I can’t believe we did it. We launched our first Kickstarter campaign for Coding Kids. Clicking publish was the most challenging thing I have done.

What if it is a flop? And everyone sees that I am a failure?

Creating is not the hardest thing to do. Publishing it for the whole world to see is.

There must be so much created out in the world and not shared or seen by the world, because it is such a scary thing to do. To bare yourself open for judgement, internet trolls, or published official failure.

If anything, this makes…

We did it! We won BikeHack19. Here’s our two-and-half-day long journey.

FRIDAY

Friday night I was sitting next to Shaw and deliberating over my idea that I wanted to pitch. Earlier that day, he had mentioned some weaknesses of my idea. So here we were, waiting for the pitches to start, and I am dubious about my idea. I was hesitating whether to pitch it. But Shaw encouraged me to pitch. He said, half joking, if there was no better pitch, he might join my team.

I was in the queue to pitch. I was making an effort to listen to…

For two years I had been told that it was just constipation, that I need to eat more fibre. Eat more fruits and vegetables, eat more whole grains.

I know what constipation feels like. I knew these intermittent pains in my abdomen were not constipation. Many doctors were not able to work it out.

I tried one more new doctor, at first she did not know what it could be, so she ordered a few tests for me. …

I have been ferociously refining my productivity hacks for the last 5 years. Every year, I actively seek to level-up my productivity. My journey of self-testing has evolved into these 13 principles.

What my week looks like

Here is my digital calendar. I have a rough colour code. Red means very time sensitive ie a scheduled meeting with others. Purple is for my fitness commitments. Aqua or bright blue is my digital sunset ie screens off. …

I spent over a decade building my engineering career. I worked for 2 multinational engineering consultancies and a state government transport department. My engineering career to date looked just like this:

• I started with a role as a Graduate Engineer which I did for the three years, building up my technical experience and skills within structural engineering and then traffic engineering.
• I achieved chartered status with Engineers Australia, CPEng (Chartered Professional Engineer), within 3 years of graduation. The average timeframe to achieve this at the time was 8 years after graduation.
• I was promoted to Professional Engineer and did this…

I love talking to people about business. I have the privilege of getting a daily dose of friends sharing their latest business idea.

It was my dear friend Mike’s turn the other day. Mike loves terrariums. He designs and builds self-contained, miniature ecosystem creations with love and joy.

Mike: I want to start my own terrarium business.

Ok, here we go. This needs an intervention.

Me: You’re the best UX guy I know and you want to sell pot plants? Don’t you want to sell a scalable SaaS product and build a unicorn?

I was hoping to burst his bubble…

I told my colleagues I’m quitting work. I’m going to start my own business. They were aghast.

“What if you fail?”

What if?

• I stay at work
• I feel unfulfilled
• I do not create positive impact
• I do not grow to my full potential
• I work in an environment that is misaligned with my values
• I get made redundant
• I feel stale and uninspired everyday for the next 40+ years of my professional life

What if?

• I fail
• I grow as a person
• I learn new skills
• I grow my network
• I see the world differently
• I discover new opportunities

…

Starting a business is hard work. It takes a significant investment of money, time, and energy. It is a common story that founders sacrifice a lot: sleep, family time, health, social life, opportunity cost, and relationships. Especially relationships.

This was the price I paid. I lost a long-time friend. We met at university 19 years ago. We shared many life experiences together through university, relationships, our jobs and careers, weddings, and children. I’ve reached out, but she hasn’t spoken to me for a few years now.

I had this winning business idea, so I brought it up with my dear…