When you visit a Starbucks at around 3pm, it can feel a bit odd. It's quiet. At around 3pm, gone are the after-lunch coffee aficionados. The people wishing to chill out a bit after work aren't there yet either, that rush happens at around 530pm. In these times, you can observe TWO sets of people in their…
“Seriously, Peter, I will take a massive paycut right now for the opportunity to get to do work that is meaningful” “I’ve been dragging myself to work for years. I feel hopeless and trapped” The other week I was having lunch with yet another person sharing with me his dissatisfaction with work. And it’s not just your…
(Click below for the audio version of the post) What is a side hustle? Basically, it's a part-time job beyond your full-time one. And yes, you can use it to basically change your life. It certainly did mine. Years ago, I remember feeling stuck in my career in Human Resources. I accepted my first corporate job as…
We all have a lurking dragon to slay. There's always THAT project we're imagining - for some of us it's in the constant forefront of our thinking, or for some of us, its a concept that we only visit whenever we allow ourselves to daydream a bit. We can't seem to let go of this project because…
Most of us have two lives, the one we live and the unlived life within us. — Steven Pressfield I had the skeleton ready for a more technical post on startup growth. I was going to spend some time this weekend giving it more flesh. Then I saw La La Land late Saturday night. It’s THE perfect movie for…
We’ve all been through those moments in life when everything seems to be falling apart. That was where Kellda was when I first met her two years ago. You wouldn’t know it through my interview process with her. A former Unilever achiever and fastfood startup founder, she was introduced by a mutual entrepreneur friend. She was in-between…
Years ago when I graduated, I had no special commendations. My grades were slightly above-average. Flunked one or two, if I remember right. I have no MBA. No special connections. I was raised in a middle-income family, where I contributed a portion of my earnings as a breadwinner along with my brother. I never got the chance…
Who doesn't love Lego? When I was a kid, Lego was my ultimate, favorite toy. After I would unbox a set, I would first try to build it as designed. But this wasn't the fun part yet! This is sort of the boring requirement. After some time, these new pieces would gradually fall into my BIG…
After 8 months, I had all sorts of ideas on what my "first" post will be like. Some long, drawn out 5-parter on what I've learned all this time, perhaps? Some Michael Jordan "I'm back" one-liner? I was even mulling just hammering out a regular post and pretend the 8-month gap never happened. I had all sorts…
At work, when we talk about hiring (which we talk about A LOT nowadays), I usually tell my co-managers that I am very interested in hiring "entrepreneurial-minded" people. Then I'd get often asked: What does that mean? That's a question I've been mulling about for ages. What exactly is it? How do you evaluate if someone has…