Waking up in China…
…to the sound notifications & traction
Look it’s been a while. Now I know I committed to once weekly updates from inside Chinaccelerator. But, turns out the accelerator is hectic (no shit) and great (no way, really?). But now, as I sit on a plane next to a man with his mouth wide open, drooling as he gets some of my much needed zzz’s on my behalf, here’s a short post of learnings from the last month, and some beyond the last month that have again occurred to me:
Don’t overthink, too much
Sometimes, we can overthink things (I am great at that!), but as one of our key Advisors and Mentors Bethayne Blount wisely told me a couple of weeks back, “don’t hold onto any decision, it doesn’t necessarily last too long”. Think about that.
Cut out the noise by focusing on one main solution, daily
Every morning, I wake up after about 4–5 hours sleep to a bunch of emails, Slack chats, WeChat’s, WhatsApp, Skype, Google Hangout messages, missed calls, and iMessages. And that’s only within a 4–5 hour period of sleeping whilst most others in my world are doing the same. It gets overwhelming to wake up to those notifications as your alarm. Two things taken from this:
- Yes, you run a startup, but you also run your own body. Get some rest, it’s ok and you’ll function better for it.
- Focus on solving one major problem a day. As a priority. What’s the biggest thing you can overcome and solve? Then look at the smaller things surrounding that problem and tick those off too.
I mean, Google are solving problems and creating whole new products in five days.
Traction, traction, traction.
Everyone talks about it. Everyone’s hustling to get it. Be strategic about your traction, and show a scalable business model. Early traction tips here. You’re welcome.
Research being an ‘expatrenuer’ in China
Mainland China can be difficult place to get a startup off the ground (der, you all say). But beyond the obvious of market penetration, and cultural differences. I’m talking visas. Something you think should be simple, functional. But it’s not necessarily. Do your research. It pays off, before you have to pay someone off. Trust me. I wrote this about our recent Visa experience.
And onto a final positive note whilst we put the other end on this sandwich (good, bad, good), this is an old one but a great one.
Do something you are passionate about
Not just the job, but the industry too. For me, that’s tech and travel. And only the other day did I realise I am working, living and breathing what I love. It makes waking up in the wee hours of morning to the sound of notifications okay. And the visa mayhem and difficulty okay too (although still a fresh wound).
chozun.com, part of Chinaccelerator Batch 9
