The purpose of writing this blog-post is to serve as reminder for myself, of the possible choices that I might make in the nearest future.
It is likely that I won't be practicing as an engineer, but please don't get me wrong, I love engineering, the technology, the impact it achieves for humankind. Instead of working as an engineer, I want to see myself leveraging on my engineering knowledge to work on something technology-based ideas.
My major interests lie in market expansion, marketing and technology (engineering, mobile app, automobile).
I believe this, if you have a great product, but poor marketing, nobody gonna believes in the goodness of the product. Same goes to service lines.
If I choose to work for somebody else...
Ok, let's assume I take no heed of Steve Job's advice "Don't waste your life living someone's else dream", and choose to work for a corporation/someone's start-up, what are the opportunity cost?
#1: Time
I lost the time to work on my dreams. Very often I will be bogged down by the strenuous, demanding work loads in the real job later, rendering me to work without knowing the meaning of tiredness. I experienced this during my internship, I was so tired to even keep up with my routine to read books. The only spare time I had during my internship days was weekends which I look forward. At least, I attempted the "Lotus Project" with my mum & my cute diligent younger bro that time, I missed those moments :-D
Back to the topic is that, in short, I don't have time for other stuff if I were to work for somebody. Worst still, if I work for things which I don't get excited, I will be a walking dead everyday in the workplace.
#2: Tremendous Wealth/Values behind my very ideas
My intuition tells me that these ideas really work. Plus, I know myself, once committed, I won't give up easily, so how could I possibly failed if I really plunge into it? :P (Ok, I am being too optimistic, screw me idiot!). The values hidden behind the ideas are tremendous. Some are not in the market yet. I am prototyping it, I am searching technical co-founder (God, answer my wish quickly, drop me a technical co-founder). Otherwise, I will not reluctant to learn the necessary knowledge from scratch, watch me! But time... time is the factor.
#3: No Major Satisfaction
This section needs no further explanation as the title itself is self-explanatory enough.
This also means I turn down a good offer from Frost & Sullivan...
I am not in any position to say that working for others is a bad thing. But, rather is the reason why you choose to work with that person/company. This is also one of the most important criteria a HR interviewer evaluate in a candidate, the big "Why" you choose to work with them, when there're obviously many more companies around the city. Some people claimed that you ought to work under someone before stepping up. To me, this is a myth. Unless you choose to create a business model similar to that company which you are in, else, your working experiences would be a mismatch for your future career.
If I choose to pursue my entrepreneurial dreams (of invention), what are my fears?
#1: Insufficient Capital
No enough cashflow to sustain myself, my enterprise, my family loved ones
The worst scenario that ever play on my mind is, bankruptcy in my 20's. Nobody knows for sure. Guess the difficult part also lies in funding an idea. I know, there are grants from both government and private venture capitalist, investors, or the less popular one is borrow from relative as seed money... Ok, how could I miss out this, the evil agent of the capitalistic world, the bankers! I can borrow from banks.
#2: Failure
No profit! Wrong projection. Mistakes. Wrong market demand. In short, nobody likes it, nobody uses it, nobody understands it, hence, no revenues. Gulung tikar, habes cerita. Sadly to note, many young start-ups cannot sustain more than 5 years, quite a hard cold fact to accept, as according Malaysia SME's finding. I know failing is necessary, but fear still sets in, and needs to confront at the end.
Have I completely analyze my own situation? Qualitatively speaking, probably I have done so.
What I have? =)
- Ideas
- Network of strategic friends
- Pure determination & perseverance + Willingness to learn & explore
- Time
What I don't have? =(
- Good amount of money
- Sufficient technical knowledge in areas such as mobile app development (Android, iOS etc)
As time goes by, my vision is getting clearer now, I hope it is, that is to increase people's life productivity through technological and cultural means. It is the value proposition of a business, an ultimate dream of mine, that represents my major happiness as well =)
I learn this from "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" book, I gotta need to build my passive income while keeping my active income at hands, so, with reference to the teaching of the book, I intend to move from "S" to "B", which later on my "B" becomes my passive income. But how long would this transition takes place? It is a question remains unanswerable for the moment. Probably, there's another way, just probably.
Possible S-type active incomes (the order is random and has no preferential meaning):
(a) Sole distributor for products/services which are in line with my vision
(b) Internet marketing
(c) Inventor
(d) App developer
(e) Research assistant
Possible B-type passive incomes are built upon the foundation laid in the S-type active income.
I hope, all and all, that my journey is not a lonely one. I vow to bring some friends along with me, regardless of ages, races & genders, because they are my friends whom I trust. I hope I found mentors along the way too.
I wish that the world becomes a better place to live in, because I am working towards the goal.
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