I find it kinda ironic that as a student, I'm getting a shorter weekend because of class of Saturday while the rest of Singapore enjoys a long weekend because of Deepavali. Something just doesn't seem right don't you think?
To be fair, we are getting a long weekend next weekend while the rest of Singapore enjoys a normal one due to the leadership summit that INSEAD is hosting (assuming you're not going for the summit). Guess it all adds up in some weird cosmic way.
I know some classmates of mine didn't actually come to school on Friday because they were exempt from Marketing and weren't interested in the Entrepreneurship Day that was held on campus in the afternoon. I always find it fascinating hearing from alumni entrepreneurs about their journey beyond INSEAD and how they've got to where they are today. The panel yesterday was no different with all 3 panelists arguably enjoying various stages of success.
The first had a pretty successful private consulting business in brand management for many multinational and family businesses here in Asia. He was probably the most confident and passionate of the 3, something that probably comes with experience and knowing that he's "made it" and isn't really "working" anymore in the strict sense of the word as he's just essentially pursuing a passion that just so happens to pay him.
The second had previous failed in his first venture centered around software only to rebound into his current venture that involved digital media and training. He seemed to be doing reasonably well although it seemed to me that it wasn't exactly a rip-roaring success and that he wasn't really passionate about it. It came at a time when he was pretty down on his luck and this venture paid the bills so he jumped at it.
The last guy had only graduated from INSEAD just 2 years ago and was involved in an internet/targeted marketing business in China. He had previously trained as a doctor and thought that this might be a fun thing to do. I felt he actually provided the most memorable moment of the discussion when he said that if he knew then what he knows now, he might not have chosen this path. All this despite the fact that he seems to be pretty close to proving commercial success and reaching probably a really exciting time with his venture.
The panelists all picked up on an analogy by the first guy whereby he likened the process of starting a company to that of bring a plane to take-off. As you taxi to the runway, you perform all the required safety checks and make sure everything/everyone is in place. Once you're ready to takeoff and accelerate down the runway, you pretty much focus in on whether you're going to reach the velocity needed and whether you're going to pull back on the lever to get airborne. Up to a certain point of course you can abort, but after that critical point, it's all systems go. Now or never.
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