THE Steven Goh Talk

And yes this deserves "THE" in capital letters because it was THAT good.

When I look back at Ideas Inc, there was only one talk which was by Keith Nakamura on social media which till this day, has profoundly changed the way I think about Fashfix and social media. I think this Steven Goh talk might be another one.

So wtf did he talk about?

Going viral.

1. Find out your customers neurosis and tap on it
With facebook, its the fear of loneliness hence social validation via "likes". With his own company, Mig33, its the "status" effect and fear of being kicked off chat rooms by unfriendly strangers. Farmville? "Spam" viral which gives users incentives to invite more as well as a less talked about "theft"-viral - ie when your friends sign up, you have the opportunity to steal from their farms

2. Referrals have to be genuine with social value
Best example - watsapp! For most people, the only reason why they downloaded watsapp was because someone told them to - the best sort of referral. Things to avoid are farmville spam-referrals - they're a turn off and growth reaches a plateau after a certain time.

Keep going.

Its been a long week - the first of many JFDI weeks to come. I'm going to write a longer post tomorrow but for now, its some panadol, loads of water and my first early night sleep since JFDI started. This is what great Saturday nights are made of (;

WOOSH!

One day down, 99 more to go


(Full disclaimer: the photo is actually from a couple days earlier but Hugh's welcome wave is just too fitting not to use!)

So, I could tell you about the kindness of my fellow bootcampers Joseph & Gary who offered help and kept me laughing when I was alone. Or the most amazing lesson I've had on how to give a presentation which, for once, was more than just about "be confident" but drilled down into specific body language, intonation and speaking speed.

But because time and space is limited, I'm just going to list down the three most important lessons I learnt today. All coming under the theme of - survive and make the most of JFDI.

1. Be careful of the "Mentor Whiplash" effect

If you drive, you'll probably know what whiplash is. From my un-expert knowledge, its when someone hits the back of your car causing your neck to suddenly jerk forward. The resulting injury is whiplash.

Apply that to a start up and its basically this: Getting hammered by different mentors with different opinions and your neck spinning in so many directions to acknowledge everyone that you lose focus and your start up suffers.

Advice from JFDI alum - just focus on customer feedback - its the only mentor advice that really matters.

2. Track Metrics

You would think its pretty obvious but all I can say is - thank god someone mentioned it cause I wouldn't have thought to do it otherwise!

I do keep track of sign ups and sales but honestly, I've never been methodical or diligent about it. So, for the next 100 days at least, I'm going to attempt to drill down into the data as well as come up with more statistics to measure.

Why, you ask?

1. Performance review: Just cause you're start up doesn't mean you're exempt from hitting targets.
2. Investors: Apparently they love hard numbers & data, therefore, since I love investors, I love what they love.

3. Keep telling your story

Hugh has said this a few times already and its so true: Building a start up is a human journey.

This past year, I've been so stretched - its stressful, rewarding, tiring and above all emotional. And through it all, the warmth, help and support I've received has been amazing. As Dumbledore puts it,

"Help will always be given at Hogwarts, to those who ask for it"

Substitute at Hogwarts with running a start up and hopefully you get my drift.

Just keep telling people your story. Genuinely. Sincerely. Without agenda. And, from countless personal experience, doors will open, friends will advise and things will get better (: