followed and made me complete the checkout process.Feb 16 2015
Blogging
Blogging needs to come back, in a big way.
Or maybe it already has — Medium et al.
Yeah Twitter is cool. It did “disrupt” blogging. What was an offshoot of blogging has become a protocol for communication in less than a decade. Directly or indirectly, it permeated everywhere. Hashtags, @mentions, following people, short updates — these features make up most social services we use today. And Twitter has a great future ahead.