“I just read about a company that is on its third pivot. When is enough is enough?

The founder is young and sharp. He’d be a valuable asset at any other tech company, but he can’t seem to throw in the towel.

Some pivots, of course, work.  Path is a great example.  So are Fab and Turntable. But most don’t.

So what’s a smart, young entrepreneur to do when they realize their startup is failing? When should they call it quits and crawl back to corporate America? Or at least to someone else’s successful startup?

The Gowalla founders took heat for getting acqui-hired by Facebook and shutting down the product. But really they were smart.  They knew Foursquare had crushed them and they joined one of the best companies in the world.  They weren’t afraid to realize they had “failed.” Part of being business savvy is knowing how and when to make that incredibly tough call.

“Failures” are inevitable and they’re a good thing. They’re what make the startup world tick. If startups didn’t fail, others wouldn’t survive. A Facebook cofounder said if the company had been started today it would have been toast.  It wouldn’t have been able to hoard enough necessary talent because everyone wants to have their own startup now.

There are a lot of pivots going on; a lot of talented people are working on small ideas that will never become big businesses. At some point (soon) they will run out of cash and have to ask themselves,  Do I keep trying to force a company or do I temporarily lay my entrepreneurial endeavors to rest?

While we’re not trying to encourage quitting, more founders should ask themselves tough questions. Maybe it’s time to help someone else make their dream really big. Tomorrow’s companies depend on it. Plus that corporate experience could be what makes your next startup a success.”

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/when-you-should-quit-being-an-entrepreneur-2012-1

…and may i add that timing plays a big part in determining whether your start-up grows into a full fledge business or not. There ‘re a gazillions of variables at play; sometimes it’s Okay to lay low for the moment to come back later. If it’s your passion you don’t have to worry about not doing it later, do you?

I guess another view point is about the ecosystem. When everyone rushes to build their own start-ups, at one point competition will lead to inefficient allocation of resources (think VC’s funding another group buying site just because it’s the flavor of the month). In the context of Singapore, resources will include start-up talents as well (technical or otherwise). With a small domestic market where resources are scarce, how can we alleviate the health and wealth of the ecosystem at large? These will be points to ponder.

I’m not anti-competition. In fact i believe that only with healthy competition that innovation can occur. However with 70++ deal sites in a 5 million population market, will that be too much?

I believe so.

2011 has been a good year. Many important learnings, many important moments; met many good friends (whom i suspect will be upgraded to Life Long Friends) and many more Good People. All in all, a Very Good Year.

A summary of 2011:

1. I decided to spend the rest of my life with a Very Wonderful Girl.

2. I decided that i shall dive head on into the tech start-up world. Wait no more!

3. Re-affirmed myself that if we take a step back and look at the Big Picture, we always have a choice. Never be bogged down by doctrine or dogma. As the saying goes, you don’t have to experience the world in the way you have been told to.

2012 will be another exciting year to look forward to. Never mind the lower than expected GDP forecast of Singapore; never mind the end of the world predictions (Do you know that “Deep Impact”-esque Asteroids will hit Earth in every 1 to few times per million years? Trust me, 2012 will not be the millionth year). Just remember to live in the present and never to sleepwalk through your life.

So how was your 2011, and what will you wish for 2012?

I recently had the honor of having lunch with the very nice Alex Pachikov, VP of Business Development of Evernote at Mountain View. Apart of being a very good host (we had great office burritos, and i left with a bunch load of Evernote goodies), he very kindly offered me a piece of advice from his many years of business development work, and i quote:

“Keep to your promises.”

At first glance this might sound simple, but the message behind is mighty powerful. Essentially all relationships are based on trust, regardless if it’s personal or professional relationships. Trust is the foundation on which all relationships are built.

In today’s competitive business reality sometimes (a lot of times, in fact) it is very tempting to act and sound bigger than you actually are. You WILL feel pressured, compelled to make vague promises to get that extra step ahead.

“Yes it will be delivered next week.” “Yes we have 100 customers.” “Yes our service works 99.99% of the time.”

Do those promises sound familiar? Problem is most, if not all are smokes and mirrors at best.

Now imagine if you are the receiving end of those promises, and how do you feel when they are not delivered? Not too good, i assume.

–

Now here is the big idea:

It is OKAY to make promises. It is OKAY to make pre-mature promises sometimes. It is OKAY to catch-up with your promises so that you can deliver them ON TIME when you do.

Just make sure you keep to your promises, and have the courage to apologize when you can’t. The failure of projects will not cause the failure of relationships; the failure of relationships WILL cause the failure of projects.

–

Best lunch advice i’ve ever gotten. Yet.

While many may cry foul, i firmly believe that ideas are overrated.

Granted, you can’t build a business on a stupid idea. What i meant is this – often, people get hung up on dreaming up the next big idea and asking questions like “Will this work?” without doing the one thing that matter: Execution.

Ideas that are not acted upon are just, well, ideas. Without action no ideas will come to fruition. Make that call, write that code, set-up some meetings – sometimes you’ll be surprise by how tiny actions and small initiatives can go a long, long way. All it takes is just one phone call/email/lunch/coffee to meet that one potential partner/client/mentor/investor. More than often you’ll be surprise how willing people are to share their thoughts and experiences (of course, humility helps).

Stop dreaming about tomorrow. Start acting today.

It’s been two months since i started my stint at Stream Media, a start-up from the NUS ecosystem who recently announced a Series A funding from Singtel Innov8 (you can read all about it here.) as the Biz Dev guy, working on our flagship product, MoVend. I have lots to share, so keep watching this space as i detail my journey and learning points of taking the start-up roller coaster ride.

All i have to say before i sign off is – i’ve been working alongside some of the most awesome folks in the mobile development scene in Singapore to build a kick-ass product which potentially could change the world, and i am very happy about it.

So stay tuned, folks!

“MUJI’s concept of emphasizing the intrinsic appeal of an object through rationalization and meticulous elimination of excess is closely connected to the traditionally Japanese aesthetic of “su”—meaning plain or unadorned—the idea that simplicity is not merely modest or frugal, but could possibly be more appealing than luxury.

…From the beginning, MUJI has held a particular viewpoint on the future of global consumerism, and our vision will not change. Our goals are to suppress extravagant appetites, as expressed in “This is what I want,” positing instead a value system for modest living, expressed as “This will do.” This desire for moderation is something we can be proud of.”

— Masaaki KANAI, President and Representative Director of MUJI.
(From the recently released MUJI book.)

(Reblogged from Craighton Berman.)