Achieve profitable from Day 1 — Running a for-profit business is challenging. This is especially so when we are just embarking on our startup journey. Every kickass entrepreneur knows the famous profit formula. My 8-year nephew intuitively understands that contributing $0.10 to his pink piggy means capping his expenditure at $0.90 of his $1 allowance. Understanding…

Clients are concerned with their problems. If you want them to buy your stuff, you need to solve their problems FIRST. — Many clients and prospects are obsessed with their own problems. We are no different. We want to talk to people to sell our products and services. All is fair in life. That is not the case for the customer-facing roles (such as marketing and sales). I have key-performance metrics that…

Time is not our limitation. Energy is. Energy allows us to be at our best in our day job, and in our side-hustles. — Contrary to popular belief, I think energy is more important than time. You can have all the time in the world to do great things, but if you have nothing left in the tank, nothing gets accomplished. This is especially true for side-hustlers, creative folks, and basically, everyone working at…

When it comes to consulting services and/or gigs for Web 3.0 or NFTs, demonstrating knowledge is everything. — Marketing for technology-oriented consulting work is tricky. Many folks believe (rightly or wrongly) that their life can go on without it. Sometimes, people just have a natural repulsion towards technology because it changes their behavior. Therefore, filling our pipeline for technology-related consulting work requires a practical blueprint of provoking curiosity…

Lessons from Oman — I know, I know. Your economics professor must have indoctrinated the evils of natural monopolies deep into your heads. How did I know? I sat in those classes, too. Economics professors tend to preach the following. Zero competition means they get to juice obscene profits. They set the market price…

When the world we live in changes, do we? — Uncle One is Mum’s eldest brother. We called him Uncle One because he wanted us to do so. It sounded hip and fashionable, he says. He stood out among a sea of uncles because he spoke openly about retirement. Always. This is his pet phrase. “Retirement is when I finally…

Hands-on experience is underrated — I was the Pathfinder in military service. Then, my full-time job was to find the way. With the entire battalion behind me, I must, Bring outdated maps to life, Lead them to the attack point, Chaperon them to the retreat harbor. When we do a great job — the assault…

Ever wondered what the near-end of the road looks like? — This is an experience I never had after working for 14 years. Yes, never. Never once was I told, in advance, that the company is folding in X months. My experience with sub-optimal corporate performance has been conventional. I was told to take no-pay leave. I absorbed drastic pay cuts. …

Execution is key — 5 years is a b!oody long time. In fact, it is long enough for us to, Explain our 5-year career plan to interviewers, Learn the language of investment finance, Complete retirement preparation. I know you must be in disbelief. Complete our preparation for The Big R within 5 years? How…