September 2011
3 posts
5 Tips for Setting Up Your Goals in Life →
Insights from the outside →
For some reason I really like this post by an intern who worked at YC. It’s so brutally honest and blunt. Just like the truth of life.
August 2011
30 posts
Jitters
Preparing to launch a business is jittery stuff. It’s like opening a door, not knowing if a brick wall awaits you on the other side.
“Give customers what they want, not what you think they want”
2am
I worked until 2am on Saturday night. It wasn’t the coffee that keep me going. It was the desire to do something great.
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Need vs Good-to-have
When you’re bootstrapping your start up, every cent counts. When it comes to selecting features to forgo due to limited development money and time, I find it extremely emotional. I want Boxyroom to be impressive to my users, so that they will come back and use it again and again, and tell their friends about it. But with only a small stash of cash in the bank and a pressure to launch as...
“It’s simple until you make it complicated”
– Jason Fried, Founder of 37Signals
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Beware of Craig’s List Vacation Rental Scams →
“I consider myself a pretty savvy online shopper. I’ve bought and sold my stuff on eBay and Craig’s List. I buy regularly from Amazon and other shopping sites. I book my airline tickets and hotels online – and even booked vacation rentals through VRBO.com and other sites.” Read more
via Don’t Mess With Mama
How much of an iPhone is made by Samsung? →
Apparently a lot. via The Economist
The 20 Most Expensive Keywords in Google AdWords →
This is an very interesting infographic which presents the 20 most expensive keywords on Google Adsense. Instead of thinking about how much Google earns from each click, consider how much advertisers pay for every movement for somebody’s index finger.
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“When things go wrong, you’ll find they usually go on getting worse for...”
– C.S. Lewis, British Scholar and Novelist, 1898-1963
Why are restaurant websites so horrifically bad? →
Because they love Flash intros. via Slate
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Dalai Lama’s 18 rules for living
Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don’t let a little dispute injure a great...
Tips for New College Student Renters →
I still remember the first time I went overseas to study, totally lost and confused with the unfamiliar environment, people and laws. Here are some tips for first timers who are looking to rent their virgin student accommodation.
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Online Rental Scam Heats Up (And Must Be Avoided) →
While it would be impossible to eliminate all online rental scams, there are ways to reduce the chances of being cheated of your hard-earned cash.
Boxyroom keeps tenants safe by receiving an advance rent of one month on behalf of the landlord and only releasing it after the tenant has successfully signed the tenancy agreement. This way a fraudster will have no possibility of getting hold of...
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4 Easy Ways to Find a Roommate
Finding a roommate shouldn’t be a difficult task if you plan ahead of time. If it’s the first time you’re looking for a roommate you need to keep a few things in mind so that you can share your apartment with the right person.
Determine the Type of Roommate You Want
Before you actually start looking for the right roommate you need to make sure that you calculate the cost of rent, the terms...
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Where is Boxyroom now?
1) Release early and often
We’re already more than a year late. Having to fund ourselves does put us in a situation where we wasted so bloody lot of time hiring and firing (cheap) developers.
2) Customer review/feedback
No customer yet. Nothing much to talk about. If you wish to help out, let me know through Twitter or Facebook. And yes, email.
3) Design a product that gets better...
Want cheap accommodation? Live like a student
This is one ingenious way to fill up excess capacity at student hostels during holiday season. I don’t mind reliving my student days!
via The Age
Foreign students easy prey for Stockholm rental... →
A story of a poor university student who got scammed by conman posing to be a legitimate property owner renting out his space. He became a vulnerable victim of online rental fraud the moment he realised that his departure date to Stockholm was drawing near, without a place to stay.
To avoid getting cheated, never transfer rent or deposit in advance directly to property owners who are located...
How to protect yourself on AirBnB, if you use it. →
Some tips to protect youself when you rent out your home to strangers for a couple of days. Personally I wouldn’t do it.
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Boxyroom is now listed on AngelList. Hoping to... →
We know about AngelList some time ago but we never made an effort to know what it really does. Until now. Just listed Boxyroom there. Any form of angel investment will be great!
We now have an easy-to-remember Facebook URL! →
Facebook requires a fan page to have 25 likes before it can have a user name. Well, after some effort to drum up the ‘liking’ among friends and supporters, we finally have one. :)
facebook.com/boxyroom
America's 10 Sickest Housing Markets →
Things aren’t looking pretty in these cities. via Business Insider
Is Wikipedia losing contributors? →
Is the Wiki going down? Or are people editing Wiki content to become their advertising material? via AP
Google instant pages →
Google search using Chrome and instant pages – are they helping or messing up your research? It reads your mind and loads several topics. I don’t see any difference with the old browser properties.
Space or furniture?
What is the most important thing in finding an apartment – space or furniture?
Stowe Boyd: Airbnb Tries To Clean Up The Mess →
stoweboyd:
I got an email today from the CEO of Airbnb, Brian Chesky, perhaps because I have booked rooms through Airbnb in the past. He starts by doing a long and convincing mea culpa, and states unequivocally that they screwed up, he screwed up, and they now know how bad they screwed up. And he announces a…
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“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it...”
– Albert Einstein
May 2010
2 posts
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When to give up on your start-up? →
The answer is just like asking yourself when to give up a relationship with your boyfriend or girlfriend.
“I can’t understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I’m...”
– John Cage
April 2010
8 posts
[Source: Online Schools for Gadling.com]
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Use Boxyroom and this wouldn't happen to you →
Melt-resistant Ice-Cream →
OK, this post is a bit out of place. I’ve been thinking for years about how can anyone make ice-cream that doesn’t melt. So far this is the closest to achieving that dream.
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How do you create a buzz on-line for a new... →
Some interesting ideas here. I think we can adopt some approaches from the list.
[via Travelblather]
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal”
– Pablo Picasso
March 2010
17 posts
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Boxyroom testing
Testing and bug-fixing is going on a breakneck speed. Thanks Jaryl, Siew Hui and David…
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Private testing begins! Let us know if you wanna...
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Fruitful Sunday
Life is a journey of endless learning. I got to know about the Australian Education Fair at Suntec Convention Centre a few days ago from the newspaper. Among the public talks given during the fair, one of them stood out like black sheep; this talk was about accommodation options for students who plan to study in Australia, presented by quite an established property developer in Melbourne.
So we...
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What a day
We’ve been waiting for today for the past 2 weeks or so. The excitement of being invited to present Boxyroom to Spring Singapore was killing us. At stake: S$50,000 seed funding. Not a lot of money, you may say. To start-ups like us, any amount that originates from our own pockets, family and friends is hugely appreciated. We don’t even have fools to invest in us yet!
The presentation...
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Don't be good. Be great.
Inspired by Entrepreneur.com
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WatchHe speaks a bit too fast. Nevertheless great lecture on pitching to VCs.