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August 27, 2007

Swimming Across

I just finished Swimming Across, a memoir of Andrew Grove, founder of Intel and Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1997. This is a truly inspiring and motivational story, a must-read.

After Andris nearly loses his life to scarlet fever at the age of four, his family is forced to deal with the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Fleeing the Germans, Andris and his mother find refuge with a Christian family in the outskirts of Budapest and then hide in cellars from Russian bombs. After the nightmare of war ends, the family rebuilds its business and its life, only to face a new trial with a succession of repressive Communist governments.

In June 1956, the popular Hungarian uprising is put down at gunpoint. Soviet troops occupy Budapest and randomly round up young people. Two hundred thousand Hungarians follow a tortuous route to escape to the West. Among them is the author ...

This story is beautiful. It's a story of courage, dedication, strength, determination, will, commitment, etc. I do want to share one part of the memoir that touched me the most (literally made me teary):

My father brought home some pictures he had managed to keep with him throughout all his years in the war and captivity. They were wallet-size studio photographs of my mother and me, taken before he left just so he could have a picture of us with him while he was away. My father treasured these pictures; they never left his body. They gave him strength when he needed it most. In his darkest moments, when it looked like he would not make it, he used the backs of the pictures to scribble his good-bye messages to us.

I read these notes over and over. One of them that my father wrote near the end of the war particularly touched me. It was dated April 1945. "My dear ones: Now that it looks like the end would be here and the prospect of seeing you again, I have had another setback--- a new disease, some skin ulcers. It's spreading from one day to the next. There is no medicine. They don't know how to treat it. It's slow death. It looks like struggles of the last three years were for nothing. And all I would like is to see you again, to know that you are alive. But I am destroyed. Just my love for you keeps me alive. Gyurka."

He made it home five months later.

For me, this passage reminds us how strong love can be. It truly is a powerful force that makes extraordinary things happen. In modern-day society, things move and change at such a fast pace that I often feel like we don't have the time to really reflect and think about the people we love the most. This is a post dedicated to those who we cherish :)

Are you swimming yet?

Mr. Volenski (his favorite physics teacher) once told Andrew's parents, "Life is like a big lake. All the boys get in the water at one end and start swimming. Not all of them will swim across. But one of them, I'm sure, will. That one is Grof."

Later, the author finishes the book with "As my teacher Volenski predicted, I managed to swim across the lake --- not without effort, not without setbacks, and with a great deal of help and encouragement from others. I am still swimming."

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August 27, 2007 | 12:32 AM | Comments (1)

| | Posted in: Books , Leadership , Life

June 6, 2007

America's $5 Million Plus Club

Cover story in June 2007 edition of Smart Money:

Key Takeaways
  • Having $1 million is no longer enough. Today, 1 in 12 U.S. households has at least $1 million stored in home equity and other assets. To enter nation's top 1%, you need > $5 million. Even then, there are ~930K in this category.
  • Members of the nation's $5 million plus club share common characteristics.
    • They are active wealth creators. It's not enough to just put in $1K a month in your 401(k) plan at 7%. Though you will end up with $1 million adjusted at the end, you are still dependent on your annual salary and your daytime job.
    • They have a positive, can-do attitude. Follow your gut even when others might tell you otherwise. Utter persistence.
    • They are dedicated and passionate people. "Money . . . wasn't much of a motivator. Once you've got food in your belly and a big-screen TV, the mere prospect of more Benjamins probably isn't enough to get you leaping out of bed at 5am. Rather, rich folks often make their fortune after they make up their minds to solve a problem or do something better than it's ever been done before."
    • They come from more modest backgrounds. Only 10% of nation's $5 million plus club inherited wealth. Mostly came from working to middle class families and graduated from state schools.
  • "Being rich means freedom: to spend your time as you please, to pursue your real interests, and to take a chance without risking utter ruin. Paradoxically, the road to riches often means acting as if you already have that freedom."

Related Note

Seven factors of millionaires from Millionaire Next Door

  1. They live well below their means.
  2. They allocate their time, energy, and money efficiently, in ways conducive to building wealth.
  3. They believe that financial independence is more important than displaying high social status.
  4. Their parents did not provide economic outpatient care.
  5. Their adult children are economically self-sufficient.
  6. They are proficient in targeting market opportunities.
  7. They choose the right occupation.
Eight elements of the economic success equation from The Millionaire's Mind
  1. Understand the key success factors our economy continues and will continue to reward: hard work, integrity and focus.
  2. Never allow a lackluster academic record to stand in the way of becoming economically productive.
  3. Have the courage to take some financial risk. And learn how to overcome defeat.
  4. Select a vocation that is not only unique and profitable; pick one you love.
  5. Be careful in selecting a spouse. Those who are economically productive married husbands or wives who had the characteristics that are compatible with success.
  6. Operate an economically productive household. Many millionaires prefer to repair or refinish rather than buy new.
  7. Follow the lead of millionaires when selecting a home. Study, search, and negotiate aggressively.
  8. Adopt a balanced lifestyle. Many millionaires are "cheap dates." It does not take a lot of money to enjoy the company of your family and friends.

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June 6, 2007 | 1:36 PM | Comments (1)

| | Posted in: Books , Business , Future Trends , Life

January 28, 2007

Having No Set Mission, Discovering Your Passion

I'm in the middle of reading Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi, a book on the art of networking and building lifelong relationships. Ferrazzi sums up success in one word: generosity. It's been a great read so far and very entertaining.

In particular, Ferrazzi makes a point on saying that successful people become successful by setting goals and accomplishing them. He even titles one of his chapters as "What's Your Mission?" While his advice is intuitive and doable, it is based on the assumption that people know what they want already.

As the world is advancing, quality of life has improved on a global scale. I'm especially fortunate and grateful of having the opportunity to go to Penn, learn what I've learned, meet the impressive people I've met, etc. The ironic aspect of this all is that while my choices and future opportunities have expanded, life has almost gotten harder. My parents, having grown up in China, had no choice. The fact that they were able to attend college was more than they could ever have asked for, let alone have the option of choosing a major. Meanwhile, I am pursuing a double degree partly because I have so many interests that I find it impossible to focus on any one field so early on. Through college, I have seen people (my friends) switch majors numerous times. We are all trying to answer the question of "What do we really want to do with our lives? Do we even know ourselves?" Sure, Keith Ferrazzi aspired to be a Fortune 500 CEO early on in his career, and Bill Clinton knew he wanted to go into politics. But what about the rest of us who just aren't completely sure? What do we do?

The more important question is: How do we find out? How do we discover our true inner passion? Ferrazzi suggests making a "Networking Action Plan" listing a person's strengths, what he/she likes to do, what makes he/she happy, and making inferences from there. I think I will give this a try myself.

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January 28, 2007 | 10:37 PM | Comments (2)

| | Posted in: Books , Life , Personal

December 22, 2006

The Creative Class

I ran into Fast Company's interview with Richard Florida, social scientist and Hirst Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University, who recently authored his latest book The Flight of the Creative Class. The "Creative Class" is a "distinct segment that drives innovation, creates urban success, and is critical to American competitiveness" and is becoming a critical factor for modern day economy's success. Florida argues that if the United States were not proactive about maintaining and fostering this creative talent, these talented individuals will soon move to other countries (European, China, India, etc.) more eager to foster that creative energy.

On the US education system:

"It cuts both ways. I think our education system brings people together who might not otherwise interact, and in that more social sense it can be an extremely useful incubator. But our K-12 system, and even our universities now to some extent, are still stuck in an industrial-age mindset. Churning out factory workers for assembly lines served us very well 50 years ago; in the creative economy, it's a recipe for stagnation, not success."

This was an interesting comment for me. On one hand, I've always thought that the US K-12 education system performed a fairly decent job in fostering creativity, comparatively at least.


Reflecting on my own experience back to elementary school, I distinctly remember: the painting I made with my friend Caleb on one of the walls of our school (my art teacher Mrs. Zipperson had invited four students of the class to make these paintings); the "scrolling" diorama project I made with stand-up dinosaurs of the Mesozoic Era (yes, my project actually "scrolled" -- you could turn the two cardboard papertowel rolls in the back to change the background image --- pretty nifty, eh?); --- one of my "first" times on stage -- a class performance presented to our families where my line was by Sir Richard Owen (yes, this performance was videotaped and now exclusively part of our family home videos).

Now, I compare this to what I learned about China's K-12 education system, mostly through conversations with my mom and my visit to China a few summers back. First, my mom told me she had far less (or no) group assignments or projects (which, ironically, a lot of my college friends despise). I guess she was surprised when I churned out three diorama projects in a school year or made colorful stand-up science fair posterboards. Secondly, in my visit back to China a few years ago, I had the opportunity of sitting in on a fourth grade class in Xian, my birthplace and home to my grandparents. Aside from the relatively poor learning environment (no air condition, classroom full of kids, and being able to feel the sweat drip down your body), I noticed that at fourth grade the students already knew how to do advanced multiplication and division -- all without a calculator! As I watched, not only were the students able to do this, they were able to do it -fast-.

From this experience and conversations with my mom, I feel that above anything, China's education system weeds out a great deal of "Creative Class" talent only to cherish those who are book smart. Each year, high school students are expected to take the big nationwide "exam" to enter college. Yes, one exam determining whether or not you will get in. None of the "we are looking for well-rounded students with not only exemplary grades and SATs but strong leadership skills and extracurricular activities." Instead, it's more like "we don't care if you can play the violin ridiculously well, figure skate like an Olympic athlete, play basketball like no other, or have extraordinary leadership capabilities -- in fact, we just care you can take exams well." Of course, I want to qualify all this and say that my opinions may not accurately reflect what's going on now. China is changing a lot and fast. The China my mom knows is not the China now.

On the other hand, back to Florida's comment, I guess there is still a "herd" / "cookie-cutter" element to the U.S. education system. :: Looks at my investment banking / consulting friends ::

On geography and talent:

"...talent is a FLOW, not a stock. The places that win this global competition of talent will be the ones that realize that talent moves. Like any instability, that presents people with both a huge advantage and a huge disadvantage."

This concept stood out, especially as most people think of Silicon Valley / Bay Area as the central hotbed for innovation and creativity, especially in the high-tech sector. Florida points out it's not sufficient for a city to be an importer of talent but that it also needs to be able to grow local talent as well. Interestingly enough, echoing what Jeff Stewart thinks as well, Florida sees New York City as a place of great potential for the "Creative Class."

Biggest takeway:

Be on your toes. As the number one world superpower, the United States can easily sit back and relax while the creative geniuses gradually emigrate overseas. As the number one company with the largest market share, you can also slack and neglect those tiny startups who will one day take over your position.

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December 22, 2006 | 9:21 AM | Comments (0)

| | Posted in: Books , Future Trends