I recently came across the (wonderful) essays of Paul Graham while searching for entrepreneurship material. Paul Graham (co-founder of Viaweb (aka Yahoo! Store), essayist, programmer and more) is a big believer in the idea of rapid application development (or at least a variant of it) (it's also known in is abbreviated form, RAD). He often... Continue Reading →
Without Goals
Due to a start-stop run-training routine, I completed the Army Half Marathon yesterday in what was one of my worst timings ever. I also ended up with terrible muscle aches and a recurrence of an acute pain in my left knee, and as a result I was forced to take medical leave to visit a... Continue Reading →
My ships are burned. I am an entrepreneur.
My ships have been burned – there is no turning back. I am an entrepreneur, there’s simply nothing else for me. I recall that day in the train, hand-in-hand with the girlfriend. The leaflet she held in her hand was the burning torch that she would use to set alight my salary-man ships. “Look,” she... Continue Reading →
On Financial Independence
I was reminded of the concept of retiring young but not necessarily rich while reading the book Your Money or Your Life (by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, one of the best books on personal finance I have read so far), and thought some of you who are into personal finance may find it interesting.... Continue Reading →
The Workaholic
He had always been to me – to a certain extent – the epitome of success at work. But though excellent at what he did – often earning top honours – he never appeared satisfied or genuinely happy with what he had. A smart strategist, he always chose his environment carefully, opting for where competition... Continue Reading →
Thank you Skype!
I just like to say thank you to Skype for reversing my order! Though it took a day longer than I would have liked (every hour felt like an eternity), my wrongful purchase of a service I hadn't quite wanted was finally reversed. Great service overall; and I'm one happy camper. 🙂
On Loans and the Father-Mother Fund
I was looking through the HDB guidelines for buying an apartment (or flat) when I found out how much I would have had to pay as a down-payment for a 5-room one. Being fresh in the job market, a 10% down-payment is a pretty big sum. I simply haven't had much opportunity to accumulate that... Continue Reading →
On Investing
Imagine that you are losing money in the stock market. Using your investment strategy, your initial investment of X dollars leads to a loss of $100: Investment Strategy ($X) = $X - $100 An example of such a strategy might be to sell stocks upon reading bad news of a company whose stock you own,... Continue Reading →
Retiring Young
I had always had the thought that I'd become "financially independent" before I hit the age of 45. By financially independent I mean that even if I chose not to work another day in my life, my expenses would still be less than my income; this income will come not from full-time work, but rather,... Continue Reading →
Leaving Something on the Table
Today was a landmark day: today I sold my very first item on eBay -- actually, it was my very first item sold anywhere. I had always wanted to know what it felt like to be on the merchant's side of commerce; and today I had the chance to find out. It was pretty unexpected... Continue Reading →
Donn, fragments 