The teacher of my life
DISCLAIMER: -I wrote this article purely based on my observation. -My grammar is terrible, read at your own risk. -This post may have mixed reviews, but there is a reason why no comment box exist in this blog.
I have always been fascinated in the idea of starting up a company since I was a little kid. At first, when I was little, the thought of possessing endless cash flow was cool. I can travel everywhere, buy comics as much as I want (I was a kid back then), I can eat everything that I want and I can buy a really big house with tons of gaming console. And I want to own Kinokuniya, because I was a kid who loves reading. But as I grew up, things change. I change. But my dream never changes, I want to open up a business, but now, it is not about the money nor it was for the fame. It was for the values that I could give out when I have a lot of money.
For the past few years, I’ve met a lot of cool people who inspires me and bit-by-bit, they had changed my perspective about entrepreneurship. Once, my friend and me rode a taxi from the bus station to my campus. His name was Uncle Nana, and he was as old as my dad (or even older). He told me, back then during the old days, he was a ship captain. He makes tons of money. But the thing about being a sailor is he doesn’t have much time to spend with his family. One day, his wife confronted him, she said, and I quote “Honey, do you love your money (which he made by being a ship captain) or do you love your family. If you love your family, quit your job, if you love your money, send me back to my family at India (which she is from)”. So, he did what a gentleman should do, he quits his job, open up a business, became rich, and live the rest of his life as a taxi driver. He taught me that in the end, family matters.
I’ve also met this shady but awesome investor named Anne, from StartupNation. She was the first person my friend and me ever pitch to in my life. I was so scared, that before the night before the pitching session, I vomited and had a slight fever (Ellyas can vouch for this). At that time, my friend and me were pitching an idea for a startup. We have no prototype, no traction, no customer, no nothing. But in the end, we manage to secure a deal from her. After winning the competition, we have no progress, but she still support us. So there is this one time, we have a chat together, she told us one thing that kept us going which is “I am not investing in your idea, I am investing in you”. The revelation I got from her is having a good idea is one thing, but having the right personality and attitude is the most important ingredient for a successful business.
Another advice worth mentioning is from Sam Shafie from PitchIn.my. My friend and me met him at an ice cream shop (because the coffee shop we were suppose to meet up was close). We had a nice long chat (five hours worth of chat). He told us with a serious face, “If you want to create a business, you must prepare a safety net, because shit will happen, and you need to prepare when shit happens”. So, for my friend and me, our education is our safety net. Yes people would often argue, a certificate is not everything, but remember, in reality, everything starts with a certificate.
This is just one of the few advice that I got and remembered. It was awesome meeting all of them. My advice to all young and aspiring entrepreneurs is, get out from your circle so that you can meet more people. Sometimes, we think that we are doing the right thing, but in the end, there’s got to be a better way. Just a quote from Cactus Jack, “My dad always said to me, you can either trade hours for dollars, or and idea for millions, guess which one I choose”. And which ever one you choose, always give back to the society, they deserve it.