Newsletter #9: Tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) systems to your advantage?
6 minutes reading time. Thoughts on startups, growth, and technology 🚀
Hey there,
Lately, I have been working on a demanding application for funding from one of the world’s leading institutional investors and wanted to share with you my answer on a question that caught my attention:
“Please tell us about the time you most successfully hacked some (non-computer) systems to your advantage?”
My first thought was that the answer needs to be impressive. Probably something I am "proud of," but at the same time, it is something that is not right, after all, the organization behind the question has chosen to use the word "hacked," which rarely has a positive connotation.
Well, after sleeping on that question for a few days, here you go my answer:
"A few years ago, I was running a startup and, at the same time, entered my final semester of my Master's degree. At the time, I lived and studied in Denmark.
My startup was not doing great, and the Danish market did not resonate with our product, so I researched relevant accelerators and found one in Malaysia that seemed like a good fit (accelerators, as the name suggests, are organizations designed to help startups accelerate their growth).
Back then, I was bootstrapping my business and could not afford to relocate to Asia overnight. So I picked a topic for my master thesis that 1) required me to move to Asia to conduct a field research 2) aligned with my startup interest, which in turn helped me to plug myself in the local entrepreneurship eco-system (I wrote a paper on vertical vs. horizontal innovation in Asia vs. Europe from a startup perspective). Once the topic was approved, I applied for a scholarship from my university to cover research-related expenses.
In two weeks, I received approval and a grant that covered my flight to Asia and accommodation for a few weeks. The scholarship sustained me during the beginning of my journey; then, the accelerator covered the rest of my expenses. At the same time, my startup gained some traction and received an offer for investment.
In 4 months, I was able to 1) relocate to another continent, 2) accelerate my startup's traction, and receive an investment offer 3) complete my Master's thesis and receive the highest grade for my paper for contributions to startup related research.
All that on a very low budget, supported mainly by my university. My trip took me from Denmark to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Bali, Indonesia.
In fact, thanks to that hack, I am now based in Southeast Asia, running Greenhouse."
Articles worth reading:
In light of the coronavirus outbreak, I would like to share a slightly different format of relevant articles. Here you go a list of credible sources we have shared with our team at Greenhouse. In my opinion, going through an "infodemic" can be as bad as going through a "pandemic."
Situation reports by WHO (World Health Organization), now posted daily
Myth busters advice for the public from the World Health Organization
Worldometer [more on who they are]
Johns Hopkins CSSE Center for Systems Science and Engineering at John Hopkins University [see also: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu]
Doubling time from Our World in Data [based on data from WHO, more about them]
On ‘flattening the curve’ Helen Branswell, Stat, March 11, 2020, see also: The Economist, New York Times.
On comparing coronavirus to the flu, Roxanne Khamsi, Wired, February 8, 2020, “the whataboutism of infectious disease is as dangerous as it is hackneyed.”
On understanding definitions of pandemics, what they mean, don’t mean, and what comes next with the coronavirus,” etc. Helen Branswell (with additional reporting by Andrew Joseph), STAT, February 12, 2020
How to sift through misinformation during an infodemic, OneZero on Medium [see also: “sifting through the epidemic”]
A quote worth remembering:
By James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
"Your actions are a consequence of your thoughts.
Your thoughts are a consequence of what you consume.
And in the modern age, what you consume is largely a consequence of how you select and refine your social media feed.
Choose better inputs. Get better outputs."
A book recommendation:
Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss, Tahl Raz - Chris Voss is a former FBI hostage negotiator. If you want to learn how to negotiate, he is your top teacher. Every lesson is based on a real-life example from the authors’ involvement with hostage negotiations. While I recommend it to everyone, I almost don't want to give away a competitive edge and prefer no one reads it…
Available as an audiobook as well, check it out.
A productivity tool I use:
Working on multiple projects can be messy, especially without a proper project management tool for taking and exchanging notes. Sometime back, I realized that most of our team does not use any tool on the topic, and I recommended Microsoft OneNote, ever since most employees have adopted the tool their productivity has increased visibly.
Check it out here.
Onward and upward 🚀