Dissolution

After almost 4 months, we are finally getting to the end of dissolving Rokenten Supply. The process was not difficult once I figured out the right question to ask and the right person to ask the question. Still the experience was not at all a pleasant one.

In a partnership relationship. One must voice and address the concerns clearly and persist on a resolution. Everyone is looking for for their own interest.

The most critical first step in a successful startup is finding the right partner/co-founder. If anything feels off, don’t do it.

Tasks and Tools

Tasks and tools for starting a new project:

  • Name / domain name
  • Project Management – Trello, Asana, Jira, Basecamp, Monday
  • Messaging – Slack
  • Sketching – Miro, Lucidchart
  • Google Workspace – gmail, drive, chat, meet
  • Legal entity – Legalzoom
  • Banking – Chase, BMO
  • Book keeping – Quickbooks, Xero
  • Repo – Github, Bitbucket

Idea Bank

Keep a notebook of startup ideas. Any ideas, big or small, jot them down as they come to mind. Overtime, there will be a lot of random ideas. Review them occasionally to generate new ideas, or combine some into a different idea.

一個創業人,要有細膩的觀察力,豐富的想像力,還要很有創意。隨時帶一個創業主意記事本。不管什麼樣的主意,無論大小,不管好壞。把所有的創業主意記下來。有時候回顧一下,把原有的主意補充、修改,或者合併幾個成為新主意。

Serendipity and luck

Elizabeth Yin in one of the most loved VC in the startup world. She is the founder of Hustle Fund based in SF. Her tweets are filled with down to earth, practical advice for entrepreneurs new and old. Her blog is worth reading by everyone on the startup path. I agree with Elizabeth’s sentiments on “Serendipity and luck trump everything.” My own career is marked with many chance encounters, even now. The biggest trick is to recognize them when they are in front of us.

Some reflections on turning 40

Startup Risks

The bigger risks that startups have are whether they can:

  • find a big problem that is real & serious
  • get paid to solve it in a repeatable way
  • maintain strong unit economics
  • eventually find customer acquisition channels that have “market pull”

These risks exist all the time.

Twitter – Elizabeth Yin