Reflections of an Entrepreneur

I’m feeling really happy now, as if I was on top of the world. The half bottle of excellent Anjou from Val de Loire that I just downed probably had something to do with this euphoria of relief that rushes through my veins but I would like to think that it’s simply because of several factors – I’ve just completed a major product kitting and stock migration project here in Singapore, sales have jumped so high that I feel dizzy just thinking about it and I’ll be returning back to Paris this Sunday. Andrea Bocelli’s beautiful voice filling up my office does help to set the mood wonderfully.

I was in Singapore in the past 3 weeks to oversee several massive kitting and stock migration projects that will stock up the Singapore warehouse nicely with all the new products that were recently launched. The projects were massive by any measurement and the completion is such a huge relief as our non-USA customers can now get what they want for a mere US$3 for shipping.

Of course, our US customers can continue to select our US warehouse shipments but shipments from the US warehouse to non-US customers are costly. Worldwide shipments from Singapore on the other hand cost a mere US$3 and we even throw that in for free when more than US$30 of products are purchased in a single order. This drastic reduction in shipping cost obviously contributes to a much higher demand from non-US customers (basic economics. Price goes down, demand goes up), resulting in much bigger presence in non-US markets.

Happiness, what exactly is happiness? Different people perceive happiness in different ways, depending on their outlook in life, their culture and what surrounds them. Some people are happy if their banks are filled with money, others are happy if they’re successful in life, and the list goes on. Is a person successful because he’s happy or is he happy because he’s successfully? What exactly is success anyway?

Happiness and success can almost be used interchangeably in many cases because of the way they’re tied to each other. People measure success in different ways and I will not go into the technicalities because there is simply no right and wrong. Humans are complex creatures who can only be depended on to complicate the hell out of life, just like what I’m about to do. Some people measure success by the amount of money they earn, the advancement in their careers, the size of their car, the size of their houses, or by some other frivolous measure that I’ve yet to comprehend.

Success to me is simply the acceptance of what your life entails and the satisfaction with what you’ve achieved thus far. Your car will never be big or fast enough and neither will your house be big enough. The pursue of material wealth is never ending and quite frankly, pointless. What’s important is the satisfaction with whatever we have but with the aspiration to take things to the next level. One can never be happy if you’re never satisfied. What’s the use of success if you’re never satisfied?

Aspirations to take things to the next level are of course essential, without which, we’ll still be living in caves, but these aspirations should just be goals that we set for the betterment of life in general. Ironically, I’m probably the most demanding person for myself when it comes to such aspirations but I’ve learnt to be happy with what I have.

Happiness, to me, is simply being with the people you love, which is why I’m happy as I’m finally returning to Paris after 3 weeks of agonizing work to be with my dearest. Of course, my happiness can come in other forms, such as a new Ferrari or Lambo, but are these really essential? Absolutely not. You’ll be amazed at how happy one can be after stripping away all the non-essentials. Happiness can be as simple as a nice afternoon in the gardens staring at the fountain and holding your other half in your arms.

When I was in the army, during the tougher times, happiness to me was simply to sit still at a spot and not move. Happiness to many in this world can be as basic as having food to eat or even a roof over their heads. Be thankful for what you have. Shops will tell you that this is a season of giving, but that’s because they want you to buy things from them to give to others. I’ll say that this is a season to give thanks for what you have and be with the people you love.

My work in Singapore is done for the year and I’ll only be back next year for more pain. Of course, the daily operation of the business continues wherever I go with the help of technology and the business functions well thanks to the wonderful team we have.

Do I always blog when I’m half drunk? Yes.

Happy holidays everyone! Be happy.

Dear Sony,

Work has been overwhelming lately and I’m sure that it’s no different at your end thanks to the year end orders. I’ll however take a moment to indulge in my fantasy, in an attempt to preserve whatever shreds of sanity I have left.

I have always been a VAIO fan since my first TX laptop about 3 years back. This gradually evolved to the current SZ model that I run iStyles on. Solid computing hardware has always been essential to our operations as technology plays a major role in the backend daily activities of the company. The SZ is wonderful but it’s starting to strain my aging muscles as I travel too much. The battery life is the other major disadvantage in the SZ as mine only lasts for 2.5 hours on the standard battery, unlike a TZ’s 7 hours.

I’ve always heard non-Sony believers complain and laugh at how stupid people are for buying VAIOs because they think that the laptops are simply overpriced. I feel sorry for these people as their words are based on unsustainable facts and other “I heard from A who heard from B” experiences. I’ve had laptops from practically ever major laptop vendor in the past and yours were the only one that works for me. My laptop is probably the next most tortured equipment around here other than my own body and yours not only survived, but continue to serve me well. Technically, you’ve stuffed your laptops with more than most people can appreciate but I do see the beauty underneath that shiny carbon fiber chassis as my background is not very much different from the crazy engineers you hide in your design centres.

What I want for Christmas is a Sony VAIO TZ laptop, but not just any VAIO TZ, but one that I simply cannot find anywhere else. You have got TZ models with 48GB SSD available in Singapore but with absolutely no 3.5G connectivity whatsoever. I need both SSD and 3.5G because there is unfortunately no way to stuff in my nice little Option Globetrotter 3.5G card as PCMCIA could not fit into the TZ range. Fine, I will settle for the slower Expresscard but my Novatel 3.5G Merlin sticks out bigger than two sore thumbs and completely destroys the beauty of a TZ laptop, not to mention the increase risk of accidents due to the protrusion.

I can grab a 3.5G laptop from UK SonyStyle for shipment to my home in Paris and I am glad that you’ve finally decided to make a SSD model available, but why just 32GB for the SSD? A third of that will go into the basic software and that leaves me with less than 20GB free. I need at least 32GB free because iStyles’ data is a major data hog that continually grows. Why can’t we have 48GB with 3.5G available in European models?

I dug through the Japanese on your website and found my dream models, but these are only available in Japan, with Japanese operating systems and keyboards. What will be nice is a model with a 64GB SSD and 160GB hard disk. I don’t need the DVD drive and rather have that 160GB in there. I know that you have this in Japan but they are only equipped with a local 3G standard that does not work elsewhere.

And yes, I need 2GB of RAM. The models in Singapore only come with 1GB and it’s a waste as there’s only 1 memory slot, but it’s good that you realize that 2GB should be available as standard in your European models.

It’ll be nice if the laptop comes with digital TV capabilities that work with DVB-T as well. I know that those you have in Japan work with a local digital broadcast standard but the rest of us watch television too and we use DVB-T when on the go.

Please do not keep all these yummy technology only within Japan. Just a recap – I need a TZ Duo core at 1.2GHz with 2GB RAM, 802.11a/b/g/n (yes, I know you’re hiding those n models in Japan only), 3.5G, 64GB SSD, 160GB HD, Vista Ultimate and pretty much the standard for the rest, oh and in Bordeaux (ps, SonyStyle UK spells this wrongly) with carbon fiber please. Throw in the DVB-T if it fits but that’s not a must-have.

I’m not greedy and am only asking for existing technology that you have available in Japan, but just not in the right order for any model available out there. Hey, be glad that I’m not asking for a SLK like I tell everyone else! I’ll leave my little purple box on the table beside my bed. The laptop should fit in it. Thank you!

Your loyal fan