curiousgirl's playground

I'm still alive though this blog will probably be quiet for quite some time...I've been dabbling around in various projects here and there.... Here's my hiatus card:

Enjoy!

technorati tags: best of us, olympics, motivation, dreams

November 9, 2007 | 10:41 PM | Comments (1)

Chapter 9 of The Valley of Heart's Delight by Michael Malone.

Hah, I love the author's sarcasm and sense of humor. In any case, skimming through this chapter reminded me of how much my current New York roommates are corporate slaves --- *suffering* through the long hours of investment banking. I barely see them at all since they work well over 100 hours per week. One of my roommates -- Sharon -- ran out of the door this afternoon (practically in tears) since she was called back to do work. I immediately left her a voicemail to offer my support and encourage her to do well. It really hurts me to see my roommates like this.... Why do they even have jobs like this? Employee unhappiness should be a crime!

Rule #1: The real world is slower, more inefficient. And guess what? You got to live with it. I think I learned this the hard way ;p. I'm naturally an impatient person (which may be good or bad) -- but I have this natural tendency to not only "get things done" but to also get them done fast. I guess you can say I'm very results-oriented ;p....

Rule #2: If you can't live with Rule #1, you have to invent your own rules. This is the path I'm currently taking...Yes, I'm most likely going to be living out of a cardboard box but hey, at least it's -my- cardboard box. Luckily, I still have my underwear :) In the next coming weeks, I'm leaving New York City and moving back to the bay area...

technorati tags: ambition, silicon valley, michael malone, secrets, job

September 15, 2007 | 8:45 PM | Comments (3)

Ben Casnocha writes an interesting post titled "Absent Fathers, Supportive Mothers," citing "...there is evidence that many successful male leaders had strong, supportive mothers and rather remote, absent fathers..."

I'm curious as to how much evidence there is on this issue (e.g. how many leaders were examined? how is "leader" defined?). Does anyone know of a link to a study done on this research? One interesting idea (that I believe is already being worked on) is to post biographies and stories of people on the Internet and do analytics on it. (Hah, I'm all about running the numbers.) There's all sorts of connections that can be made by studying one's past.

technorati tags: absent fathers, supportive mothers, leadership

August 27, 2007 | 8:23 AM | Comments (0)

Steve Pavlina writes one of the best "motivation" posts I've seen yet. The most fascinating fact for me is that everything in life can be simplified to basic human emotions and desires. Being human, I feel that I'm a victim to making things more complex than they ought to me. (I compare this to the fact that as the years go on, there's more "junk" in the house.) It's hard sometimes though. Perhaps we just aren't wired to be simple people?

August 20, 2007 | 10:12 AM | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my favorite VC bloggers, Ho Nam, General Partner and co-founder of Altos Ventures on the famous Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, CA. Ho's posts are always very insightful, thoughtful, and well-written --- full of inspirational or witty quotes, personal anecdotes, facts, and opinions supported by solid business fundamentals.

Ho's blog is the first I've seen that actively applies the principles of Warren Buffett and value investing to venture capital. This struck me as unusual. Why? Because they tend to be very different. It's like apples and oranges. Here are the major differences I see --

1. Diversification - Where do you put your eggs? The conventional VC business model (which Ho calls "Venture Lotto") involves investing large sums of capital in a lot of different startups in hopes of one mega-hit (e.g. a Google) to cover all the other losses. On the flip side, Buffett follows the words of Mark Twain: "Put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket!" He prefers large, infrequent bets where the odds are in his favor.
2. Time horizon - "Buy & Hold Forever" vs. "When Can I Cash Out?" VCs care a lot about exits and multiples. So does Wall Street. (This is only re-emphasized in the "Finance of Venture Capital" class I took at Wharton with Professor Andrew Metrick.) The numbers matter a lot more than the underlying business (the qualitative factors). Buffett, on the other hand, invests for the quality and long-term sustainability of the business based on economic factors, business model, strength of management, etc. Hence, his favorite holding period is "forever."
3. Industry - What's your favorite? Buffett avoids technology completely. He sees the industry as "speculative" and doesn't believe anyone can "predict the future." As a result, he preaches investing in businesses you know and understand well or staying within your "circle of competence." Meanwhile, all the VCs in Silicon Valley largely invest in technology or just growth.

It was through reading Ho's blog and speaking with him in person that I've come to realize that these two camps are actually very similar. At the end of the day, there are common principles of what makes good, sustainable businesses. That being said, I feel Altos Ventures positions itself very well in terms of applying these fundamentals to its venture investments, focusing more on those "qualitative" factors and making more careful investment decisions rather than throwing money out randomly and "seeing what sticks."

What I really wonder, is how likely these kind of unique opportunities actually exist in today's world (compared to the time Buffett invested)? With the rise of internet, information and knowledge is much more readily available and more "free." Is it much harder to "know more than the market" compared to the past? While Buffett relied on his newspapers and didn't believe a computer program could make sound investment decisions, I would say that with the added aid of technology, it's now possible for a Buffett-type investor to not only acquire more information (e.g. interesting / niche content, annual reports, etc.) at a faster rate but also interpret that information. For instance, today's value investor may use software to draw diagrams on financial data and see trends (e.g. illustrating the facts on the computer) and then use the increased information (from news sources, blogs, etc.) to assess the qualitative factors of the business. This way the data reading and opinion formation of the investor is still separated.

• Technology and growth can be your "circle of competence." While these sectors have far more unpredictable futures, Ho pointed out that it is possible to be a true industry expert, understand the business, and see future trends. He pointed out the extraordinary track record of now angel investor Andy Bechtolsheim, one of the early investors in Google. Andy's hit rate beats that of many VCs. While this may be possible, I wonder if visionaries like Andy (and Steve Jobs) are the just the more exceptional and rare cases.
• Be interested. Curiosity is the first step. More important that "being interesting."
• Do more thinking. Ho tells me doesn't read blogs or newspapers that much anymore. "How often do we stop to just think?" he asked.
• Try to eliminate / cut down on the things that waste time. Ho tries to avoid constantly checking email. He hates his Blackberry at times.

Concluding Thought: Does a "good" business necessarily have to have "long-term" sustainability as Buffett seems to look for? What if you are just doing well in the shorter term (5, 7, 10 years out)? Perhaps things change because of consumer preferences or just some other disruptive technology. In other words, is it necessarily "evil" that people are overly concerned with exits (short term gain)?

technorati tags: ho nam, altos, venture capital, value investing, warren buffett, buffettology

June 26, 2007 | 4:50 PM | Comments (0)

Courtesy of this Forbes article (some of my favorite lines are in bold):

• Dreams!
• Freedom
• Love
• Happiness!
• Ownership
• Hard work
• Perseverance
• Non-material success
• Equality

The American Dream is something that every immigrant brought to this country, as my parents did, and that is the ability to go as far as you can in life, limited only by your own dreams and willingness to work hard. And above all, the American Dream for these folks meant that your children will have the opportunity to do better than you will.

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Colin L. Powell was born in New York to immigrant parents and raised in the South Bronx. He served 35 years in the U.S. Army, eventually becoming a four-star general, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, national security adviser and U.S. secretary of state.

A couple of hundred years ago, the writer Samuel Johnson so wisely said, "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition." Though Johnson was himself an Englishman, the statement is, to my mind, at the heart of the American Dream.

Martha Stewart is the founder of Martha Stewart Omnimedia and the author of such best-selling books as The Martha Stewart Homekeeping Handbook. Shealso serves as host of the nationally syndicated, Emmy Award-winning television show The Martha Stewart Show.

When I was a little kid 50 years ago, in 1946, I had just got out of the Army after two years fighting in the war. The American Dream was a house and a car. Today the American Dream is winning American Idol. It's changed slightly.

In another 50 years from now when the economy collapses and everything is in threads and torn, the American Dream then, in 20-whatever, will be a house and a car.

Mel Brooks is a director, producer, writer and actor, the creator of such comedy film classics as Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein . Brooks is in an elite group as only one of seven artists/entertainers to earn all four major entertainment prizes: the Tony, the Emmy, the Grammy and the Oscar.

I think the American Dream used to be achieving one's goals in your field of choice--and from that all other things would follow. Now, I think the dream has morphed into the pursuit of money: Accumulate enough of it, and the rest will follow. We've become more materialistic. For balance, I think we need to get back to idealism and patriotism, but also be realistic with our monetary goals. I still say, shoot for the moon, you might get there.

Buzz Aldrin was a pilot on the Apollo 11 moon mission, and on July 20, 1969, he became the second man on the moon. Now 77, the West Point and MIT graduate is a vocal advocate for affordable space tourism and a manned landing on Mars.

The American Dream is the hope for a better future with equal opportunity for all to participate in the prosperity and success of our great nation.

U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi has represented California's 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987. In January 2007 she was elected as the first woman speaker of the House; previously, she served more than four years as Democratic leader in that chamber.

The American Dream is equal protection under the law and equal opportunity. The American Dream does not promise equal results, but it does promise equal opportunity.

The Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr., founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, is one of America's foremost civil rights, religious and political figures. In 1997, he was appointed by President Clinton as special envoy of the president and secretary of state for the promotion of democracy in Africa.

The American Dream is the determination to continue dreaming even when reality keeps threatening to wake you up.

Robert B. Reich, former U.S. secretary of labor, is professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley and the author of 11 books, including the forthcoming Supercapitalism.

For me the American Dream is the hope and opportunity that allows a poor kid from a poor family to grow up and go to Harvard Law School and become attorney general of the United States. It also means freedom. As I travel around the world and I get to know better these other countries, it confirms in my mind, without question, that we are the greatest country on Earth.

Alberto R. Gonzales is the attorney general of the United States. Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, he was counsel to President George W. Bush, a justice of the Supreme Court of Texas and Texas' secretary of state.

The American Dream boils down to self-knowledge. As the poet said, "Know thyself"; that's what matters in the long run. I like an illustration I saw once in a volume of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, where there's a kid sitting under a tree dangling a line into the Mississippi. He was just sitting there, doing nothing, and that's something we need to do more of--to sit and do nothing, and dream, and to follow that dream.

Frank McCourt was born in 1930 in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Irish immigrant parents, grew up in Limerick, Ireland, and returned to America in 1949. For 30 years he taught in New York City high schools. His first book, Angela's Ashes , won the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the L.A. Times Book Award.

The American Dream means being part of a society that allows you to be or do whatever you want, and to have a sense that your individual optimism and hard work will be rewarded.

Madeleine Albright served as the 64th U.S. secretary of state from 1997 to 2001, and was the first woman to hold the job. Today she heads the Albright Group, a global strategy consulting firm.

The American Dream is to take anything difficult and labor-intensive and make it easy and convenient. Whether it's cooking or war, the version we all crave is the one that's easy and convenient. It's working well, don't you think?

Harry Shearer may be best known as an actor in such films as This Is Spinal Tap and for voicing the characters Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders on The Simpsons . But he is also the author of a novel, Not Enough Indians, and host of the satirical radio program Le Show, which is produced and distributed by California public radio station KCRW-Santa Monica.

The American Dream is a rigged, corporate-controlled monetary system, which encourages just enough market force and cash liquidity for a newcomer to achieve his vision of the American Dream. Despite our Soviet-style corruption at the top, our maze of regulatory behaviors and the onerous dislocations of the military-industrial complex--and though most fail--a few do succeed in revitalizing this culture with their ideas and innovations. Whereupon, in the pyramid scheme, the newcomer is either bought out or becomes part of the control system.

Oliver Stone is an Academy Award-winning film director whose credits include Platoon , Wall Street , Born on the Fourth Of July , World Trade Center and other films.

To me, the American Dream is the freedom to choose to live how and where you want, to determine how you'll be governed and to provide your children with even more choices than you had.

Tom Brokaw was the sole anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News With Tom Brokaw for 21 years and won every major award in broadcast journalism, including two DuPonts, a Peabody Award and several Emmys. He is the author of three best sellers: The Greatest Generation , The Greatest Generation Speaks and An Album of Memories

The American Dream is about freedom. America allows us to be able to dream, then gives us the ability to achieve those dreams. For me, the American Dream was to go racing; for others, it's to pursue whatever their goals may be.

Rick Mears is one of only three four-time Indianapolis 500 winners. In 1992, Mears retired at the top of his game to work as a consultant, mentoring current star drivers Sam Hornish Jr. and Helio Castroneves. He is 56 years old.

The American Dream is full of loopholes and contradictions, but it's still the only place where you can start with nothing and end up having everything--but there are some rules. Be sure to be self-made, but come from a good family. Or, it's even better if you come from humble beginnings and make it huge, but then let us knock you down so we can build ya' up again. It's anything goes as long as you are successful. And you can't be too successful as long as you are humble and make everyone feel you are equal.

Actor John Leguizamo won an Emmy Award for the Spike Lee-directed presentation of his Tony-nominated Broadway solo show "Freak" and has received accolades for his performance in such movies as Moulin Rouge . He recently penned an autobiographical memoir, Pimps, Hos, Playa Hatas, and All the Rest of My Hollywood Friends .

The American Dream is ownership … a house, a car, a vacation home and, even better, your own business.

Mario Batali is an author, chef, restaurateur and star of television programs including Molto Mario and Iron Chef America. In 2005 the James Beard Foundation named him Outstanding Chef of the Year.

I think the American Dream is personal, political and economic freedom. It's what the Constitution assures. It's an immigrant dream, and a dream which we most identify with largely in part because the idea has been promoted worldwide through movies and American pop culture.

As the editor in chief and chief creative officer of Playboy, the world's best-selling men's lifestyle magazine, Hugh Hefner has profoundly influenced society in the last 50 years. In 1998 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the American Society of Magazine Editors.

The American Dream is about fulfilling your potential to the max. It's not a chase for material goods; it's about learning what inspires you in life and creating a plan to turn it into your life's work. The way to achieve the dream is to follow the plan and pay attention to the details, because it's those details that make or break you.

Tyra Banks is one of the world's most recognized supermodels and the creator, host and executive producer of both the reality-TV hit America's Next Top Model and the daytime syndicated talk show The Tyra Banks Show.

The American Dream is freedom, prosperity, peace--and liberty and justice for all. That's a big dream. It's not always easy to achieve, but that's the ideal. More than any country in history, we've made gains toward a democracy that is enviable throughout the world. Dreams require perseverance if they are to be realized, and fortunately we're a hardworking country and people.

Donald Trump is a real estate developer who owns such famous New York City addresses as Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street and Trump Park Avenue. He is the Emmy-nominated star and co-producer of the reality-TV series The Apprentice.

technorati tags: american dream, freedom

April 12, 2007 | 6:19 PM | Comments (0)

A semi-finished assignment for my digital photography class. Image courtesy of Small is the New Big. It's been refreshing taking this course and brushing up on some Photoshop. I think I only slept 2-3 hours last night (non-consecutive). This is what happens when I get engrossed in a project. Reminds me of those high school days when I first fell in love with digital design....It's a great feeling though. The world is silent in the wee hours of the morning, and I get to enjoy dabbling around in Photoshop while listening to sappy Chinese music (my music collection is actually very diverse but this is my latest phase) ....

PS: I have many blog entries that I definitely want to post. These few weeks are hectic with end-of-year / graduation craziness. Stay tuned for them!

technorati tags: art, design

April 5, 2007 | 8:27 AM | Comments (0)

My friend Theodore King and I had the pleasure of meeting Chris Lehmann, principal of Science Leadership Academy (SLA), this past Wednesday morning. SLA is a new Philadelphia public school, which opened this past Fall 2006, focused on project-based learning and built on School 2.0 principles. SLA's five core values (inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection) are deeply emphasized across all its curriculum. Many thanks to Christian Long, CEO of DesignShare, for introducing me to Chris in the first place!

Chris graciously offered us a few moments of this time out of his busy schedule to discuss the making of his vision. In addition, Jon Amsterdam gave us a tour of the facilities. Below are some of the observations I made from the visit.

• Empower students! SLA loves each of its students as individuals. This is deeply reflected in its admissions process. Each interested candidate is evaluated separately based on academics, extracurriculars, interest in project-based learning, etc. and goes through a face-to-face interview process where students are assessed based on their presentation skills, interaction with the SLA community, etc. Consequently, admission is not biased to only students who are top academic performers. Instead, the admission process considers a breadth of very diverse, qualified candidates. For instance, if a student was not performing as well academically, he/she must justify their performance during the interview process and why they are interested in a place like SLA. Fit is what matters. While this approach may lead to a larger academic difference gap among classes (which may be more difficult for teachers from a teaching perspective), ultimately I think this process provides "balance" and the "right" mix of students. At the end of the day, you want to admit people who truly want to be there, and SLA's admission process does just that.
• Renovate traditional learning. SLA focuses on project-based learning with lots of interdisciplinary overlap across courses, so students can easily apply concepts learned in one subject to another. For instance, history teacher Mr. Matt Baird described the most recent project his students were working on. It was focused on the abolitionist period where students had to draft a letter in response to the Dred Scott decision. The students then use modern technology to create advertisements during that time period. In another project, they must research and collect stories on historic Philadelphia and later publish the material on a public website. This process allows the students to mix knowledge of history with other disciplines (arts, computers, etc.).
• Incorporate cutting-edge technology. Each SLA student has an Apple labtop. Classes run on open-source course management programs like Moodle, allowing students and teachers to more easily collaborate online via features such as virtual classrooms, gradebook, discussion forums, and file uploads. In addition, teachers can use blogs and wikis to communicate with students on a daily basis. Chris told us that they are now switching over to use Drupal. In particular, they are partnering with Bill Fitzgerald of OpenAcademic to build a standard for online collaborative learning for the new tech-savvy generation.
• Create a sense of community. Students actively participate in all activities from helping with the SLA admissions process (acting as "interviewers" and providing their own feedback on candidates) to making changes to open-source software (updating SLA website, upgrading features of programs, blogging). One example Chris mentioned was a student who had excellent academics (4.0) but was not admitted. When the parents asked why, Chris said that the student expressed arrogance in front of other SLA students during the interview process, saying that he was only applying to SLA as a "safety school." To me, this is an excellent way of assessing a candidate's "soft" qualities. After all, people do not reveal their "true" self during the formal interview process. Only by interacting with people in an array of environments and situations can you get a better understanding of what the person is actually like. By using this method of active student participation, SLA students gain a sense of responsibility for SLA and ownership of their work. They feel part of the SLA family. Even just walking around the school, Theodore and I saw the hard work of students proudly displayed on the multi-colored pastel walls (e.g. poster displaying complex carbon molecules in Chicken Nuggets and Mac & Cheese). Jon told us that the walls will soon be decorated with art murals. (This hit home for me. I actually replicated a famous painting for my elementary school in New Jersey. I'm hoping to visit my old school later this May. My principal, Mr. Mrozinski, told me that as long as he was still at the school (which he is), he'd make sure the picture was still on the wall. I wonder if it's still there ...)

Overall, the visit was very enjoyable and eye-opening. It's great to first hear Chris talk about his initial vision and then physically see, touch, and walk through it. I can't wait to see what SLA will be like a year from now.

View this Flickr set to see more images. I took some with my phone, but the quality isn't nearly as good!

technorati tags: science leadership academy, sla, philadelphia, chris lehmann, school 2.0, education

March 29, 2007 | 5:19 PM | Comments (1)

• Do you really understand the real need (sometimes unspoken need) of your customer?
• Can you give the customer what he or she really wants?

• Experience creators. They have renovated the entire end-to-end flight experience from the time you punch in your flight information at the kiosk to when you are at the gate to when you are sitting in your seat. The pastel colors of Song are carried throughout this journey (Song logo/backdrop at airport, airport Song gate design, flight chairs, etc). Even the diaper changing station of the plane has the words "oh baby!" (white text on blue) written on it.
• Brand the people. Song employees are not interviewed. They audition. People are taught "how to be Song." People talk about whether or not they are "Song" or how much "Song" they are. The company has turned "Song" into an adjective. (Like how Google has turned itself into a verb.) Are you "Song?"
• Introduce novelty. Song is an airline, yet it has publicized itself in completely innovative ways, methods people would not typically associate with an airline. For instance, Song has a concept store in Massachusetts (much like the Apple store) where visitors can stop by for a visit. They have run a series of ads - print and TV - to convey their brand. These ads typically feature real, happy-looking people. The created scene is often magical yet not surreal.

• Create a lovemark. Follow the advice of one of the greatest advertising agencies of all time, Saatchi & Saatchi.

  Lovemarks transcend brands. They deliver beyond your expectations of great performance. Like great brands, they sit on top of high levels of respect - but there the similarities end.

  Lovemarks reach your heart as well as your mind, creating an intimate, emotional connection that you just can’t live without. Ever.

  Take a brand away and people will find a replacement. Take a Lovemark away and people will protest its absence. Lovemarks are a relationship, not a mere transaction. You don’t just buy Lovemarks, you embrace them passionately. That’s why you never want to let go.

  Put simply, Lovemarks inspire "Loyalty Beyond Reason."

  
  

• It's all about relationships. Not just with your customer but with your friends, your boss, your boyfriend, your children, your dog, and even your stock portfolio. It's how you manage and understand these relationships that really matter. I suppose at the end of the day, the essence is understanding what it means to be human. What motivates people? What do they care about? What are their inner wants and desires? Why do they do what they do? What are their stories?
• Feeling > Thinking. "How do you think?" is on the outside. "How do you feel?" is on the inside. Getting to know the inside is what counts. How well can you read the inside?

technorati tags: song, airline, experience, experience marketing, customer, customer need, lovemark

March 26, 2007 | 4:13 PM | Comments (0)

My business fraternity, Phi Gamma Nu, is organizing the first-ever undergraduate Goldman Sachs Private Equity Case Competition at University of Pennsylvania. We've received 21 submissions of buy-out proposals from 84 people (each proposal is by 4 students). I have the pleasure of reading through all these submissions. Naturally, as I'm sitting here and reading, I've become compelled to write a blog entry.

• Structure and organization are key. Some of these proposals are just essays -- paragraphs of text with a few numerical figures buried here and there. Of course, quality of content is most important, but effective presentation allows you to communicate your ideas 1000x better. Think about who's reading your work. People are busy and impatient. They want to be able to get what you are saying as quickly as possible. This is why people practice the "30 sec elevator pitch" whether it's to sell yourself in an interview or to sell your idea to a venture capitalist. This is also the key to any consulting case interview ;p
• Use headings and bullets. Don't hesistate to include graphics or charts to better convey an idea. Don't be afraid to bold, italicize, or underline. Headings and bullets allow you to organize your thoughts on paper. You let the reader immediately see how much space you are allocating per section and the relative importance of each. A simple diagram can often explain a concept more quickly (and be visually stimulating). It's time to start using more font formatting features in Microsoft Word ;p
• First impressions matter. I personally am a very visual person. In all honesty, I get excited about fonts, colors, and formatting a lot and am very picky about them. In the professional world, I'm sure most of my investment banking friends can attest to the importance of Powerpoint formatting. Ironically, I'd hate doing that as a job ;p
• Keep things simple and intuitive! Don't overcrowd a page with too much information. Does your page have too much text? Too many diagrams? Numbers? Leave space. Margins are your friend. You shouldn't need a magnifying glass to read the font on the page.
• Apply structure/organization/formatting (SOF) to life! Not just LBO proposals. Professional emails, presentations in front of groups, your own daily routine or schedule, personal goal setting, etc.

technorati tags: structure, headings, bullets, effective communication, organization, formatting

March 26, 2007 | 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

I just had a very nice chat with my friend Shengquan, one of the founders of LingoLinko (still in development) which I blogged briefly about in this post on Wharton startups.

While my dear friend Peter continually teaches me how to think, Shengquan introduced me to two fundamental problem solving tactics. Shengquan told me that he was friends with some very talented Math Olympiad members back in Singapore. He soon realized that these people were not necessarily geniuses (abnormal IQ) but instead were very well trained in problem solving and applied those skills to other areas. To demonstrate this, he gave me two small puzzles to solve:

• # of squares in 1x1 grid: 1
• # of squares in 2x2 grid: 1 + 4
• # of squares in 3x3 grid: 1 + 9 + 4
• etc...

• All businesses solve problems. At its core, all companies identify a need (problem) and attempt to solve it with a product or service. If this did not exist, there would be no demand.
• Simple ideas are very powerful. While the above two principles seem very intuitive, they are often not how people actually approach problem solving. People don't typically break problems up into pieces and tackle the components. This is why many consulting cases drill this concept in their case interviews, and why software companies stress design specifications. (Luckily, engineering students get trained at this to a good extent.)
• Take existing strategies and apply them in new contexts. Shengquan extracted what his Math Olympiad friends had done and applied them to his own business in Singapore.

technorati tags: problem solving, art of problem solving

March 17, 2007 | 6:24 PM | Comments (0)

A few of my college friends (girls mostly) like to make pretty color-coded versions of their daily schedules (classes, work, etc.), and many post them on their dorm walls. Though it makes sense to do one for classes, meetings, work, and the like, I never understood why people would refine it to the point where they'd schedule time to do homework, go to the gym, eat, go to church, etc. I always thought this was restricting. After all, don't schedules change all the time? Why constrain yourself? One of my friends even told me she doesn't actually -follow- her schedule, which made me think it was even more worthless.

Lately, however, I've had a change of opinion.

Perhaps creating a "routine" is like goal-setting but on a finer, micro scale. You can get more accomplished with your day by creating and -following- a schedule. The key here of course is to hold yourself accountable for your actions. For starters, I want to develop an early morning routine (See below). I'm going to try this experiment over the next month and evaluate the results.

Here are a few links of interest:

• Jim Critin's Tapping the Power of Your Morning Routine: Apparently, 80% of the surveyed top CEOs and executives wake up before 5:30am each day. (No, I don't intend on waking up quite that early but very early for the normal college student ;p - like 7am.) I found this article courtesy of Brad Feld's post on his morning routine.
• Steve Pavlina's posts on "How to become an early riser" Part I and Part II: Waking up early has allowed Steve to gain an extra 10-15 hours per week.

New strategy of getting things done: Dave Cheong also writes about the notion of time boxing, "fixing the time we have available to work on a given task and then doing the best we can within that time frame. So instead working on something until it is 'done' in one sitting, we only work on it for say 30 mins. It is either marked as one at the end of this period or we commit to another 30 mins at a later time or another day." This makes perfect sense. People have short attention spans. As a college senior, I can't even sit through 1.5 hr of lecture anymore, depending upon the class, of course. In fact, for classes I don't care about (i.e. have no true interest in the subject), I don't actually go to class and prefer to read the textbook on my own. It's much more efficient and better use of my time.

technorati tags: getting things done, waking up early, routine, goal setting

February 12, 2007 | 5:22 PM | Comments (3)

This is my second year actively participating (along with my business fraternity) in Relay for Life, put on by the American Cancer Society. Cancer affects everyone, and it's likely you may have known someone who was affected or have been affected yourself. (I personally know a few -- including the younger brother of two of fraternity brothers, who is fortunately a cancer survivor.) If you can support me in this effort, that'd be great. Donations can easily be made on the website with credit card.

I've set a fundraising goal of $500 for myself.

technorati tags: relay for life, cancer

February 10, 2007 | 10:44 PM | Comments (1)

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.

technorati tags: never eat alone, keith ferrazzi, passion, networking action plan

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

I recently had a very inspiring lunch conversation with my entrepreneurial friend Peter, who reminded me of how often we forget to think. It's so easy to get wrapped up in day-to-day activities, whether it's at school, home, or work. As we become more comfortable with these routines, it's easy to forgot to ask ourselves "why" (i.e. Why are we doing this? Why does it work this way?) or "why not" (i.e. Why don't I do this instead? Why doesn't it work like so?). Peter told me the story around John Morgan (relating to birth of JPMorgan). John Morgan claimed to have worked only 30 hours per week, an absurd number compared to the notorious 80 to 100 hours per week investment banking job. When asked why he worked so little, Morgan replied that he spent the rest of the 50 hours thinking instead.

This story struck me in particular. How often do we take a breather from our daily lives just to stop and think for a bit, be more observant or critical? Peter is an excellent example of someone who stops to think. He lives by writing a new idea down each day. We should all remind ourselves to take more time off for thinking.

technorati tags: thinking, art of thinking

January 17, 2007 | 11:27 PM | Comments (2)

If I were to only pick only one organization that significantly changed my life, it would be the Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) --- hands down.

I am always hesitant when telling a story around volunteerism (“doing good”), mostly because I’m afraid I sound too cliché and cheesy that people won’t take it (or -me-) seriously. Even though this may still bother me, I try not to let it so much. To readers who can appreciate the following, I thank you. For those who can’t, well, you can believe and think what you want.

I was first introduced to the YVC by my friend (and now forever role model) Susan. At the time, I never had done community service in my life and, frankly, wasn’t all too excited about it. Come on, as the average high school student, would you rather sleep in on Saturday mornings or wake up at 7:30am to volunteer? Would you spend six hours on Saturday helping renovate a low-income elementary school, or does that Nintendo Wii or MySpace page look more attractive to you? (Back in the day, it was just instant messaging and web surfing.)

“Come out this Saturday. It’s a lot of fun. Get it a try,” Susan told me.

My first thoughts were “Fun? She’s kidding, right?”Though, after some thinking, I told myself, “Why not?” My initial reasons for volunteering were very selfish: 1) I just moved to California at the time and didn’t know anyone. I saw it as a great way to make new friends. 2) It looked good on college applications.

It didn’t take long for me to get hooked on the YVC. I can’t possibly begin to tell you why I loved it so much and what it has meant for me. It’s not simply the amazing people and friendships I made, their energy, their drive. It’s not simply the impact we made, the smiles we saw, the people we touched. It's hard for me to tell you, but I met some of the most down-to-earth, genuinely passionate people in my life so far. These are the people who truly cared. They weren't there for the publicity. They weren't there for their resume. Put simply, they actually just gave a damn. That was all that mattered.

Thank you for three amazing years. Weekly Saturday Service projects. Organizing our four annual national days of service with over 200 youth at each event (all done by team of ~20 youth leaders). Reading the handmade thank you cards of students from Roseland Elementary School. Martin Luther King Day poetry slams. Gardening for the homeless. Canned food drives. See’s Candies sales. Raising over $10,000 at the Human Race. Our Friday youth council meetings followed by dinner at Lyons or IHOP. The fun from fundraising out in the streets during the rain in costume. Annual retreats. Friendly tribe competition. One night experience as a waitress at a Rockin Ravioli fundraiser. Twice. Feeling amazingly satisfied after six hours of sweating from working under the sun (Volunteering requires physical stamina!). Presenting leadership workshops to at-risk youth across the state of CA. Building self-confidence and public speaking. Letting me design your website. Amazing friendships. Realizing that I mattered, that I wasn’t just a teenager dreaming to make change, that I could make a difference.

Still don’t believe me? Words alone cannot express what it has meant for me. Here’s a picture:

For all this, I thank Susan. To this day, she’s by far the most energetic, crazy (in a good way), driven, daring, fun, all-around beautiful person I know. She’s the kind of girl who could get you excited about almost anything, who could get you to smile when you're feeling down, who could get you to do things you never thought you’d do, who could, quite simply, rock your world. She was the type who dared to go on stage and rap (yes, rap) about laissez-faire, politics, economics, what have you, only because she truly believed in social change. What I admire about Susan the most: the fact that she genuinely believes in what she does and acts on it. Everything about her – her spirit, energy, thoughts – is contagious.

(Note: Susan now studies Social Studies at Harvard. She’s also working actively with FORGE.)

• Anyone can make a mark. At YVC, I was part of a group called Peer Presenters. We were a group of youth (mostly high school and some middle school students) who created original leadership workshops and presented them to at-risk youth around the county. Our first leadership workshop was titled "The Leader in You." The point we stressed to kids was that you don't need to be Martin Luther King, Jr. to make a difference or be a leader. The simple gesture of helping a friend with a homework problem or trying to resolve a conflict shows initiative and leadership. Even today, I constantly remind myself of how effective and meaningful these small actions are.
• Be the change you want to see. Here's a great quote (which most of you may have seen already) by Alan Kay:
  
  
  "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

technorati tags: youth volunteerism, , youth volunteer corps, yvc, community service, change

January 4, 2007 | 11:19 AM | Comments (0)

1. Does it load -fast-?: Users demand instant gratification. Period. This is my biggest pet peeve and why I must always be on broadband. I absolutely cannot tolerate a slow loading site. If a site fails to load during the expected timeframe, I immediately click the "Back" or "X" button. It's a second nature reaction now.
2. Is it intuitive?: Does the page layout make sense? Users are most stubborn to adopt a radically new and different way of doing something they are used to. Keep the navigation menu in a visible location with common names (e.g. "About Us" or "Contact"). (By the way, I do think the new AIM 6.0 is somewhat of a big product leap from the previous versions -- for non-tech-savvy users anyway.)
3. Keep it simple.: This is one of the key reasons people love Google. Especially when targeting the general public, don't have content move in fancy directions with Flash or have the navigation be a small dot you expect the user to -know- to click on. Don't expect anything from the user. Pretend you are designing the site, so your grandmother can use it.
4. Keep it clean.: Don't overload the site with flashing icons that move across the page or have the page be cluttered in text and images. Create space. This makes it easier on our eyes.
5. Make it easy.: Make the site accessible and easy to use for the user. For instance, if your main navigation is on the top of the page, make a duplicate navigation on the bottom, so users avoid scrolling back up to the top to access a different page. Add search functionality and/or a site map.
6. Focus on your target audience.: Design with purpose. The look and feel of the site should be catered towards the target audience you are reaching. For instance, WSJ and MTV are completely different sites serving different audiences.
7. Pretty it up.: A website should be visually stimulating. Yes, some websites, particularly blogs, are more focused on text, since readers visit for the words. In either case, like the cover of a book, presentation is key.
8. Keep it hot.: You got to keep your audience members wanting more and coming back to the site. Update the content, and keep it fresh.
9. Listen to your users.: They are the #1 source for feedback on where your site needs improvement. Listen to their comments. Then, redesign and reiterate.

With this, I'd appreciate feedback and constructive criticism on my own portfolio and this blog. =) Thanks in advance!

technorati tags: webdesign tips, good website

December 30, 2006 | 4:51 PM | Comments (0)

A friend recently told me:

"Too smart?" No, that's not correct.

It really irritates me when people don't consider art to be a "respectable" profession. My parents are included in this. Growing up, I never received formal art training. On one hand, as immigrants to the United States, we just didn't have the money. On the other, they later admitted that they never considered this "hobby" of mine very seriously. They don't think artists make much money or that I could be "successful."

I'm a firm believer of this: Success is based on doing what you love. Whether that is making art or becoming a financial analyst. Passion is what separates the good from the exceptional.

What is passion? Passion is what makes you tick. It means reading the Wall Street Journal and tracking stocks because you love it. It means making art after high school prom. It means reading books, articles, blogs, etc. because you want to, not because it was assigned to you (from your job or from your professor). It means doing what you do without thinking it's work.

Coming from Penn and Wharton, most of my friends go into investment banking or consulting. Few of these friends, I'd say, genuinely deeply -love- these professions or have "passion." In fact, I've heard stories of many people hating their jobs after a few years after college. This makes me sad.

In response to my friend,

I have a wide set of interests and goals. My only hope is that I have enough time in my life to complete them all.

technorati tags: art, passion, success, job

December 26, 2006 | 11:53 AM | Comments (2)

Just a few days ago, I was thinking, "Man, I -really- need to update my portfolio over winter break." Inside, I was thinking how much of a drag it would be. Recreating the site from scratch (after I lost my hard drive). Updating all those notepad text files. It was going to be painful.

But I was sick of the layout. It had been that way for the past few years with very minimal changes or updates, if any. That alone motivated me to want to change it, but I wasn't so excited about it all. The truth was that I really didn't enjoy graphic and web designing like I used to. Just didn't feel it.

Back in high school, I was totally obsessed with it. I surfed the Internet like mad, observed the work of my art admirers, spent hours and hours trying to master the next Photoshop technique, and churned out a new layout to website every few weeks. I'd go into class, jumping up and down over a new trick I had learned the previous night (or that morning). I was excited, stoked, completely and utterly ecstatic (even after only getting a few hours of sleep and getting yelled at by my mom for not going to sleep when it was 4am in the morning). I even came back to my art -after- my junior year prom. Yes, after prom. After all that dancing and fun. My body was tired physically, but not enough to say "no" to art. Never. My friends thought I was completely nuts (and perhaps they still do ;p). I didn't care though. I loved what I was doing. That was all that mattered.

Somewhere down the road, after going to college, it changed. I stopped visiting the "uber elite" design communities, stopped updating my website, stopped clicking on the Photoshop icon on my desktop. I just didn't feel the same way anymore.

In fact, it's been so long that I forgot -that- feeling ... until this weekend when I updated my website. Going through my past work more closely and updating it with the new, the feelings I used to have returned. The memories, of course. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed creating art on a blank canvas. It's like giving a two-year-old crayons, so he/she can doodle over the walls of the house (I'm sure the parents love this!).

Note to Self

Back in freshmen year, upon entering Penn, I promised myself that I will -not- shortchange art. I will hold myself to that promise.

technorati tags: art, design, love, life, web design, graphic design

December 26, 2006 | 11:40 AM | Comments (0)

I was considering applying to places like Rhode Island School of Design, Ringling School of Art and Design, and UCLA but never felt my work was good enough.

I never had any formal training. To this day, my first formal art class was Drawing I at Penn --- the first time in my life I used charcoal or conte, the first time when I truly understood that art is a "study" not "arts and crafts" like most people would think. On top of this, my parents, though supportive, also asked, "as an art major, what would you do once you graduate?" It was one of those questions which I couldn't answer myself.

Being young and naïve, I ultimately made the more practical choice and applied to schools like Berkeley , CMU, and Penn where I could "broader my horizon" by studying more than one discipline.

Berkeley was out of the question. First, I had trouble finding information about their art department online (first negative sign). Secondly, applying to their engineering department was the equivalent of selling my life to long nights of programming rather than long nights in the art studio (if that existed on campus).

For CMU, I had jointly applied to both Carnegie Mellon's Engineering School and Design School , which took about 50 students each year. Sign #1: When I told my interviewer that I was interested in studying both design and engineering, he basically told me this was "unheard of" and literally "impossible." Basically, both programs were too work-intensive that I wouldn't be able to handle the coursework. Sign #2: Though I got into their engineering school, I was waitlisted for Design. (This was more discouraging than anything but did not really surprise me. My high school offered no AP Art curriculum, so the world I had to show my interviewers was very limited in terms of traditional art. As for the digital work, it was all my own creation with hardly any formal critique.)

Finally, there was Penn, and it's combined Digital Media Design program, an engineering degree in computer science with both fine arts and communications components. A perfect combination, right?

The final irony: Now, I'm studying Digital Media Design -and- business from Wharton at Penn. While CMU and Berkeley both made it "impossible" to study two disciplines, I'm attempting to study three.

(Note: I'm double majoring, but Penn offers more breadth by allowing me to study three disciplines: engineering, art, and business.)

technorati tags: art school, cmu, berkeley, upenn, college

December 26, 2006 | 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

I finally got around to doing a facelift on my portfolio! I hope to do some updates with new work (mostly photography) shortly.

Oh, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

technorati tags: aquinox, jing chen, portfolio, design, art

December 24, 2006 | 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

As promised, I'm finally making a post on art!

This semester was my first time taking traditional photography: using a 35mm slr camera, developing my own film (yes, I did say film), printing in the darkroom, and all that fun jazz. It was by far one of my favorite (and also most expensive) classes I've taken at Penn.

I'd like to share my final photography portfolio with you. While it may not represent the best photos I've taken or printed (in fact, I will share some others soon), it is a body of work around a central theme. I am still very new to this, so I would appreciate any comments and feedback!

Enjoy! Click on the image to enter the gallery and use arrows to navigate.