The recent TC post of Foxmarks just confirmed my point of view: There are only two computer-based service which are data generation and data presentation. Foxmark is clearly a data-presenting service since everyone's bookmark is just there before Foxmark but Foxmark is obviously doing something cool with those data they collected through the Foxmark firefox plugin.
So who is doing data generation service? blogware like Typad and blog service providers like blogger.com. Because without them, I won't be here writing this post for you. But more are in the generation/presentation mixture. MS Excel is such one. It allows us to type data in a cell farm then generating new graph based on that.
The sub-point of data generation is digitalize data. For example, do you know the average driving speed at 9:10am in Mass Pike inbound? That data is there because the car is there but the data is just not digitalized into computer. So if you can place series of sensors along the Mass Pike then you are generating/digitalizing a huge amount of data. how to do with it?
I am very fascinating about this idea. What else I can discover?
The other thing I am thinking now is that how to improve my experience when there is no Internet connection? So now I am using my Dell Axim PDA to access a weak but non-secured wifi network called Apple Network to :
1) read email via pop3
2) use IE 4.0 to access Gmail, yahoo Mobile mail and Google Map
3) pRssReader to download RSS feeds such as TC and VB.
I tried to connect my PDA via USB to my laptop then write email in outlook then sync to PDA then send it but failed.hmmmmm...
Thank you, the owner of Apply Network.
And sorry this is off topic:)
Technorati Tags data,foxmark,foxmarks
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Trends bring new opportunity for entrepreneur
1. I see the world business environment will have some
significant change in the near future, let's say the
next 10-20 years. Now and before, corporate provids
almost all services we may need, left few for
individuals like prostitution/tutor/coach etc. Banks,
pharma etc covers all what we need. The reason I
believe is very simple: trust-worth or credibility,
from individual's perspective as well as from
goverment's (though I am not a history expert) .Along
the time, those corporations growing bigger and
bigger. Today, they are Mega companies so suddently it
doesn't make much sense for them to serve needs below
certain level. A new drug with $1M annual sales may
not be attractive for Pfizer to acquire. That's why we
need eBay, Craigslit and why they are so successful.
Then comes those Peer-to-Peer bank like Zembra.
Because of Internet, the cost for individuals to
offfer services for peers had been significantly
lowered. I see more and more service platform will
emerge to help individuals to offer services for
individuals... This is one trend.
2. the expanded definition of resource. Human is just
as iron/oil. Offshore Outsourcing is clear an example following this trend.
but what else can we done? Social tagging is one in this trend. I always believe
that human brain has advantages computer brain will never in par with. Americans are
obsessed with technology drive model since human resource is just too expensive there.
This theory should not be blindly adopted in developing countries like India,China, Brazil etc
with enough human brain to leverage.
3. An alternate P/E fund as the vehicle. Acquire Tier
2 or 3 websites with reasonable traffic or cash flow.
Consolidate hardware/network to save large cost. Cross
linking/promoting each other to benefit. To offer a
vest plan for the founders to exit that tied with the
performance of their website after acquired by the
fund. What does P/E like blackstone do? find
undervalued asset then refine/adjust/polish to
increase value. Same thing here. Same philosophy but
for web industry. We do acquisition. We also do
investment/incubation directly. For example, Highland
invested in a start-up called Clubmom.com in US. why
not we do the same in China? or IndianMom.com for
indian immigration in US? With existing/acquired
website, the time to build early traffic/user base is
much short. The investment on server/bandwidth is much
less by sharing with others. The backoffice cost like
HR/Accounting is much less too. MINT sucks because
their shared HR/Accounting has very limited
investment, no hardware share between portfolios
whatsever.
Again, back to Bazaarvoice.com. Every commordity
should/could be monetized by a hosting service. For
web venture, everything except the idea is a commodity.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Boston Startup Meetup
Finally had a chance to join one of the most famous startup meeting in Boston, The boston Startup Meetup. It's started by a british working in Cambridge area, Simon Clay Michael. He has his own job related startup called http://www.isabont.com that provide value added service for job hunters.
This event is also very informal. It's always in a restaurant called Smile Thai at 16 Eliot Street, cambridge. Once a month meeting. people just come in and sit down along the side of a long table and start talking immediately with others sitting beside you. It's something similar to Open Coffee with an unintended focus on technology. I guess that's because it's in Cambridge and so many people are from school or in harvard/MIT right now.
But because of sitting along the long table, it's not easy to move around to chat with others far from you once you sit down in the middle. So better come in ealier or you have to find a seat at the end of the table.
Updated:
You can join their mailing list at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/boston-startup-meetup/
and here is their recent annoucement
http://www.mypunchbowl.com/publicparty/a3e78fa9ebdd17d86afe
Technorati Tags startup,boston,isabont,cambridge
This event is also very informal. It's always in a restaurant called Smile Thai at 16 Eliot Street, cambridge. Once a month meeting. people just come in and sit down along the side of a long table and start talking immediately with others sitting beside you. It's something similar to Open Coffee with an unintended focus on technology. I guess that's because it's in Cambridge and so many people are from school or in harvard/MIT right now.
But because of sitting along the long table, it's not easy to move around to chat with others far from you once you sit down in the middle. So better come in ealier or you have to find a seat at the end of the table.
Updated:
You can join their mailing list at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/boston-startup-meetup/
and here is their recent annoucement
http://www.mypunchbowl.com/publicparty/a3e78fa9ebdd17d86afe
Technorati Tags startup,boston,isabont,cambridge
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Entrepreneur/Start-up related event in Boston
I had attended two start-up related events recently. And here is a summary for your reference.
The first one is http://entrepreneur.meetup.com/674/ which is organized by a lawyer at Exemplar Law firm who had been CFO of a high-tech start-up before. It's very like our weekly gathering. People come from all different background with no particular focus. The agend is:
6pm-6:30pm -- Open Networking over wine and snacks
6:30-6:45pm -- Attendee introduction
6:30-6:45pm -- Attendee introduction
6:45pm-8pm -- Will discuss up to three member proposed start-up related topics. The three we had yesterday are: account receivable issue, growth options for a boutique chocolate store in Coplay Square and pricing strategy.
8pm-9:pm -- Networking
It's a biweekly gathering and limited to 30 ppl each time. And you must RSVP to attend as the guard in the first floor will check your name. If you are not in the web/internet/software business, this is a good one to broad your connection with others from various industries.
The second one is http://www.opencoffeeclub.org/ which is a casual gathering without any host. Rather, it's a weekly meeting at every Thursday started at 9:30am usually at Andala Coffee shop in Cambridge. No RSVP, no agenda and you won't know who will be there in advance. I had been there this morning and met 6 ppl there. One of the high-profile attendee is Michael Feinstein. A retired investor/entrepreneur now enjoy being advisor for start-ups. He is an advisor for Geezmo, the personal financial service start-up Pakpoom posted before. The other guy is working on a new start-up doing Craigslist + LinkedIn.
FYI, I am quite familar with those events website as my Rilik biz plan is also quite event related. Websites you can check for related events:
Technorati Tags Blog,event,boston
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Will current university system survive in 10 years?
I am always a big fan about thinking how to make everything works better and differently. And I am a firm believer that different things always mean good. For example,I fully support both Hilary and Obama even though I am not a democrat. Why? Because they will both make a historical moment in the American history, either the first female president or the first black president. Well, back to the topic, will current university system be able to survive in next 10 years?
I had experienced both university system in China and in US. And I see there are a few critical problems:
1. Customer vs. Student.
University is the only place where I won't be treated fully as a valuable customer like in any other business after I paid a hefty amount of money. Forget elementary school or high school or even undergraduate study since most of them it's your parent paying the cost. Graduate study would be the most appropriate segment to look at . As an MBA student, had you ever experienced the same customer service as with other business? Yes, professors are professors but also remind you it's my tuition fee paying part of their salary.
2. One-for-all vs. customization
We all experienced that kind of student life: sitting in a class with at least 10+ students, no matter case-based or lecture-based environment. Everyone prays for a good professor. If I am paying the same amount of money, why I can't get the same professor as the others in a different section? I have no interest to learn six sigma then why I still need to pay for the class? There aren't enough professors or professors have limited time. How about this? Everyone can select the professor he or she wants for certain course. The more student a professor have, the higher salary that professor would get without increasing the $ student pay for. If Professor A isn't as good as Professor B, why they should receive the same salary? Tenure may be great for academic research but sucks for any job. Babson MBAs, you know what I am talking about.
3. Niche, Niche, Niche, with Internet.
Everyone is different so is every professor, even for professors teaching the same course. Tom maybe great in teaching Macroeconomics of developed nations while John may be great in developing nations. Instead of compromise, why can't I either select the professor I prefer or just learn the best part of each? It's both good for the professors since generally people doing the best in the field they enjoy the most and for students since we can get the best of breed. With Internet, it's very possible. Both Tom and John could publish their podcast or video clips etc or skype-based class. It won't let many professors lost their job. Rather, it will give every professor an opportunity to develop a best niche to focus on. How about teaching marketing classs for Chinese MBA students who want to sell enterprise software in Canada? How about teaching finance for students who prefer professors previous had worked in public accounting firms? Just like Internet itself, variety is the beauty.
It may sound disruptive but I don't think there is anything in the world could avoid change. No way.
Just posted this idea to Ignite Boston! organized by O'Reilly Media. See how it goes.
http://events.oreilly.com/pub/e/736
Technorati Tags university,professor,reform
I had experienced both university system in China and in US. And I see there are a few critical problems:
1. Customer vs. Student.
University is the only place where I won't be treated fully as a valuable customer like in any other business after I paid a hefty amount of money. Forget elementary school or high school or even undergraduate study since most of them it's your parent paying the cost. Graduate study would be the most appropriate segment to look at . As an MBA student, had you ever experienced the same customer service as with other business? Yes, professors are professors but also remind you it's my tuition fee paying part of their salary.
2. One-for-all vs. customization
We all experienced that kind of student life: sitting in a class with at least 10+ students, no matter case-based or lecture-based environment. Everyone prays for a good professor. If I am paying the same amount of money, why I can't get the same professor as the others in a different section? I have no interest to learn six sigma then why I still need to pay for the class? There aren't enough professors or professors have limited time. How about this? Everyone can select the professor he or she wants for certain course. The more student a professor have, the higher salary that professor would get without increasing the $ student pay for. If Professor A isn't as good as Professor B, why they should receive the same salary? Tenure may be great for academic research but sucks for any job. Babson MBAs, you know what I am talking about.
3. Niche, Niche, Niche, with Internet.
Everyone is different so is every professor, even for professors teaching the same course. Tom maybe great in teaching Macroeconomics of developed nations while John may be great in developing nations. Instead of compromise, why can't I either select the professor I prefer or just learn the best part of each? It's both good for the professors since generally people doing the best in the field they enjoy the most and for students since we can get the best of breed. With Internet, it's very possible. Both Tom and John could publish their podcast or video clips etc or skype-based class. It won't let many professors lost their job. Rather, it will give every professor an opportunity to develop a best niche to focus on. How about teaching marketing classs for Chinese MBA students who want to sell enterprise software in Canada? How about teaching finance for students who prefer professors previous had worked in public accounting firms? Just like Internet itself, variety is the beauty.
It may sound disruptive but I don't think there is anything in the world could avoid change. No way.
Just posted this idea to Ignite Boston! organized by O'Reilly Media. See how it goes.
http://events.oreilly.com/pub/e/736
Technorati Tags university,professor,reform
online publishing with zoho
I used to use notepad/gedit of my windows/linux desktop to write down random thoughts but after using Zoho, It's awesome to replace them since I will never lost my sparkles when laptop crash or running out of juice.
But it's so hard to switch. I mean, the switch cost is really high. But after lost a nice paragraph for my executive summary again, I will never back to desktop writing anymore...I swear.
But it's so hard to switch. I mean, the switch cost is really high. But after lost a nice paragraph for my executive summary again, I will never back to desktop writing anymore...I swear.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Babson-Idea
I learned two very interesting perspectives recently:
1. About viral marketing. Our BCAP advisor Bala Iyer pointed out a very interesting fact: why the general population is willing to help an unknown brand to be successful?Because this makes them feel more achievable. How can you say you make a big achievement by making Toyota more famous since it's already a well-know brand? What if you told us you helped Myspace to become popular?
2. Why not pay professors based on their popularity or student's feedback? I see this is a conflicts with the tenure system. Personally I feel school is the only place that I paid a lot of money but wou
1. About viral marketing. Our BCAP advisor Bala Iyer pointed out a very interesting fact: why the general population is willing to help an unknown brand to be successful?Because this makes them feel more achievable. How can you say you make a big achievement by making Toyota more famous since it's already a well-know brand? What if you told us you helped Myspace to become popular?
2. Why not pay professors based on their popularity or student's feedback? I see this is a conflicts with the tenure system. Personally I feel school is the only place that I paid a lot of money but wou
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Total Cost - Buy a used car
1997
Date: 2007-05-07, 4:28PM EDT
Automatic,
4 cylinders,
with Power Steering,
Anti Lock Brakes,
Power Door Locks,
Power Windows,
AM/FM Stereo Radio,
Cassette Player,
Trip Odometer,
Tachometer,
Air Conditioning,
Tilt Steering Wheel,
Cruise Control,
Tinted Glass,
Dual Air Bags,
ABS Brakes.
Cloth Upholstery,
Center Arm Rest Fold Down
rear Seat Child-Proof Locks
Cup Holder(s) ,
Power Mirrors.
Brand New Brakes (3 months)- Timing Belt done at 115k,
4 new tires less than 15 miles.
This vehicle only has 133k miles.
Full inspection at Clair Toyota service Center $98
Car $4,000
Insurance:$333 ($677 due)
sales tax: $0 (arranged as a gift)
RMV Registration: $111 (Plate, Gift $, registration fee)
MA inspectation: $29
Total:
Technorati Tags car,fee,RMV
Steps-Buy Used Car
1. Open the front roof of engine
- check the frame. Any accident sign?
- check the transmission oil. Use a napkin to clean the oil at the bottom of the stick then put the stick back to oil again then take out to see the color of the oil
- check the engine oil
2. Turn the front wheel right and left
- go under the car to check any rust and oil leaking
- for old car, pay attention to the CV Boot to see if it worn out
3. Check the power window and mirror if applicable
4. Drive around, check if there is any noise/sound when you hit brake/accelerator, turn right/left, reverse etc
5. Ask for:
- when changed timing belt (it's expensive to replace one!)
- when changed the tire
- any work on Brake recently
6. Take to a full service center of the manufacture. Pay for a full inspection and ask the technician list top problems to fix. Either have the owner fixed at his cost or ask him deducting the price then you will fix it by yourself later.
Technorati Tags car,used
- check the frame. Any accident sign?
- check the transmission oil. Use a napkin to clean the oil at the bottom of the stick then put the stick back to oil again then take out to see the color of the oil
- check the engine oil
2. Turn the front wheel right and left
- go under the car to check any rust and oil leaking
- for old car, pay attention to the CV Boot to see if it worn out
3. Check the power window and mirror if applicable
4. Drive around, check if there is any noise/sound when you hit brake/accelerator, turn right/left, reverse etc
5. Ask for:
- when changed timing belt (it's expensive to replace one!)
- when changed the tire
- any work on Brake recently
6. Take to a full service center of the manufacture. Pay for a full inspection and ask the technician list top problems to fix. Either have the owner fixed at his cost or ask him deducting the price then you will fix it by yourself later.
Technorati Tags car,used
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
CV-Joint and CV-Boot
This is an amazing learning opportunity when you decided to buy a used car and... it's your first car! Thought is not directly Babson related but it happens right now when I am still with Babson so I will post the story here anyway.
I got a 1997 Toyota Camry checked today with M's help. 133K. One-owner. No problem. But you know what, M found there is a CV boot leak at the front left wheel. So what the heck is CV boot and is it serious? Read one...
http://www.cartalk.com/content/advice/driveaxleboots.html
http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/tires_wheels/ques111_0.html
http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/bf100434.htm
http://www.fwdaxles.com/fwd_qa.html
http://www.pointedthree.com/disc/forums/showthread.php?tid=7011&posts=8
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai90.fh.cjriQODhaQUrZ6Psy6IX?qid=20060927203215AAtSfoi&show=7#profile-info-d9cc28bb37210ba1e0b933f70b27d970aa
Wow. I guess I may pretend to be a semi-expert to fool someone now...haha
And if you read this post from boston.craigslist.org, it reinforced the importance of cv joint/boot:
White, 5sp, 141,000 miles, aluminum wheels, no rust, good condition inside and out. Front wheel drive only; prior to sale, rear wheel drivetrain and a problematic transmission coupling will be disconnected (alternatively, buyer may elect to repair). Reliable 2.2L engine runs well; brakes, front CV joints, tires and alternator are all new within past year. Photos available upon request. Email or call 617 959 4667. $2500 OBO.
A side not: How to understand a VIN? http://www.vinguard.org/vin.htm
Technorati Tags cv,toyota,joint,boot,camry
I got a 1997 Toyota Camry checked today with M's help. 133K. One-owner. No problem. But you know what, M found there is a CV boot leak at the front left wheel. So what the heck is CV boot and is it serious? Read one...
http://www.cartalk.com/content/advice/driveaxleboots.html
http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repairqa/tires_wheels/ques111_0.html
http://www.aa1car.com/library/2004/bf100434.htm
http://www.fwdaxles.com/fwd_qa.html
http://www.pointedthree.com/disc/forums/showthread.php?tid=7011&posts=8
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ai90.fh.cjriQODhaQUrZ6Psy6IX?qid=20060927203215AAtSfoi&show=7#profile-info-d9cc28bb37210ba1e0b933f70b27d970aa
Wow. I guess I may pretend to be a semi-expert to fool someone now...haha
And if you read this post from boston.craigslist.org, it reinforced the importance of cv joint/boot:
White, 5sp, 141,000 miles, aluminum wheels, no rust, good condition inside and out. Front wheel drive only; prior to sale, rear wheel drivetrain and a problematic transmission coupling will be disconnected (alternatively, buyer may elect to repair). Reliable 2.2L engine runs well; brakes, front CV joints, tires and alternator are all new within past year. Photos available upon request. Email or call 617 959 4667. $2500 OBO.
A side not: How to understand a VIN? http://www.vinguard.org/vin.htm
Technorati Tags cv,toyota,joint,boot,camry
Saturday, April 21, 2007
MBA-Software Ball Play
MBA Team Back on Track, Destroys Oponent
April 20, 2007
AstroTurf Field
Babson Park, MA
On a beautiful spring afternoon (Finally!!) our softball field took the field one more time. With the cheers from the largest crowd to see an intramural game (and we are not being sarcastic) and enjoying the great weather our team homered, YES HOMERED its way to a 21-3 stumping of the the AEPi team. Exclusive press coverage was provided by Alexey “The paparazzi” Amerikov, pictures of the game to follow.
The cheering crowd led by loyal groupies Colleen and Ilya, provided the psychological boost our team needed to bounce back from last week's defeat.
Here are some of the highlights,
Our Japanese imports finally straighten out their issues with their visas and finally ended their contract disputes.
The game started in a great note after a great move from the manager to start Lauren Ratner as pitcher. The move provided incredible results as Lauren pitched a great game with one strikeout and allowed 3 unearned runs in 5 innings. Saul “ I just gave up 5 runs in the first inning” Shum was demoted to the minor leagues after conflicts of interest with the team management (mutiny). However, he promised to show his commitment to the team by coordinating next week's events. Also, on the defensive side of the game, Adam Finley shined at shortstop appearing to catch fly balls all over the field.
On the offensive side, our team was led by the powerful left-handed bat of Josh Weinstock that ended the game with 2 home runs and 8 rbi. Also shinning was Caitlin “ why do you keep batting me eighth?’ Geissler that had an inside the park home run in the first inning. We cannot forget Dave Sanborn’s home run in front of his biggest admirer, his son. Rafa continued to display his “piñata” swing but has able to reach base multiple times. Our team offense clicked batting around in 3 of the 5 innings. Special thanks goes out to honorary captain Chris “ I am the president” Burdick who played solid first base and provided refreshments to the team and the fans.
We would also like to thank Katie Brown who trusted us enough to take the prospective women to watch our game.
We had a great time on Friday and hope that everyone that showed up did too. We would like to invite you to our next game this Wednesday @ 5:00PM at the Rugby Field over at Olin College. Saul will be sending an email on Monday to coordinate the players and refreshments.
------ End of Forwarded Message
Technorati Tags babson,mba,softball
Monday, April 16, 2007
DL-Danwei.org
DanWei has a fabulous blog post to demonstrate the reasoning process of western people. I think traditionally Chinese are good on those debate but we are far lagging behind. ANd I agree that Chinese government should put more pressure on Sudan. For whatever reason, killing hundres of thousands of people will make the reason absurd. And for the same reason, even though I strongly believe Taiwan is part of China but if a war really occur because Taiwan declare the independence later, I doubt I will support the war.
Technorati Tags china,danwei
Technorati Tags china,danwei
Thursday, March 22, 2007
20070322
I am sitting in my room at Montreal. This will be my last evening in this cozy place at Verdun. And I also feeel that I had lost interest somehow to continue this weekly journal at Babson. For almost one semester, I am writing my weekly experience and I realized somehow I have had enough. You know I am a very interest-driven person, so...
let's see.
BTW, it's great to write my blog via ZOHO then publish to blogspot.com directly via open API...You should try zoho.com for sure.
let's see.
BTW, it's great to write my blog via ZOHO then publish to blogspot.com directly via open API...You should try zoho.com for sure.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
20070306-0312
It's a late blog but hey, I am in the final exam week for MOD III. Can't you believe it, it's over, the first half of 2007 is almost over while I am thinking about the to do list we had prepared for R last year...
I have a lot to write and here is a list of those topics:
My VCIC experience
My techtalk gathering
My undertanding of the shift of world
My digital living standard
and this will be my VCIC experience that started almost one month ago when J took the initiative to organize a team and M invited me to particiate. I was somehow reluctant as being busy with other things. I just wanted to have the least things I have to deal with. The less the better because anything will consume way more time than you originally think. That's why I hate small things like creditcard payment etc... Anyway, I tried to quite this VCIC team in the very beginning but after I learned that I can not quit otherwise the rest of the team, Maan, Marin, Max and Jin, will not qualify for the internal competition. So I wrote following email:
Team,
My tight schedule did make me considering quit this VCIC in the beginning. But since I will stay, let's try our best to win it!
.....
More info of VCIC, Venture Capital Investment Competition can be found at www.vcic.unc.edu. UNC really created lots of competition in MBA area. Is UNC one of the oldest bschool?
I am happy I did stay with the team and worked together to win the internal competition at Babson. I have to admit it's a good feeling being the finalist even though I am not a fan of any award. A brief about what we had in the internal competition at babson:
Friday 5pm, received 3 real business plan.
by 12pm, selected the one we will invest and prepared the question for due deligence on Saturday
Saturday, 8am, entrepreneur pitch then followed by due diligence with each team (totally 6 teams including us, Snowbasin ventures)
12am, finish term sheet preparation and presentation
1pm team start presentation.
Things are always the same for the regiional competition at NYC from Mar 8th to Mar 11th. We are competing with the 7 of top 10 bschool in US. We got 4 business plan. We had 20 judges, mostly associates from VC firms with office in NYC. It's a real practice. We had chosen the start-up developing digital media authoring software and thought it has a big expansion potential. However, we are the only team chosen this team. Most others choose either the www.collectorsquest.com or Zeroin Media.
What I had learned?
1. Explanation of termsheet used most frequently by VCs
The most useful blog from VCs I had read is from Feld
http://www.feld.com/blog/archives/2005/08/term_sheet_seri.html
who is the managing director of Mobius Venture Capitalbased in Boulder, Colorado
2. Rational about venture selection
Teams, business model, opportunity etc...why VC will inveset $ in this venture rather than that? Why we had seen so many start-ups with ideas we thought no-sense at all but won millions of $ investment? It's an execellent chance for entrepreneurs to review their business model. Not purely for the sake of VC $ but a more objective analysis from another side of the start-up value chain.
3. valuation
Ok, if decided to seek VC investment, the omst important would be valuation. How much d o you think your venture worht today? What you can do to increase the value, immediatley, in short-term and in the long run?
4. Hard working, hard working and hard working.
Hardworkign it self may not bring you the success but without hard working, your chance is trivial.
I have a lot to write and here is a list of those topics:
My VCIC experience
My techtalk gathering
My undertanding of the shift of world
My digital living standard
and this will be my VCIC experience that started almost one month ago when J took the initiative to organize a team and M invited me to particiate. I was somehow reluctant as being busy with other things. I just wanted to have the least things I have to deal with. The less the better because anything will consume way more time than you originally think. That's why I hate small things like creditcard payment etc... Anyway, I tried to quite this VCIC team in the very beginning but after I learned that I can not quit otherwise the rest of the team, Maan, Marin, Max and Jin, will not qualify for the internal competition. So I wrote following email:
Team,
My tight schedule did make me considering quit this VCIC in the beginning. But since I will stay, let's try our best to win it!
.....
More info of VCIC, Venture Capital Investment Competition can be found at www.vcic.unc.edu. UNC really created lots of competition in MBA area. Is UNC one of the oldest bschool?
I am happy I did stay with the team and worked together to win the internal competition at Babson. I have to admit it's a good feeling being the finalist even though I am not a fan of any award. A brief about what we had in the internal competition at babson:
Friday 5pm, received 3 real business plan.
by 12pm, selected the one we will invest and prepared the question for due deligence on Saturday
Saturday, 8am, entrepreneur pitch then followed by due diligence with each team (totally 6 teams including us, Snowbasin ventures)
12am, finish term sheet preparation and presentation
1pm team start presentation.
Things are always the same for the regiional competition at NYC from Mar 8th to Mar 11th. We are competing with the 7 of top 10 bschool in US. We got 4 business plan. We had 20 judges, mostly associates from VC firms with office in NYC. It's a real practice. We had chosen the start-up developing digital media authoring software and thought it has a big expansion potential. However, we are the only team chosen this team. Most others choose either the www.collectorsquest.com or Zeroin Media.
What I had learned?
1. Explanation of termsheet used most frequently by VCs
The most useful blog from VCs I had read is from Feld
http://www.feld.com/blog/archives/2005/08/term_sheet_seri.html
who is the managing director of Mobius Venture Capitalbased in Boulder, Colorado
2. Rational about venture selection
Teams, business model, opportunity etc...why VC will inveset $ in this venture rather than that? Why we had seen so many start-ups with ideas we thought no-sense at all but won millions of $ investment? It's an execellent chance for entrepreneurs to review their business model. Not purely for the sake of VC $ but a more objective analysis from another side of the start-up value chain.
3. valuation
Ok, if decided to seek VC investment, the omst important would be valuation. How much d o you think your venture worht today? What you can do to increase the value, immediatley, in short-term and in the long run?
4. Hard working, hard working and hard working.
Hardworkign it self may not bring you the success but without hard working, your chance is trivial.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
20070219-0225
Last week is a wonderful week in terms of outcome. The 5-member team I am in had won the internal competition at Babson so that we will present Babson to compete again HBS, MIT, LBS, Cornell, Yale etc in NYC next weekend. The top 2 team of this NorthEast region competition will go to UNC for the national VCIC competition organized by the Kernan-flagler bschool of UNC. It's cool but also means I have less time for Rilik. Because M is in this team, Snowbasin Venture, as well so it's a double time loss. There is a pressure to win the regional competion in NYC, not for the excitement to compete with all those top 10 bschools (only missed stanford/wharton in this northeast regional competition) but to compensate my time spent on it. For more info, check http://www.vcic.unc.edu/. Last year Babson team end up at No.4.
We also had the first Sat gathering as an extension to our Wed lunch session. Surprisingly, totally 17 people had showed up and made T's place kinda crowd. It lasted about 3 hours and the discussion is very good. The intention for this Sat gathering is to have more and longer discussion since Wed version is only 1-hour long. I am very excited to see the atmosphere we had built through Wed session had been continued and integrated more others into it. I do hope we could finally see one or two or more start-ups can emerge from this gathering.
The final exam for MOD III is coming in two weeks. We will have our first DMS/MVC exam next Friday that conflicted with the VCIC event in NYC. Prof.Bliss is tough as usual to negotiate but I quite like his style, give me your reason while asking for anything. Straightforward, is it.
And weather, weather. We had another big snow. It's beautiful, it's winter and it's a pity that my scheduled meeting with J at AV had been cancelled due to the terrible condition of road. And It has to be postoned to sometime in April. It's a long push...
R wise. I feel bad because of the further limited time because of the VCIC competition. Spring break is coming, 9 days, will get the business plan done.
We also had the first Sat gathering as an extension to our Wed lunch session. Surprisingly, totally 17 people had showed up and made T's place kinda crowd. It lasted about 3 hours and the discussion is very good. The intention for this Sat gathering is to have more and longer discussion since Wed version is only 1-hour long. I am very excited to see the atmosphere we had built through Wed session had been continued and integrated more others into it. I do hope we could finally see one or two or more start-ups can emerge from this gathering.
The final exam for MOD III is coming in two weeks. We will have our first DMS/MVC exam next Friday that conflicted with the VCIC event in NYC. Prof.Bliss is tough as usual to negotiate but I quite like his style, give me your reason while asking for anything. Straightforward, is it.
And weather, weather. We had another big snow. It's beautiful, it's winter and it's a pity that my scheduled meeting with J at AV had been cancelled due to the terrible condition of road. And It has to be postoned to sometime in April. It's a long push...
R wise. I feel bad because of the further limited time because of the VCIC competition. Spring break is coming, 9 days, will get the business plan done.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
20070129-0203
OMG, We are almost in the middle of MOD III. Can't you believe it! And I did start feeling pressure. Well, the MVC and SCS are really challening. Not in class wise but time wise. Those two do need I to devote certain time into it BEFORE the class like 2 hour per class. My strategy last semester that only reading the assignment and pay attention to the class doesn't work well this time. So now I spent about 3-4 hours per day on course preparation. If just this load, my life will still be totally fine...
My start-up plan makes my wife worse... Anyway, I skiped the DMS class on Friday for a nap at apartment and it's so good after I got up one hour later. And it made me felt SO BAD that I didn't skip the class to attend the MashUP camp two weeks ago in MIT. I will say this is one of the biggest mistake I had made here in Babson.
Interesting enough, the short conversation I had with the so-called Provost of Babson,Patricia G. Greene, at the BusinessDemo of the BacktoBabson event last year suddently pop up in my mind so here it is:
Provost: What is your business idea?
HONG: ^&^&%&^S%DF*(&S...
Provost: Had your professor taught you how to do a business pitch?
HONG: ...
Well, I understood my pitch wasn't compelling but hey, go to check curriculum first before asking. If you pay more attention to the pitch itself, you missed the whole picture.
Just an andecdote.
I had attended an event called WebInnovatorGroups @ http://webinnovatorsgroup.com/ and it's quite good. The details are in the website. I felt the passion, excitement, IT and bubble around the room. It's a cool feeling. Many may say, hey, it's bubble again. But you know what, view bubble as the catalyst. WIthout bubble, I won't be able to be here using fantastic product sucha s ZOHO office. Do you think Google is bubbled at $500 per share before?
I also decided to withdraw further research effort towrds R's idea. It's a good idea but I dont have enough time to pursue. Besides, may end the video talk with J as well as it's an expensive area with too many players. I am quite excited about the event one poped up in my mind a few days ago and I decided to puruse this one whatsever as it's really simple and effective.
Again, initiatives pay off. Trust, if you believe anything is possible and never say never without trying. you will see a totally different world..
Oh, at last, the most important part of this week is that I was invited to visit T&K's place. It's so closeby that it only takes them 5 minutes by driving to Olin hall, even faster than my walking from Woodland Hill. How badly the machiney had changed the world... ANyway, that's a very enjoyable discussion with T and I am very glad to meet mroe and more people who share similar mentality. No, don't get me wrong. I dont' mean we are the same and I dont want that. Just totally different people but similar mentality. Open, risk-taking, straight-forward... I just love it. Good period. Good week. and I will start catching up the MVC now...What's the cost of capital, Bliss?
My start-up plan makes my wife worse... Anyway, I skiped the DMS class on Friday for a nap at apartment and it's so good after I got up one hour later. And it made me felt SO BAD that I didn't skip the class to attend the MashUP camp two weeks ago in MIT. I will say this is one of the biggest mistake I had made here in Babson.
Interesting enough, the short conversation I had with the so-called Provost of Babson,Patricia G. Greene, at the BusinessDemo of the BacktoBabson event last year suddently pop up in my mind so here it is:
Provost: What is your business idea?
HONG: ^&^&%&^S%DF*(&S...
Provost: Had your professor taught you how to do a business pitch?
HONG: ...
Well, I understood my pitch wasn't compelling but hey, go to check curriculum first before asking. If you pay more attention to the pitch itself, you missed the whole picture.
Just an andecdote.
I had attended an event called WebInnovatorGroups @ http://webinnovatorsgroup.com/ and it's quite good. The details are in the website. I felt the passion, excitement, IT and bubble around the room. It's a cool feeling. Many may say, hey, it's bubble again. But you know what, view bubble as the catalyst. WIthout bubble, I won't be able to be here using fantastic product sucha s ZOHO office. Do you think Google is bubbled at $500 per share before?
I also decided to withdraw further research effort towrds R's idea. It's a good idea but I dont have enough time to pursue. Besides, may end the video talk with J as well as it's an expensive area with too many players. I am quite excited about the event one poped up in my mind a few days ago and I decided to puruse this one whatsever as it's really simple and effective.
Again, initiatives pay off. Trust, if you believe anything is possible and never say never without trying. you will see a totally different world..
Oh, at last, the most important part of this week is that I was invited to visit T&K's place. It's so closeby that it only takes them 5 minutes by driving to Olin hall, even faster than my walking from Woodland Hill. How badly the machiney had changed the world... ANyway, that's a very enjoyable discussion with T and I am very glad to meet mroe and more people who share similar mentality. No, don't get me wrong. I dont' mean we are the same and I dont want that. Just totally different people but similar mentality. Open, risk-taking, straight-forward... I just love it. Good period. Good week. and I will start catching up the MVC now...What's the cost of capital, Bliss?
Sunday, January 28, 2007
20070122-0128
We are almost in the middle of Mod III now. A MOD with lots of detailed operation-oriented courses such as strategic cost managemen and manage venture cash, it's relative an easy mod for me. If I could live without any start-up plan/idea, I will have a mucch easy life and could spend more time to read some interesting books such as "The queen's Gambit" by Walter Tevis. However, I can't.
Well this week is much better than last week since no additional fellowship work had been assigned to me, NN's proposal to look at the international education market caught my eyeball. It fits our background so well and it's a growing market that will last at least for next 20 years. I like its potentil and the entry barrier that it has since you really need to be an international student to understand the opportunity first. Well I learned to be more rational while feeling excited. We agreed to have two weeks study to evaluate the feasiblity as a business. We met in Sat and realized there is some challenges to design a simple yet effective business model. And we will meet again next weekend to make the final decision.
R had another final meeting and I started appreciating the potential of the travel segmentation we will target at. It could be a nice marketplace for small service providers who may never be able to list in travelocity/expedia/orbitz. It also could be an ideal place to bring surprise for individuals. That's really the core spirit of the original model. Yet I am wondering when to start the R&D process. the UI design would be key and I should spend sometime next week to scratch...
Besides above things, this week is relatively a quiet week. Oh, not really. I am so glad to learned T in my group is also thinking of doing some startups on the way he driving me back to woodland hill. Again, the besti gift I would like to receive is to know one more entrepreneur or entrepreneur-wannabe. The talk with those type of people is full of fun and joyful. I like his political tree idea and would like to see the final launch.
I am also glad to have our seond Wed tech-talk lunch session. A recent undergraduate from Austraia also joined us. It's wonderul. Since next week, We wil start having one or two people providing an in-depth presentation of a certain topic so that could lead to more insighful discussion.I am lookng foward to that!
My wireless keyboard sucks again. stop now..
Well this week is much better than last week since no additional fellowship work had been assigned to me, NN's proposal to look at the international education market caught my eyeball. It fits our background so well and it's a growing market that will last at least for next 20 years. I like its potentil and the entry barrier that it has since you really need to be an international student to understand the opportunity first. Well I learned to be more rational while feeling excited. We agreed to have two weeks study to evaluate the feasiblity as a business. We met in Sat and realized there is some challenges to design a simple yet effective business model. And we will meet again next weekend to make the final decision.
R had another final meeting and I started appreciating the potential of the travel segmentation we will target at. It could be a nice marketplace for small service providers who may never be able to list in travelocity/expedia/orbitz. It also could be an ideal place to bring surprise for individuals. That's really the core spirit of the original model. Yet I am wondering when to start the R&D process. the UI design would be key and I should spend sometime next week to scratch...
Besides above things, this week is relatively a quiet week. Oh, not really. I am so glad to learned T in my group is also thinking of doing some startups on the way he driving me back to woodland hill. Again, the besti gift I would like to receive is to know one more entrepreneur or entrepreneur-wannabe. The talk with those type of people is full of fun and joyful. I like his political tree idea and would like to see the final launch.
I am also glad to have our seond Wed tech-talk lunch session. A recent undergraduate from Austraia also joined us. It's wonderul. Since next week, We wil start having one or two people providing an in-depth presentation of a certain topic so that could lead to more insighful discussion.I am lookng foward to that!
My wireless keyboard sucks again. stop now..
Monday, December 18, 2006
20061211-1216
Home, sweet home.
One week almost passed. I had some nice family food while not really too much sleep… What a surprise. I had got up once at 4:30am to catch the greyhound bus to Ottawa for my wife’s F-2 visa interview. I had got up again at 7am to have the skype meeting with folks in China. I also had one skype phone call from 12am to almost 4am with JG in Thailand then got up at 9am. Enough sleep like a pig? Far from it…
Montreal to me is the same but to my wife I know it’s much different. I really felt envy her French now. She can speak quite some sentence as well as reading newspapers. She is going to be a local Quebec resident while I am still a foreigner. I definitely should learn another language as well. Germany? Very possible since I can have Marin’s help at anytime while Spanish could be another good choice too since it’s so widely used in both South America and North America now. But the pronunciation of r will kill me…
There isn’t much news happened this week. Like a week for me to catch up various things I had missed or failed to do in last two BCAP weeks so next week will be a very productive week.
Some hints:
Business 2.0 Magazine is really a great magazine to read. www.business2.com. It’s part of CNNMoney network.
Businessweek is great too.
I should continue my habit to read in the Library one hour everyday, to catch up all the newest stuff. It should cover books reading as well.
The other hour should be spent on techcrunch and venturebeat everyday too.
Then swimming twice a week in the weekend? Jogging every the other day?
Saturday, December 16, 2006
20061204-1210
Finally, I am sitting at my lovely home in
It’s a BCAP week. It’s the final academic presentation week for our BCAP project. It’s academic because our BCAP team needs to present in front of a faculty panel consists of professors from our MOD II. We had DA professor Terry Reilly, MEIA professor Kevin Jones, Law professor Petty and FIBD professor Soydel. We are really lucky to have Terry. His DA class is always wonderful because he has such a good comedy talent to add various hilarious comments to the class. The presentation went well as well as the Q&A session after the presentation. All of our seven team members answered various questions and the professors are quite satisfied. I am quite confident we may get an EPS for this BCAP project.
I guess we are one of the few BCAP teams that don’t have a female member. And we are also one of the few BCAP teams that have seven team members. That’s a lot. Fortunately, all of my team members appreciate straightforward and open conversation. There is neither dirty political fight nor personal attack at all even at a few fierce arguing moments. I love my team. We are also quite relaxing during the BCAP time. Considering quite some team almost met everyday for three to four hours, we are really like in vacation. But when the time comes, we just work around the clock. I love this way of working. It’s much more efficient when you in a tight schedule. This reminds me the TechMark time in the orientation week.
After the final BCAP presentation, I met my team members in another team’s BCAP room and I had three cup of Russian Vodka. That’s a lot! Fortunately, I had some baked fish fillet in my woodland hill apartment before returning to the Olin hall with GZJ. Otherwise, I may be hammered already. The lovely BK and ML are struggling at the edge of getting drunk. That’s really funny. Later I went to a nearby bar at Newton with JD and ML to see what other classmates were doing. Man, I really don’t like the bar, a noisy place with poor but expensive food. Is it the only choice for relaxing for American? Poor dudes…
I hate BCAP too. First I am in the IT industry while I’d much prefer any non-IT industry to learn something new. Second it greatly damaged the R project. BCAP drained people’s energy and enthusiasm. When you returned to home, you just don’t want to do jack. That’s bad. Even worse than the normal school days. R almost stalled for two weeks. The Chinese team could still work on the R&D side but the US team was much under performed. I foresee the winter break going to be a busy month for R.
Finally here is the good part. I had talked and met two partners of local VC firms. The talk was very informative and helpful. It’s great to learn others perspective about who I am, how valuable I could be and what I could bring to the table. It made me more sober about myself. Thank you, Mr. Steinberg. Your words I’d learned from the Babson Innovation Forum, “courage never hurts”, gave me a lot confidence and brought me so many unbelievable results. I am still kind debating about a career in VC or continuing doing start-up things since I always have ideas to do. Even VC partners gave me different advices. Some prefer the first while the others prefer the latter. Well, I will continue focus on entrepreneur track for now. Focus…
What I had learned the most from this first semester?
1. The important of a purpose and the execution. I had benefited so much from this one.
2. Networking skills. Now I think I almost learned the most suitable networking skill for myself. I have my own need and my own style. I am glad to find my way rather than following others’.
3. Confidence. Yes I am in the States now. So what? My own style fits here so well.
Thank you, Babson. This second half of 2006 is such a wonderful period for me.
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