Category: Chou Musings

1. In a recession economy, Green Collar Jobs will be the expanding field. I say this because all the resourceful parties are focusing on environmental sustainability, consumers are demanding green products, company employees are demanding their firm become socially responsible. The Government is working hard to use the Green Economy to boost up the other sectors. Venture Capitalists are putting money into Clean Tech, and Universities are putting in loads of research budget into it. When the earth is dying, green is one of those field that is recession free. Afterall, everyone can fulfill their childhood dreams of saving the world.

2. China will consolidate its economy while India will have a higher market penetration in the offshoring business. I have heard many experts from China that they are concerned that their economy is growing too fast without people being prepared for it in terms of growth infrastructure and cultural. The global recession will actually help them consolidate their economy and also let them shift their focus from exporting to their own 1.3 Billion consumers. India, on the other hand, is fully geared to become a larger service player to the US. Especially after outsourcing philosophies like “The World is Flat” and “The 4-Hour Workweek,” concepts like outsourcing your life will become predominant as people try to do things in cheaper ways.

3. Twitter will become mainstream and introduce a non-intrusive monetization method to test the waters with no difficulty. People who become prominent early on Twitter will get paid for it as consultants. There will be hundreds of Twitter Apps and Tools that are built while Twitter keeps its interface clean, and they might buy a few more of these apps/tools.

4. Virtual Worlds growth will slow down due to the recession, but will still become more and more dominant. Companies and Businesses will look further into how they can take advantage of Web3D as the next wave of Web 2.0. Its cheaper, more interactive, more fun, and more efficient.

Continue reading Yu-kai’s Predictions for 2009

After I got my first speeding ticket ever in my life because I was unaware of being behind a speeding car (the cop stopped both cars), I found myself in the perfect mood to write something I am angry about. Apparently a person has more guts when his head is hot.

After thinking about what is grossly upsetting in society and has a large impact on peoples’ lives, I was reminded about the incompetencies of many university Career Centers that my friends and I have experienced.

University Career Centers hate it when others want learn about their performances

To start my story, I’ll begin with the study my company Future Delivery, which helps Gen-Ys find great careers, tried to do on Career Centers earlier 2008. In hopes that Career Centers would work with us and use our free tools to help students more efficiently, we contacted over 50 top university career centers, asking them if we could do a study on how well they help their students and potentially creating a ranking for them. Most of them ignored us, half a dozen of them politely rejected, one school responded with enthusiasm (will praise later), and some responded in a hostile manner.

While we were still contacting the career centers, we actually got a very upsetting call from the UCLA Career Center(sadly my Alma Mater). Yes, I’m calling you out UCLA, because I want you to be better. Instead of just demanding me to take this off, please improve your ways first. UCLA told us that they heard about what we are trying to do, and they are very angry. They said they were at a Pac-10 Career Center Conference (didn’t know those existed) and Future Delivery was brought up. All the schools were very upset about our “study” and said they would not let us do this.

So we told the UCLA Career Center that we just wanted to see how they are helping their students, and also will also talk to university students to see if they feel helped by the career center. We thought the career center might as well talk to us too and so they can promote all the positive things they do.

UCLA not only refused, they prohibited us from talking to the student body about it, claiming that “I don’t think what the students say about the Career Center is an accurate measurement of how we help the students.” I thought that was pretty ridiculous. What else is a good measurement? How much funding they get a year?

Continue reading Career Centers in most universities are crap

Recently my company has been learning about Tim Ferris, the author of the 4-Hour Work Week. It talks about how one can outsource her life and business to others so they make the most out of their time. The concept is pretty simple: if you make $30/hr, then instead of doing 4 hours of mundane tasks yourself, you can do one hour of work, make $30, and pay 3 people with $10/hr. That way you did one hour of work, but you accomplished 4 hours of tasks. You now then have the rest of the three hours to do whatever you want (including make more money at your rate).

Our company is looking at ways to outsource and automate too. We want to do everything, but do everything only once (Robert Kiyosaki’s suggestion). Once we set up a system, we can slowly start to replace ourselves with someone who can learn how to do it. Michael Gerber often refers to this as “work on the business, not in the business.” We plan to build a money-making machine, and then automate it so we can develop more innovative stuff.

My company then decided to look at a few places overseas that offer offshoring services. Whew! Americans are going to be in trouble soon (if people don’t already think they are in big trouble from the financial crisis). Lets just say this very professional firm that has been operating for nine years with 180 engineers, who also happen to have built dozens of websites of large brand name firms that you have heard of in multiple countries. The keypoint: they charge 20% of what a service firm like this in the US would charge. Go figure.

Continue reading How to Compete Against Offshore Companies and Services?

I’ve often heard from Gen Xers and Baby Boomers that Gen Ys have very little sense of loyalty, how they would quit their jobs for monetary incentives, and that by the time a Gen-Yer reaches 30, they would have 7-10 jobs. A company would put in so much effort, energy and money just to recruit this tech-savvy generation, but sees the hard work become futile as it fails to retain them for more than two years. What’s wrong with this generation? Why can’t companies with billions worth of revenue satisfy their needs? Here are my 4 reasons why Gen-Ys are less loyal to their employers than previous generations:

1. The Gen-Ys have observed that corporations are not loyal to them either.

Companies stress employee loyalty, but the Gen-Ys have their eyes open on how the companies will do anything to make more profits. IT World says it well when they stated “Generation Y saw first-hand what their Baby Boomer and older Gen X parents got for their loyalty to their employers during economic downturns: bupkus. They saw their parents get laid off. They saw their parents’ pensions disappear. They saw their parents get meager severance packages.” When a company does everything it cans to make already-richer people richer, the Gen-Ys feel no pain in finding something that pay their bills better.

Continue reading Why are Gen-Ys Less Loyal to their Employers?

Click this link to see my latest post on how Diablo III uses Gamification to become so addicting

So when I was a second year in college, I wrote a blog about why do Asian kids study like crazy. I claimed that its the culture and value systems that make the difference, not the actual race. Growing up in South Africa, Taiwan, Kansas and California, I would know something about cultural differences. Also, I am FULLY convinced that racial differences and stereotypes are a big part of our society, and the solution is not to taboo everyone that mentions such, but to speak about it in a civilized manner with the purpose of finding a solution in being open-minded, mutually tolerant and respected.

With that said (especially to get me out of trouble a little), this blogpost gathered tons of traffic from people searching on Google. You can see what people are searching for and trying to understand. A common theme you can see are: parents, study, math, school. This is partially funny, but partially horrible. Some of them are obviously asian kids trying to feel good about themselves, others are other ethnicities figuring out why their classmates have no life. It even goes as ridiculous as one person searching “is there anything wrong with a white kid liking an asian kid.” Duh! Of course its not wrong! (as long as you like the person for the right reason 😉 )

Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to show this phenomenon to people, one for a good laugh, and two to see how people are privately exploring the racial topics when its so publicly taboo. The metrics are by this order:

Keyword Uniques Pages/Visit

“how to study like an asian    66    1”
“why do asians study so much    34    1”
“study like asians    30    5”
“how do asians study    19    1”
“stereotypes of asians    13    1”
“asians kids    12    1”
“asians study hard    11    1”
“study like an asian    9    1”
“why do asians study so hard    8    1”
“university of caucasians lost among asians    6    1”
“asian kid stereotypes    5    2”
“asian kid studying    5    1”
“asian parents are too crazy about grades    5    1”
“asians studying    5    1”
“china looking for asian kids models    5    3”
“crazy asian parents    5    1”
“how do asian students study    5    4”
“how do asians study?    5    2”
“why are asians so successful    5    1”
“asian study hard    4    2”
“asians study    4    1”
“getting asians to like you    4    1”
“how much do asians study    4    4”
“how to study like asians    4    1”
“why do asians study more    4    1”
“all the asian people are good at math?    3    1”
“are asians really smarter    3    1”
“asian kids study    3    1”
“asians and studying    3    2”
“how long do asians study    3    1”
“how many hours do asians study    3    1”
“how to save money like asians    3    1”
“how to study like an asian student    3    1”
“view of asians in society    3    1”
“why do asians crazy aim    3    7”
“why do asians do so well in school?    3    1”
“why do asians do well in school    3    1”
“why do asians study    3    1”
“asian kid gpa    2    1”
“asian kids study all the time    2    1”
“asian parents ivy crazy    2    1”
“asian stereotype boring study work hard    2    1”
“asians “”””high stress””””    2    1″
“asians always study    2    1”
“asians always studying    2    1”
“asians and academic elitism    2    1”
“asians good at math    2    1”
“asians smart at math in university in canada    2    1”
“asians study a lot    2    1”
“asians study so hard    2    1”
“asians value higher education    2    4”
“asians, studying    2    1”
“crazy asians    2    1”
“crazy things asians do    2    1”
“do asian kids study a lot    2    1”
“do asians feel that education is important    2    2”
“do asians like mexicans    2    1”
“do asians study    2    2”
“do asians value education?    2    1”
“family guy asian kid do math    2    1”
“how do asian kids study    2    1”
“how do asian people study    2    2”
“how hard do asians study    2    2”
“how many hours do asian kids study    2    4”
“how to compete against asian kids    2    1”
“how to study like asian    2    1”
“study hard asian    2    1”
“studying like an asian    2    1”
“the way asians study    2    1”
“what do asian people believe about exam stress?    2    1”
“why are asians always studying    2    1”
“why are asians good at everything    2    1”
“why are asians good at math    2    1”
“why are asians smarter than americans    2    1”
“why are asians so competitive    2    2”
“why are asians so competitive?    2    2”
“why are asians so smart    2    1”
“why asians study hard    2    1”
“why can’t blacks just work harder like asians    2    1”
“why do asian children do well in school    2    1”
“why do asians do better in school    2    1”
“why do asians like math    2    1”
“why do asians like ucla so much?    2    5”
“why do asians stress education    2    1”
“why do asians try so hard in school    2    1”
“why do asians value education    2    1”
“asian guy”””” brain “”””white guy””””    1    1″
“asian kids do well””””    1    1″
“asian parents pushing kids academically””””    1    1″
“asians are climbing up the ladder””””    1    1″
“asians study    1    1”
“caucasians lost among asians””””    1    1″
“university of caucasians lost among asians””””    1    1″
“why do asian”””” + “”””model minority””””    1    1″
“+asian kids    1    1”
“a certain amount of asians allowed in colleges?    1    1”
“after school do asians really become successful    1    2”
“all asians are rich stereotype    1    2”
“all asians do is study    1    2”
“all the asian people good at math?    1    1”
“an essay on whether asian kids are under more pressure than other kids    1    1”
“are asian kids really smarter than everyone else    1    2”
“are asian people really smarter    1    1”
“are asians actually smarter    1    1”
“are asians good at math?    1    1”
“are asians really smarter?    1    1”
“asian academic comments kids 2009    1    2”
“asian children & education stress    1    1”
“asian culture and the value of education    1    1”
“asian culture crazy    1    2”
“asian culture excellence in education + suicide    1    2”
“asian culture getting rich    1    1”
“asian don’t like blacks    1    1”
“asian education system doesn’t work    1    1”
“asian family marry status ivy league good job    1    1”
“asian getting into college    1    2”
“asian guy danny lam    1    1”
“asian kid are sucessful    1    1”
“asian kid at college    1    1”
“asian kid excellence    1    1”
“asian kid gets a degree    1    1”
“asian kid homework    1    1”
“asian kid in american school    1    1”
“asian kid in college at 10 years old    1    1”
“asian kid stereotype    1    1”
“asian kid suicide    1    1”
“asian kid type not good at english    1    1”
“asian kids    1    1”
“asian kids aiming for ivy schools    1    1”
“asian kids and college    1    1”
“asian kids college    1    1”
“asian kids do    1    11”
“asian kids do not study all the time    1    1”
“asian kids do well education    1    2”
“asian kids going to ivy league    1    1”
“asian kids good at everything    1    1”
“asian kids good in math    1    1”
“asian kids in college    1    1”
“asian kids ivy league    1    1”
“asian kids lifestyles    1    1”
“asian kids like to compete with each other    1    2”
“asian kids live off parents    1    2”
“asian kids math    1    2”
“asian kids polite    1    1”
“asian kids smarter    1    2”
“asian kids smarter than american kids    1    1”
“asian kids study how    1    1”
“asian kids study no life    1    1”
“asian kids study too much    1    2”
“asian kids studying    1    1”
“asian kids under stress    1    2”
“asian kids us comments 2009    1    2”
“asian kids why is school so easy?    1    2”
“asian kids work hard    1    2”
“asian like to have more children    1    1”
“asian parenting crazy    1    1”
“asian parents are crazy    1    1”
“asian parents are crazy about grade    1    1”
“asian parents beating kids for bad grades    1    1”
“asian parents driving kids crazy    1    2”
“asian parents ivy    1    1”
“asian parents push kids to get elite degree    1    2”
“asian parents putting education pressure on their kids    1    1”
“asian parents study tuition    1    1”
“asian parents too strick in studying    1    2”
“asian parents-prestigious degrees    1    2”
“asian people like studying    1    1”
“asian people studying    1    1”
“asian school system crazy    1    1”
“asian stereoypes math good grades    1    1”
“asian students crazy study    1    1”
“asian students don’t give up in mathematics like americans    1    1”
“asian students get straight a    1    1”
“asian students studying lifestyle    1    1”
“asian study like crazy    1    1”
“asians “”””good at everything””””    1    1″
“asians “”””means to an end”””” college    1    1″
“asians are crazy about disney    1    4”
“asians are more studious    1    1”
“asians are not good at mathematic study hard    1    1”
“asians are study guys    1    1”
“asians desperately want    1    2”
“asians do anything to get into good college    1    2”
“asians do bad in university?    1    2”
“asians do well academically    1    1”
“asians education values    1    2”
“asians getting into ucla    1    1”
“asians good at studying    1    1”
“asians good grades    1    1”
“asians good in math    1    1”
“asians harder getting into college    1    1”
“asians kid    1    2”
“asians kids are very smart    1    1”
“asians like to show off their kids    1    2”
“asians only care about prestige college    1    1”
“asians people studying    1    1”
“asians prestige colleges    1    1”
“asians really smarter?    1    1”
“asians smarter than others    1    1”
“asians stereotype study doctor    1    1”
“asians stereotypes    1    1”
“asians study a lot of math    1    1”
“asians study all day    1    1”
“asians study engineering    1    1”
“asians study math everyday    1    2”
“asians study more than others    1    1”
“asians studying for doctor    1    2”
“asians studying together    1    1”
“asians try to hard    1    1”
“asians value education    1    1”
“asians value of education    1    2”
“asians who aren’t good at math    1    2”
“asians+kids+to study    1    1”
“be successful like an asian    1    2”
“caucasians lost amongst asians    1    1”
“climbing social ladder education asian americans    1    1”
“climbing the social ladder, asians    1    1”
“college asian kids    1    2”
“common asian parent stereotypes    1    2”
“cool asians kids    1    4”
“crazy about asian thing blog    1    1”
“crazy asian kid    1    1”
“crazy asian parent    1    2”
“crazy asian people at uni    1    1”
“degrees asians like    1    1”
“do all asian children go to school    1    1”
“do all asians study all the time    1    2”
“do american kids give up to fast than asian kids?    1    1”
“do asian blog?    1    1”
“do asian children appreciate education better than western children?    1    1”
“do asian children practice more then american    1    2”
“do asian go to school free    1    1”
“do asian kids go to school?    1    2”
“do asian people study    1    1”
“do asian students really    1    2”
“do asian value education more than western countries    1    2”
“do asians and indians study do better in school    1    2”
“do asians blink    1    1”
“do asians do well in university    1    2”
“do asians get less jobs than whites    1    1”
“do asians get minority status for college admissions    1    1”
“do asians have a hard time seeing    1    2”
“do asians have best academic people    1    1”
“do asians have to study    1    1”
“do asians kids work a lot?    1    2”
“do asians know everything?    1    2”
“do asians lie?    1    2”
“do asians like academics: studying & grades    1    1”
“do asians like groups?    1    1”
“do asians only study    1    2”
“do asians push their children to be smarter?    1    1”
“do asians really have a harder chance for college    1    2”
“do asians receive a better education    1    1”
“do asians sleep    1    1”
“do asians sleep?    1    1”
“do asians study more    1    2”
“do asians think bad west    1    2”
“do asians think they’re better than everyone else because they strudy hard    1    2”
“do asians value education more    1    1”
“do asians work hard?    1    4”
“do colleges like asians?    1    1”
“does asians really over do with kids    1    2”
“educating asian kids    1    2”
“education stereotyping asians are smarter    1    1”
“extraordinary “”””asian guy””””    1    1″
“family guy asian math    1    1”
“family guy uses asian kid to do math    1    2”
“fits in a white school for asian kids    1    2”
“for asian kids to get into ivy    1    1”
“for how long do asians study?    1    1”
“freshman year of high school for +asians    1    2”
“funny asian parent stereotype    1    2”
“funny asian parent stereotypes    1    2”
“funny pictures asian child    1    2”
“google search results funny “”””are asians””””    1    2″
“group asian crazy actions    1    1”
“hard for asian, ivy league    1    3”
“harder for asians ivy league    1    2”
“harder for asians to get into college    1    2”
“harder for asians to get into college?    1    1”
“how “”””asians study””””    1    4″
“how asian indian kids do their studies    1    2”
“how asian kids study    1    1”
“how come asian kids are smart    1    1”
“how come asian people have a culture of getting straight a’s in school?    1    2”
“how do asian children go to school    1    1”
“how do asian children study    1    1”
“how do asian children study homework    1    1”
“how do asian first graders learn math    1    2”
“how do asian kids get good grades all the time    1    2”
“how do asian kids study?    1    2”
“how do asian student study    1    5”
“how do asian study    1    1”
“how do asians do math so well    1    1”
“how do asians do their homework    1    1”
“how do asians get rich    1    1”
“how do asians get their kids to practise so much?    1    2”
“how do asians get their kids to study    1    1”
“how do asians punish their children    1    2”
“how do asians start up business    1    1”
“how do asians study all day    1    2”
“how do asians study all the time    1    1”
“how do asians study for much?    1    2”
“how do asians study for the sat    1    2”
“how do asians study in school    1    2”
“how do asians study learn    1    1”
“how do asians study math    1    1”
“how do asians study really hard?    1    2”
“how do asians study so much    1    2”
“how do asians view education    1    1”
“how do asians work so hard    1    2”
“how do they asian people study    1    1”
“how hard do asian kids study    1    1”
“how hard to asians study    1    1”
“how long do asian children go to school each day    1    1”
“how long do asian kids read    1    1”
“how long do asians go to school    1    4”
“how long do asians study?    1    2”
“how many asians go to ucla    1    1”
“how many hour do asian students study?    1    1”
“how many hours a day do asians study    1    3”
“how many hours a day do asians study?    1    1”
“how many hours do asians spend on studying?    1    1”
“how many hours do asians work?    1    1”
“how many oriental asians get straight a’s in school and college all through their lives all over the world?    1    6”
“how many times a day do asians study    1    1”
“how manys do asians study    1    1”
“how much do asians value education    1    2”
“how often do asians study    1    1”
“how the asians study all the time    1    1”
“how to be a cool asian kid    1    1”
“how to be study like an asian student    1    2”
“how to get into harvard asian kid    1    1”
“how to start a study group like the asians    1    2”
“how to study hard like asians    1    2”
“how to study like an asian for a test?    1    2”
“how to study like an asian person    1    1”
“how to study like an asian?    1    2”
“how to study like asian kids    1    1”
“how to study like asian students    1    2”
“how to study like the asians    1    1”
“how to study tests like an asian    1    1”
“how to study-like an asian    1    1”
“how’s the stereotype of asian    1    2”
“intriguing things about asians    1    1”
“is it easier for an asian kid to get into a college    1    1”
“is it harder for asian to get into ivy league    1    1”
“is it harder for asians to get into college?    1    1”
“is it harder to get into college if you are asian    1    1”
“is it harder to get into colleges if you are asian?    1    1”
“is there anything wrong with a white kid liking an asian kid    1    1”
“it isn’t fair that asians have to work harder to get into college    1    1”
“ivy league asians study habits    1    2”
“jews and asians ivy league    1    2”
“kai asian guy    1    2”
“like the asian kids who doesn’t leave the library    1    2”
“list of stereotypes for asian parents    1    1”
“list of stereotypes of asians    1    1”
“making friends with the asian kids in college    1    1”
“my family asian blog    1    2”
“number one reason asian kids commit suicide    1    2”
“only asian in white dominated workforce    1    1”
“picture of asian kid studying    1    1”
“pressures of school asian studying    1    4”
“pressures on asians in academics    1    1”
“proud asian kid    1    1”
“reasons asian americans do not finish college stigma    1    1”
“rich asian kid blog    1    1”
“rich asians kids    1    2”
“richasiankid    1    2”
“rude asian people in high school    1    1”
“sat ivy asian kids    1    1”
“should asians pay for kids college    1    6”
“statistics stereotype of smart asian    1    2”
“stereotype that asians are smarter then americans    1    1”
“stereotypes about asians in the usa    1    2”
“stereotypes asians are good at math    1    1”
“stereotypes of asians academic    1    2”
“stereotypes of asians at math    1    2”
“stereotypes of asians in business    1    2”
“stereotypes of asians learning    1    2”
“stereotypes of asians smart and hard working    1    1”
“study asians are smarter than others    1    1”
“study hard asians    1    2”
“study hard like the asians    1    1”
“study like a asian    1    2”
“study like an asian kid    1    2”
“study like and asian student    1    1”
“study like asian    1    1”
“study like asian student    1    1”
“study like the asians    1    1”
“study what an asians will do    1    2”
“studying like asians    1    1”
“super smart asian kid    1    2”
“super smart asians    1    2”
“support for asian kids    1    2”
“the lifesytle of rich asian kids    1    2”
“things asians like    1    2”
“those rich asian kids    1    4”
“typical stereotypes of asians    1    2”
“ucla asian out of state how hard to get in    1    1”
“ucla university of caucasian lost among asians    1    1”
“ucla university of caucasians lost among asians    1    1”
“university of caucasian lost asian    1    1”
“university of caucasians lost in asia    1    1”
“university of waterloo too many asian    1    1”
“view of education among asians    1    1”
“warcraft life of a peasant asian    1    1”
“way asian students studying    1    2”
“westen kids more independent than asian kids    1    1”
“what an asian should do to get into ivy league schools    1    2”
“what are asians kids studying    1    1”
“what asians like    1    1”
“what colleges do asians go to    1    1”
“what do asian americans study so hard to get a degree in education    1    1”
“what do asian children learn in school    1    1”
“what do asian kids do to study    1    2”
“what do asian parents do to their kids if they get bad grades    1    1”
“what do asian people live in    1    1”
“what do asian students study university    1    1”
“what do asians do for fun    1    1”
“what do asians feel about education    1    1”
“what do asians look like    1    1”
“what do asians study in college?    1    1”
“what do asians study?    1    2”
“what do asians value    1    1”
“what kind of science did asians study long ago    1    1”
“what work do asians do?    1    1”
“whats it like to teach asian kids    1    2”
“when do asian children start school    1    1”
“when do asians start school    1    1”
“where do asians stereotypes come from    1    1”
“where do asians study for the sats    1    2”
“who do asian americans go crazy    1    2”
“why are all asians so educated    1    2”
“why are asian children so good at everything    1    1”
“why are asian good at study    1    2”
“why are asian good in math    1    1”
“why are asian kids good at math?    1    1”
“why are asian kids so crazy    1    1”
“why are asian kids so smart    1    1”
“why are asian kids so smart?    1    1”
“why are asian kids so successful    1    1”
“why are asians good at everything?    1    2”
“why are asians smart    1    1”
“why are asians smart school    1    1”
“why are asians smarter than caucasians?    1    1”
“why are asians smarter than others?    1    1”
“why are asians so crazy    1    2”
“why are asians so desperate to get into ivy leagues    1    1”
“why are asians so education    1    2”
“why are asians so good at everything    1    2”
“why are asians so hard working    1    1”
“why are asians so smart?    1    2”
“why are asians so successful in college?    1    3”
“why are asians so successful in education    1    1”
“why are there so many asians studying business ?    1    1”
“why aren’t asians included on studies?    1    2”
“why asian are getting rich    1    2”
“why asian are so smart    1    2”
“why asian families want their kids go to ivy league    1    2”
“why asian kid rude    1    1”
“why asian kid smart    1    1”
“why asian kids are smarter in learning math    1    1”
“why asian kids are smarter than everyone    1    1”
“why asian kids only can do math    1    2”
“why asian kids study so hard, blog    1    4”
“why asian kids work so hard    1    2”
“why asian parents don’t allow kids to go outside    1    2”
“why asian parents push their kids to study    1    1”
“why asian parents value education    1    2”
“why asian study so hard in school    1    2”
“why asians and indians are so academically competitive    1    3”
“why asians are not smart    1    1”
“why asians do good in school    1    1”
“why asians do so well in school    1    2”
“why asians go to school?    1    2”
“why asians so good at math    1    1”
“why asians so smart    1    2”
“why asians value education    1    1”
“why asians work so hard?    1    8”
“why did asians evolve to look as they do    1    1”
“why do all asians only think about school    1    1”
“why do all asians want to be doctors    1    1”
“why do all asians want to become doctors    1    1”
“why do all chinese asian kids want to go to top universities    1    1”
“why do asian americans study hard?    1    2”
“why do asian and indian parents push their kids so hard in school?    1    2”
“why do asian children commit suicide    1    1”
“why do asian children go to university and become doctors    1    1”
“why do asian culture seem boring    1    2”
“why do asian kids do better academically than black kids    1    1”
“why do asian kids do better in school?    1    1”
“why do asian kids do well in schools    1    1”
“why do asian kids score    1    2”
“why do asian kids score better on sat tests    1    2”
“why do asian kids score higher standardized    1    2”
“why do asian kids study like crazy    1    2”
“why do asian kids study like crazy?    1    1”
“why do asian kids study so hard    1    2”

Note: this is a side-post that utilizes the Octalysis framework to analyze a business. Click here to check out how it is applied to Gamification

Thinking through all the necessary elements of a business can be a complex and intimidating feat. Most people have no clue where to start, what questions to ask, how to structure things, and how to tackle the problems. Even when you have studied those frameworks, the 3C, 5C, 7S, Porter’s Five Forces, you still don’t really know what to do once you lay out the structure.

I found out that doing a small adoption of my Gamification Framework Octalysis, I created this business analysis system for high-growth companies, and I have found that it can be adapted to implement better analysis. The tool is called Octalysis for Business Strategy. It is an analysis system that divides a business into eight sectors: Finance, Customer/Client, Human Capital, Market, Competition, Resources, Technology and Operations.

1. Finance is pretty straight forward: profits, cash flow, pricing and the bunch.
2. Customer/Client is everything that deals with the customer, ranging from Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Conversion, and Client Fulfillment.
3. Operations is everything behind the scenes, including logistics, manufacturing, and distribution.
4. Human Capital is everything dealing with the people, including the usual hiring and firing, compensation, management team, but also things like management strategy and culture.
5. Technology is divided into two fields: the technology of the product, and the IT systems of the company.
6. Market deals with issues like the economy, supply and demand, political stability etc.
7. Resources are the intangibles of the business: partnerships, intellectual properties, reputation and such.
8. Competition is what the competitors are doing and how to respond.

Continue reading Octalysis for Business Strategy

Throughout my experiences, I have truly felt the difference in the quality of people and talents. I have always heard that one good programmers is better than ten bad ones, but it is only until this year that I really felt it, not just in engineering, but also in business operations and management.

I can say that my CMO Jun Loayza can finish four times more than what I can do in the same time period (I plan a little more carefully), and I already have a decent track record in finishing more than most people in a relatively short amount of time; one of my programmers can write 56 lines of code that does the exact same thing as 1,800 lines of code from another reputable software company. Having that one genius guy is like having 20 “good” programmers minus the waste of time trying to coordinate.

I’ve worked with a lot of people in my life, and there have been many who let me down. It’s not always that they lack competency, but often times its a matter of work ethics and attitude. Some people perform very well themselves, but they make their co-workers weaker; some people are extremely smart, but lack the execution abilities (sometimes known as a MBA issue).

Many also turn out to be quite flaky, both in communications and executions. I have therefore decided to compile a list of Y-Gens that I have worked with who are simply star performers. I call these people the Y-gines, since they are engines of performance in the Gen Y world. Having and not having these people on your team can literally get your team into a different league.

Note: If you think you should be on the list and are not, either I have not worked with you enough, or there’s something lacking for you to make list. Either way, send me a note, and I will tell you EXACTLY (according to my knowledge and subjective opinion) what you need to do to be on this list. Also, this list is in no exact order so don’t fret if you are not listed high. Finally, if you would like to suggest someone, let me know!

Here is a list of Y-Gines

1. Jun Loayza: Future Delivery Co-founder/CMO
2. Michael Cox: California Student Sustainability Coalition President
3. Andy Tong: MMOABC Founder/CEO
4. Stephen Johnson: Future Delivery CTO
5. Chen Mei: Knowledge Master and UCLA Law Student
6. Jason Jolley: Developer at Future Delivery
7. Harold Tan: Founder of FastTrackFundraising
8. Nicholas Chen: Architectural Designer from Taiwan
9. Edward Lau: Entrepreneurial Bioengineering student from UCLA specializing in neuro-communication
10. Jackie Laird: JAIC America Analyst on Clean Tech Ventures
11. D’Artagnan Scorza: University of California Student Regent
12. Stuysonnie Lam: UCLA Delta Sigma Pi President Fall 2008
13. Ryuto Kawai: UCLA Materials Engineering Graduate; Business Operations Genius
14. James Chen: Previous Lehman Brothers Analyst, now Barclays Capital
15. Katiyana Williams: Bay Area Market Manager at Greenopia
16. Ian John Lee: Haas MBA Student; former Deloitte Management Consulting Consultant
17. Ben Chiang: Analyst at Bain Consulting
18. Josh Yang: Analyst at LEK Consulting
19. Elizabeth Han: Deloite Management Consulting Analyst
20. Lorna Apper: Entrepreneurial UCLA PhD Student in Geographical and Environmental Studies
21. Crystal Durham: California Student Sustainability Coalition Executive Director
22. Nick Mcghie: Wells Fargo Summer Business Analyst
23. Vivian She: Harvard PhD student
24. Shin Kadota: Barclays Capital Financial Strategist
25. Jason Somers: Project Manager for Pacific Crest Consultants
26. Drew Steranko: Mathmatics and Accounting Graduate from Kansas University
27. Tianqi Zhao: previous Lehman Brothers Hong Kong Analyst (anyone know what is he up to right now?)
28. Dave Liu: Founder/CEO of Good Operating System
29. Amy Nguyen Tran: UCLA Predental Graduate
30. Peter Suberlak: Vice President of Professional Activities in UCLA Delta Sigmpa Pi Fall 2008
31. Albert Chiang: UCLA Delta Sigma Pi Vice President of Professional Activities Winter-Spring 2008
32. Joseph Yi: Campus CMO for Future Delivery
33. Max Bottaro: Campus CMO for Future Delivery
34. Karen Or: Sony Pictures Television Intern
35. Sarah Cha: JPMorgan Chase Entertainment Industries Group Analyst
36. Victor Shyu: Consultant at FTI Consulting
37. Amy Wang: Analyst at PIMCO
38. Steven Wallace: Future Delivery Developer
39. Gabriel Mizrahi: Deloitte Management Consulting Analyst
40. Alex Adams: UCLA Pre-law student
41. Sam Fong: Entrepreneurial UC Merced Student
42. Aniq Rahman: Cornell Student and Seriel Entrepreneur (HireCube, WatchmyCell, and BuzzinMedia)
43. Jared Duval: Social writer and Senior Fellow at ecoAmerica
44. Harsh Shah: Analyst at Hercules Technology Growth Capital
45. Nicole Henderson: Senior Research Fellow at Green For All
46. Lucas Johnson: Co-founder of the BeyondFire Institute
47. Kevin Weil: Lead developer of Cooliris
48. Michael Tung: Co-founder of Diffbot
49. Amit Kulkarni: Founder of Manymoon
50. Turner Kurt: Field Marketing Manager at Smule
51. Richard White: CEO of Uservoice.com
52. Ben Christensen: Analyst at Silicon Valley Bank Capital
53. Alan Hsia: Investment Analyst at Parakletos Ventures