May 2012
3 posts
Introducing: Opinioneated
You know me, I love my food.
Opinioneated is an interactive map of where to eat in Singapore, based on the reviews of popular food bloggers.
Here’s the link: http://opinioneated.com
After you’ve had a look, come back and read this :)
For fun (a weekend hack), I felt like working on a project related to eating out. I’ve already worked with two successful cooking /...
Growth Hacking 101
In a previous startup we went from 0 to around 500,000 users.
In this world of 800 million user social networks that might not sound like much - but our business was e-commerce, where there is a significant and explicitly calculable ARPU.
An audience of 500,000 people who you are selling to directly is an incredibly valuable asset, something that a multi-million dollar business can thrive off....
March 2012
3 posts
How Are You Going To Get Customers?
This is a question that needs to be asked way more often.
There’s a lot of talk in the startup world about “ideas people” vs. “tech people”. Here’s an example post and at the end the author rightly notes that he could flip his whole argument on its head and it would still make sense. Ideas people and tech people both need each other equally.
I feel however...
Yongfook's Tokyo Eating Tips
I don’t usually write posts like this on my blog but I’ll break character for this one. I lived in Tokyo for about 10 years so I often get asked “where should I eat?” by friends going there on vacation.
Walking around Tokyo as a tourist trying to find something to eat can be very intimidating. The landscape is dominated by scrappy, independent establishments and the fear...
Regional Incubators: Specialize or Die!
There are now around 20 tech incubators in Singapore.
For those who don’t know, an incubator typically adds value to an early stage startup in the areas of product fine-tuning, seed-funding and ongoing business mentoring. It will also provide connections when it’s time for the startup to raise a larger round of funding.
For an island of only 5 million people (and only a fraction of...
February 2012
1 post
How to ACTUALLY Get More Twitter Followers
Social media gurus will tell you a cliched tale about how “it’s not the quantity of followers/fans, it’s the quality”.
This is true but it’s also entirely moot - given the choice between 100 high quality followers and 100,000 high quality followers any brand will choose the latter. Give me high quality and lots of them, thanks. Can’t do that? Stop calling...
January 2012
1 post
Do Something Mundane!
Problem discovery is a challenge that every founder will face. How do I find a problem worth solving?
You’re not going to discover a problem worth solving by fantasizing with a cofounder along the lines of “wouldn’t it be cool if there was an app that…” and you’re not going to discover a problem worth solving by playing the this for that game.
However,...
December 2011
4 posts
Accidental Entrepreneurs Don't Exist
In response to this post.
The fairytale of an entrepreneur having an “aha!” moment - which transforms their business into a billion dollar public company - glosses over the months or years of wading through shit it took to get to that “aha!” moment.
The general sentiment of the author’s post is correct, basically: have tons of ideas (90% of them will be shit...
Shut Up and Take My Money!
Amongst the sensational, polarizing chaos that spewed forth from my previous post, one question was continually posed by innocent bystanders - what’s this “value” nonsense anyway? I think it’s worth spending a few paragraphs exploring.
You have created value when you are solving a real problem for your user. Aim high! It’s an almost bulletproof way of ensuring the...
Design is Horseshit!
In direct response to: http://designerfund.com/infographic
I’ve created products / services in the past that have garnered praise for their design. I love good design in all forms - copywriting in particular fascinates me. I’ve never called myself a designer.
Here’s my pitch. This talk of designers as the new kings of startups is becoming increasingly overblown. You are not...
Manifesto
Twitter for soundbites and easy-to-digest observations on life, business and women. Facebook for gratuitous self-shot photos, party pictures and a whole catalogue of food pics both consumed and cooked. This blog for longer form text content where I feel the need to express an opinion. No pics, no frills, no penis-jokes.
Just raw yongfook.
I have it all figured out. Trust me.
Old,...