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Celebrating Failure

This article also appeared in Finweek magazine in their 6-Sep-2012 issue

The American author Theodor Geisel, who wrote under the pen name of Dr. Seuss, was rejected by 27 publishers when he submitted his first manuscript. When he finally found a publisher, his 46 books including “Cat in the Hat”, and “Green Eggs and Ham” went on to sell nearly half a billion books worldwide.

Renowned writer JK Rowling shares a similar story. Her first book “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” was submitted to 12 publishing houses. All 12 rejected it. But then the number 13 turned out to be an incredibly lucky one for Rowling and the Bloomsbury publishing group. Rowling went from living on social security to being a self-made billionaire. In its 2011 world billionaires’ list, Forbes estimated Rowling’s net worth at US$1bn.

Looking at these phenomenal turnarounds, there are a number of critical lessons we can take away:

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Why Budgets are Bad for Business

This article also appeared in Finweek Magazine in their 16-Aug-2012 issue

In my previous life in corporate, one of the biggest time-wasters was the budgeting process. We would write off three months preparing budgets for the next year. Invariably we tweaked last year’s numbers, added some inflation and extra for contingency, and there you had the new spend which you had to defend.

Why is this exercise destructive for your business?

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What makes you stand out from the crowd?

What makes you stand out from the crowd? Why should we hire you? If you were in a job interview and were asked these questions, how would you answer? Continue reading


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What NOT to mention in your CV

This article was published in the 7-June-2012 issue of Finweek Magazine

A CV should reflect who you are: your education, your work experience, your achievements and so on. But it’s not the place to reveal personal details. Continue reading


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Should Entrepreneurs Study MBA Degrees?

This article was published in the 16-August-2012 issue of Finweek Magazine

You’ve probably heard the age-old debate “Can you teach entrepreneurship?” As an entrepreneur myself, I recognise that not everyone is an entrepreneur and even the best teaching can’t make a successful entrepreneur out of someone who isn’t wired that way. However if entrepreneurship is in your blood, an MBA can encourage you to become a successful entrepreneur. Continue reading


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Keep Calm in the Face of Feedback

We all need feedback to grow. However nobody enjoys hearing that they’re underperforming. Next time you get constructive feedback, here are a few tips to make it easier Continue reading