Posts Tagged ‘entrepreneur’
A life lesson from a fallen fruit cart: resilience
The inspiration below is adapted from the story shared by Subroto Bagchi, a co-founder & CEO of MindTree Consulting.
Imagine a busy road junction in a developing country (e.g. China, India, Indonesia) during the peak hour.
The smoke from vehicles.
The burning hot sun.
The dust that hurts eyes.
Everyone is rushing and rushing.
But it has become worse on a particular day.
A fruit seller’s cart has overturned.
His fruits are everywhere on the street floor.
The rushing vehicles are crushing his fruits.
His business for today is over.
Everyday, he woke up at 4 am before dawn or sunrise,
to buy his commodity from the wholesale market.
Then, he walked pushing his cart over a long distance.
Commodity like fruit is easily perishable,
he must sell them by the day.
Sometimes, he has not been successful because of bad weather.
Sometimes, he consumes the left-overs.
Sometimes, he just gives them away.
When unfortunate things like today happen,
he losses his capital,
and has to borrow more money from moneylender – who normally charges neck-choking interests.
Reading his story is like a wake-up call for my friend S who forward it to me.
S has a comfortable job, with stable salary, bonuses, and health insurance.
However, she often finds herself worrying about the future.
Her progress has been slow mainly because of her maternity leave and feeling of inadequate.
I asked S what the worst that can happen?
Her job contract will not be renewed.
Then, I asked S if this means that she can explore possible endeavors that she always dreams of but was too afraid to explore.
Unlike the fruit cart seller who has no financial safety net,
S still has some savings that can last her for at least half a year,
a supportive spouse.
What S needs more is resilience that she can learn from the entrepreneurial fruit cart seller to deal with life.
Ten Inspirations from Dato Sri Tahir: an entrepreneur & banker
Dato Sri Tahir / 翁俊民 is the founder of the Mayapada Group, an Indonesian-based conglomerate.
Literally, Mayapada is an imaginary kingdom in Mahabharata.
I first knew Tahir through Forbes. He was born in Surabaya on 26 March 1952.
Below are ten (10) inspirations that I learned from him:
1. Dare to dream.
To quote Tahir, "One is not afraid of failure, one is only afraid of being fearful to dream. Life is like a competition / race with many participants and few winners. If you do not run faster than others, you will never win prizes"
Transform our dreams into our beliefs & vision / 异象.
With vision, we can exercise self-control.
2.Turn adversity into advantage / 逢凶化吉.
Once I attended a talk by Professor Lui Pao Chuen who also advocates turning adversity into advantage.
In the words of Tahir, "I come from a poor Chinese family," the tycoon says of his roots. "My parents used to make becak (a three-wheel rickshaw / pedicab). My father would assemble the parts while my mother painted them."
3. Be resourceful & courageous to make positive use of our resources.
"His wife, Rosy, the daughter of another Indonesian tycoon, Mochtar Riady, recently started h2h Charity, which has a vintage shop in Jakarta, proceeds from which are donated to help provide schooling for underprivileged children in Indonesia."
Tahir’s father-in-law rescued him from bankruptcy in 80s. Having wealthy (and most importantly keen & willing to help) family or friends may be helpful.
Sometimes, we may know wealthy associates but the timing and place are not right for them to assist us.
Do not blame them.
When the people, timing, and place (the spatio-temporal dynamic context) are right,
and we obtain assistance in the forms of any or some financial ($), intellectual resources,
these people become 贵人.
Make positive use of 贵人, even the best universities and Google stand on the shoulder of giant.
4. To win,
one must continuously learn, absorb, observe, and practice.
自强不息, 力求上进.
Practice makes perfect.
Practice creates talent.
It takes 10,000 hours of practice to give birth to an exceptional talent.
5. It is essential to pursue and support education.
Tahir’s Formal Education:
2008 : Obtained Doctor Honoris Causa (an honorary doctorate degree) from Universitas Tujuh Belas Agustus 1945-Surabaya (Major in Small and Medium Enterprises)
1987 : Obtained Master in Business Administration with GPA 4.00 from Golden Gate University, San Francisco, USA.
1976 : Obtained Bachelor’s degree majoring in business from Nan Yang University, Singapore
Tahir has also been appointed as a Board of Trustee at the University of California, Berkeley, becoming the first man from Southeast Asia to hold this position.
On April 2011, Tahir donated $1 million to the University of California, Berkeley for international student fellowships for students in the fulltime MBA program at Berkeley-Haas.
In my humble opinion, education is not entirely equal to schooling. I will write more about their differences.
6. Abide by the rules.
Competition has rules.
If one does not follow rules, s/he will face extinction.
Tahir cites an example using his banking business that strictly follows rules and regulations of the banking world.
"The Mayapada bank went public at the Jakarta Stock Exchange and weathered the 1997 economic crisis (when many banks became bankrupt due to not following rules) and managed to expand even more aggressively after the crisis. With foreign investment partners from the US, UAE and Singapore, the bank now has over 100 branches throughout Indonesia, and in 2007 has been voted as the second best public bank outside state-owned banks by InfoBank magazine, an influential banking magazine in Indonesia."
Though rupiah (IDR) collapsed in 1997, his bank (The Mayapada Bank) was spared because it was small and had not borrowed in US dollars.
7. Self-know.
Know ourselves, our strengths and weaknesses.
Know our level of competence.
量力而为.
If you are of 50 kg, you should not compete in the 100 kg class.
8. Win over your greatest enemy: yourself.
The only challenge Tahir faces, he says, is within himself: "I have to overcome my selfishness, my improper ambitions and greed."
Tahir could say so because he has successfully journeyed through the climb.
For many of aspiring entrepreneurs,
we first have to overcome laziness, faulty pride (e.g. the need of approval from others), negative mindset.
9. Build strong & solid platforms / foundations.
To quote Tahir, "I don’t build deals, I don’t build transactions … I build foundations or platforms."
Tahir has built the following platforms:
financial services (Mayapada Bank, Zurich Insurance Indonesia and Nipponkoa Indonesia).
Duty Free Shoppers.
real estate business (several buildings in Jakarta, hotels in Bali and Batam, and a new tower in Singapore).
healthcare (Mayapada Hospital).
media (Guo Ki*, Forbes Indonesia, Topas TV).
* the largest Chinese newspaper in Indonesia, with a circulation of 30,000 copies.
10. Make others happy, especially let others happy in their last moment.
Perhaps Tahir has lived long enough (as compared to young students) and seen many death to say: "The most enjoyable moment of my (life) is when I help people, especially when you give pride and honor to a person who is in a crisis in (the) last moment of his life."
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Inspirations from the philanthropist Masa Kogure
Masa Kogure 小暮真久 is a creative giver.
A former engineer who worked in the artificial heart pump industry, using his training in biomechanical engineering.
conducted medical research including investigation of new type of artificial heart valve.
Education :
Bachelor’s in Engineering, Waseda University, Tokyo;
Master’s in Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia.
McKinsey Consultant :
specializing in healthcare, medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
served more than 30 companies in Japan, Europe and US.
Author of Connecting the World with 20 Yen.
A social entrepreneur.
Recognitions:
Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Asia, 2011
World Economic Forum.
Asian Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2013 by Schwab Foundation
Founder of Table for Two (TfT) since 2007 : an international group that aims to curb obesity in the rich world while ending hunger in Africa.
TFT aims to shift the global food imbalance by
"transferring excess calories" from the developed to the developing world, working to confront obesity and malnutrition.
To quote the first sentence in the TfT website (as of early summer 2013), "In our world of 7 billion, 1 billion lack access to adequate food and nutrition, while a roughly equal number suffer from obesity, diabetes, and other health issues related to overnutrition.
1. Many people have a kind heart to help others, but only some people like Masa Kogure can actualize his ideas. His training as an engineer and management consultant is essential to lay the foundations required for him to run TfT.
2. It is a norm for Japanese to stay loyal to a single company / profession, but Masa Kogure is an outlier from what is common in Japan.
Perhaps what is popularly believed is not always right, as Tim Ferriss highlighted.
In 2011, I was surprised when a friend of mine (from Tokyo University) shared with me that he wanted to pursue a PhD, then becoming a CEO, he seems to have many goals, but he plans to focus on different goals on different stage of his life.
You do not have to pursue a single career in this life. You can have a portfolio of career. No matter what your current career is, use it to learn and contribute as much as possible, because your skills will be applicable and transferable to your next endeavor.
3. The art of balancing.
The beauty of the TfT is in its attempt to re-balance / re-shift the equilibrium of extreme food consumption (obesity and hunger) in developed and poor countries respectively.
While TfT works at macro level,
every individual can work at micro level,
start within ourselves.
Have a balanced meal daily.
To people living in developed countries, we can start consume more green (vegetables) and less meat.
To people who suffer malnutrition, we can start consuming more nutritious food.
Being able to eat, to eat well is a blessing.
First we eat to live, but we also want to live to eat well, to eat balance.
4. The power of social media.
Masa Kogure deploys the power of social media to increase awareness of TFT’s message and as well as the usual Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blog channels, TFT also makes an effort to engage with bloggers around the world to spread the word.
More in Japanese:
http://tablefortwomk.blogspot.sg/
http://ameblo.jp/tablefortwo/
Related:
The idea that hunger and obesity are two sides of the same global issue has been echoed by Ellen Gustafson, co-creator of FEED bags (watch her TEDTalk here).
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Like a Virgin: Secrets They Won’t Teach You at Business School by Sir Richard Branson: 18 take-home messages
“The Virgin Group is a constantly evolving aggregation of companies operating in over 30 countries, totaling more than 50,000 employees and serving millions of customers every month.”
There is a RICH in the name of Sir RICHard Branson, but being financially super rich apart, I view that he has other aspects of wealth that worth understanding & learning.
Seeing the video filmed by the London Business Forum in Westminster Central Hall reminds me on many useful talks that inspired me in UK.
Here are the take-home messages:
@~@ Branson focuses on high-quality services.
@~@ Branson praises his employees, creates a sense of fun + reward / appreciation + belongings in his company.
“A company where the staff overuse the word ‘they’ is a company with problems.”
@~@ Empower / treat your employees well and they will do the same to your customers.
@~@ Branson highlights that his employees “should never feel like hired hands but fellow entrepreneurs”
@~@ Fun is a serious business tool. I view that if your personality is not funny, do not try to be so funny; but you can get a fun-spreader as your team mate.
@~@ Focus on your strength, not limitations. Branson never lets his early dyslexia deter him.
@~@ Business is not only about $, but about creating things; this view sounds like inventors / engineers to me.
@~@ Branson carries a little notebook with him. I think carrying notebook alone is insufficient, what Branson infers is that one needs to record ideas / inspirations for action.
@~@ Branson is interested in people, spends a lot of time talking to people, listens to people (e.g. Virgin customers).
@~@ Simple & clear communication. “Try using a Twitter-like template to refine the essence of your concept into just 140 characters.”
@~@ Branson encourages discussion / debates / dialogues.
@~@ Branson & his team tests out new ideas.
@~@ Branson has a stunning personality, a reviewer wrote “charismatic irreverence”. My friend J shared with me that she admires Branson’s combination of bad & good guy personality, he seems to have a deep understanding of people.
@~@ luck; yet I view that luck favors the prepared.
@~@ “If death and taxes are the only sure-fire things in life, then the only certainty in business is that one day things will go wrong. One of your priorities has got to be emergency planning.” Plan & preparation are critical.
@~@ Branson views his entrepeneurship as a vocation, he has no plan to retire. I always encourage my team mates to pursue their passion, not only a job, a career, but a life-long pursuit of excellence.
@~@ Branson concludes that “My story is a very personal one; my strategy will not work for everyone.”
I would like to elaborate that different (sometimes opposite) strategies work for particular people, at particular timing and location. The spatiotemporal context matters.
@~@ Branson gives hope to my dream of space travel, which I believe is also the dream of many of yours. To quote Jules Verne from his Around the World in Eighty Days, “Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real.” I look forward to a book / movie / song entitled “Around the Space in [insert a stunning number here] Days.”
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The four aspects of wealth
There are four aspects of wealth:
1. Intelligence / wisdom (智慧)
2. spiritual (心灵)
3. horizons (眼光)
4. materials (人财产)
I could not agree more.
Since a young kid, I always admire religious family, they seem to be happy even if they are not rich by the world standard. This is because they have God in their heart. God is a source of wealth and love. God is wealth and love.
Do not work for big companies forever, we must 创业.
Ignore those people who say that you have ambition (野心).
Thank you so much to my doctor for this advice.
March 2013:
While reading my old green notebook inherited from F,
I encounter a quote from Theodore Forstmann.
“REAL WEALTH is not PHYSICAL.”
According to him, physical wealth can disappear;
government can take it away,
natural disasters can wipe it out,
criminals / terrorists can steal / rob / destroy it,
and so on.
METAPHYSICAL WEALTH cannot be taken away,
it is the driver for all of the growth
that takes place in the world.
Blueroselady thinks that
METAPHYSICAL WEALTH is the FOUNDATION for PHYSICAL WEALTH.
METAPHYSICAL WEALTH includes spiritual wealth, knowledge, wisdom, and horizon.
What does money mean?
I admit that money is important.
Without money, we cannot eat delicious food, travel to see the world and meet friends, pay for rent / mortgage, or receive formal education. As I grow in my life, I have to prepare for raising progeny.
XP of Lijiang told me that he has no money to buy imported milk from Australia or NZ, after the tainted milk incident in China. Clearly, money can provide a better living quality.
On the middle Fri In May 2012, I bumped into EC. He was formerly an engineer, who decided to do master in finance and now works for Credit Suisse.
I like money, but I do not know if I have the interest to study finance. I did well for introductory accounting and finance. A good knowledge of finance (and IT) is essential to survive in the 21st century.
Perhaps after I finish my thesis 2, I will take a CFA course.
Unlike EC, I do not want to take any formal education anymore. It is time to learn on my own.
The exam deadline will force me to study. Does CFA can give hope for securing a job?
But I want to be an entrepreneur.
Yes, an entrepreneur with CFA will be more knowledgeable and has a higher chance to succeed.
Now, let me work my best for thesis 2, a dream of decades.