Flexibility

One of the most discussed topics between me and my shareholders are th business model we are in ... There's advice that as an entreprenuer you should stick to your original biz model and path till you succeed.

To me this is the old school teaching from my Grandfather.
He is a great guy whom had sticked to his traditional Chinese medicine business of operating the best store and wholesale business based on providing only the very best over ten's of years thus' building the great brand name we have today. His wealth is accumulated over the years carefully.

Now to me the new school of teaching tells us to be 100% and 360' degree flexible in our business. It is not about being able to change the business model but to be able to completely change the entire business of the company 100% and throw away everything of the past. It's easier said than done usually ... many of my friends used to say yes, I can change the business model tomorrow but I need just this part still in the company as it's valueable still.

Change is about completely throwing away everything.
When we start a business we must put's in mind the key word "Complete Flexibility" to change. One of my start-up failed was because we weren't allowed to change and make pivot by the investors.

Look at OMG POP in New York, they change their business model completely and now make a good sale to Zynga for $ 200 million. And there's Kabam whom also chage their business directions then raised $ 125 million and Kixeye whom also threw away their original games platform to jump into Facebook and become today a major key player.

Opps ... just to add a little fun, there's ROVIO whom had sick to creating mobile games for many years till they came up with the smashing hit Angry Birds. Rovio did not change their company direction but sticked to it ... but they did change the game platform to IOS which is still a "change".

The Beers Theory

Here's an interesting story that happened last night ...
We had a dinner celebration to mark our 3 million users base at Kagen's a top Japanese buffet restaurant in town. We managed to get a room but was told that we need to finish our dinner by 8.20pm as there was another booking. We agreed. There were 12 of us but we drank like fish the Sake and beers kept flowing with the meats and fish on the teppanyaki table.

Somehow we managed to use the 'delayed in service' to extend our room pass the 8.20pm mark as we were enjoying ourselves with good food and free flow of drinks. It was pass 9.20 when the staff reminded us again that they have a new guest waiting and a guy was already standing there holding the cheque for 10 minutes so I duly paid the bill.

My partner then asked for the more Sake before we leave citing one last round, as a top Japanese restaurant in Shanghai and given that my partner is 'White dude' they agreed but said it's just 1 round only. They immediately send in the staff to clean the table and scrub the teppanyaki grill to prepare for the next group. We finished our Sake within minutes and my partner again asked for another round of FREE beers. Our Ops director (*young co-founder) told him that there is no way they are going to give you another round of free beers. As my partner told the staff waiting and he just ignored him, then he went to call for another senior staff whom told him politely they cant entertain anymore FREE beers once the bill had been paid. And another and another whom all had just smiled and move on ... but he was determine to get us 1 more round so he persisted and the beers came with a black face on the waiter saying loudly "this is really the last round".

15 minutes passed and we finished the beers.
My partner again said he wanted 1 last round for the road. But this time my ops director said he can guarantee there is no way to get 1 more round. They placed a bet on the table and the bet increased to $500 that he wont be able to get the free beers within 10 minutes. My partner took out his iPhone and click on the stopwatch ... tick ticks ticks ... then he went to tell the waiter this is the final round for the road, give me 1 more round and we are off in 5 minutes. But after 7 minutes we looked at the bar and there was no sign of anyone pumping any beers.

My young co-founder said out loudly that he is sure to win the $500 as he saw all the signs that no one would entertain the ridiculous request of a drunk "laowai". Yes indeed in business we need to be able to see the signs around us ...

2 more minutes and my partner ran to the bar told the waitress there ... "hi pretty girl, I promise you if you give me my last round I will leave in 3 minutes" ... surprizingly the girl bought his smile and the word "pretty girl" did the job. She just said "really promise to go ok" and started to pump the beers. My partner won the $500 and said to everyone in the room ...

"When everything seems impossible and hard dont ever give up, even if the every signs tells you are gonna fail". "Everything is Impossible if you think you had failed but Nothing is Impossible if you keep trying".

Fund 1. Getting Funded

One of the most important know-how to acquire on the road towards becoming an internet millionaire is to learn how to get funded. Unless you have a millionaire uncle or father whom is willing to back you up all the way towards reaching a certain height for your start-up you'll need to getting funding somewhere along the entrepreneur path.

Everyday we hear on the news that a new start-up had just gotten a new round of funding. There is no shortage of hypes and annoubcements of people or companies getting money. There are also talks about a new bubble around the corner. You heard there are angels investors and there are lot's of VC's with lot's of money to invest. Then there are also the start-up incubators whom can assist you to get things started such as - Charles River Venture’s QuickStart Program, the famous Y Combinator, in China we Lee Kai Fu Innovation Works and many super star angels in between.

Dont be fooled that getting funded is easy as you may think you have the next big thing on your hands and every VC's should be knocking at your door.

WAKE-UP !!!
You are dreaming ... getting funded is probably the hardest thing on earth as its another skill-set needed as an entrepreneur besides knowing how to run your business. Getting yourself funded is also a full time job but its a part of your business program that could help take you to the next level.

Going forward I will outline what I think are the most important points and methods of getting yourself and your company funded. Without money you cant go forward fast enough on the internet World and you will be deleted eventually.