Khailee Ng is a managing partner of 500 Startups, a venture capital firm. He has led more than 180 startup investments, with a few “unicorn” successes such as Grab and Bukalapa.
Khailee has previously founded Groupsmore which got acquired by Groupon and Says.com, which got subsequently acquired by Media Prima, Malaysia’s largest online media company.
BUT, even if you have zero interest in startups, this episode is well worth the time. This is really about the habits and beliefs of a successful (and fun) person.
Lesson learnt at Richard’s Branson Necker Island [01:01] Why was Khailee chosen for Necker Island? [06:11] Pros and cons of VC funding and bank loans [10:13] Khailee shares about Project Bazooka and Project Cicak [15:15] Khailee discusses the impacts of a gig economy [32:15] How does Khailee prepare his presentation? [01:03:21] Elements of great pitch [01:08:30] What did Khailee wish he had known earlier as a leader? [01:20:13] Khailee on Tony Robbin’s Date with Destiny [01:45:15] Why did Khailee re-think marriage and changed his thoughts on marriage [01:50:06]
Thanks for listening!
Please leave an honest review for Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful for discovery! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
Alvin Poh is an entrepreneur and co-founder of Vodien, a cloud hosting company.
Vodien was founded in 2002. It was later acquired by Dreamscape in 2017, and was valued for S$ 30million. Shortly after being a millionaire at 33 years old, he sold most of his belongings (including his Lamborghini) and embraced minimalism.
Alvin holds a masters degree in Information Systems from Carnegie Mellon.
He is now traveling and snowboarding around the world.
In this conversation, we spoke about:
Why Alvin sold his Lamborghini and embraced minimalism
The evolution of Alvin’s fitness routine
How does Alvin apply the 80/20 principle to business
How did Alvin network during his time at Vodien? [02:48] When did Alvin know he was an entrepreneur? [24:21] Alvin shares how his childhood influenced his outlook on materialism [27:08] What does happiness means to Alvin now? [30:05] What did Alvin do after exiting Vodien? [44:23] Why did Alvin decide to drop out of junior college and enrol in a polytechnic? [56:01] What is one thing Alvin wished he learnt earlier as a leader? [01:05:18] How does Alvin identify who forms his inner circle? [01:14:15] What are the pro & cons of SAXO and InteractiveBrokers? [01:17:09] What is the evolution of Alvin’s fitness routine? [01:20:48]
Thanks for listening!
Please leave an honest review for Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
Special thanks to Peter Ho who made the introduction.
JR Hinds is the owner of Hinds and Associates, specialising in employer-sponsored health insurance plans. Today, over 90% of his business is developed through referrals.
He has a private pilot’s license and flies a Cessna 172. He also jumped out of an airplane twice (but never one that he was flying).
JR rappelled down the building the day before his wedding day and threw a surprise wedding for his 50 guests.
One of his favourite things to do is to spend time with his 4 nephews and his niece.
In this conversation, we spoke about
Learnings from the World Domination Summit
Conference hacking
JR’s personal mission statement
and much more!
JR apologise for the wrong mention of “Yes Marsha Marsha”. It’s Yes Yes Marsha.
There was a lot of nervous laughter in this episode – mainly from me. Listen to the podcast to know why.
I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Show Notes
The story of how JR and Bryan met [00:48]
What did JR and Bryan learnt from the World Domination Summit [11:06]
Why did JR transformed his life-insurance revenue stream into an employee health insurance? [01:15:09]
JR shares his insurance business referral system [01:23:15]
JR personal introspection routine [01:30:49]
Please leave an honest review for Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
Special thanks to JR. A new friend. Hope we meet again soon!
“I don’t think we ask deep enough questions and give young people enough credit for being able to have those answer within themselves.” – Michelle Jones
Michelle Jones is the founder of a higher education institution, Wayfinding Academy. It is a new 2-year college aiming to revolutionize higher education. They have been approved to offer Associate’s degrees by Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
She has taught in traditional colleges for 15 years. Some of the institutions include (but not limited to) Boston University, University of New Mexico and Concordia University of Portland.
Michelle is also the organizer of TEDx Mt Hood for the last 8 years.
Wayfinding Academy is currently having a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign from June 17th – July 27th to raise $60,000. Thier goals are to double their student body size, launch a second program, and impact twice as many lives. Donate here. (I have made a donation of $250.)
In the podcast episode [02:40:00], you can listen to a conversation with a student (Meg Lamberger) of the Wayfinding Academy about her experiences.
Enjoy this incredible conversation! It was very eye-opening for me.
In this conversation, we spoke about
How Michelle started Wayfinding Academy with a personal budget of $15,000 for 2 years
Why Wayfinding Academy doesn’t have grades
The importance of guides in a student’s growth
and much more!
If you’ve only got 2 minutes, here’s a short video – Put it Online or Not?
Click “continue reading” for the link and show notes…
QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favourite lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Show Notes
How did Michelle get the title of “magician” at the World Domination Summit [01:00]
What gave Michelle the impetus to start the Wayfinding Academy [09:55]
Did Michelle face any self-doubt before starting the Wayfinding Academy [26:55]
The journey of Wayfinding Academy’s Crowdfunding Campaign [37:52]
How does Michelle’s personal financial plan look like before embarking on starting Wayfinding Academy [51:16]
Why did Michelle choose to live in a tiny house? [55:33]
How does Michelle introduce the Wayfinding Academy to a parent? [01:08:42]
Why did Michelle decide to categorise Wayfinding Academy as a non-profit organisation? [01:20:55]
Why did Wayfinding Academy remove grading? [01:25:22]
What’s the philosophy behind the curriculum planning of Wayfinding Academy? [01:34:26]
Michelle explains her philosophy behind optimum class size and community size [01:41:04]
How does Wayfinding Academy explore the question of “Who are you?” [01:45:50]
What does Michelle look for when hiring “Guides” for Wayfinding Academy [01:52:00]
How do “Guides” get matched with the students? [01:57:39]
How did Wayfinding Academy spend $200,000 from the first crowdfunding campaign? [02:09:25]
What is Lifelong Wayfinding? [02:19:01]
Interview with Wayfinding Year 1 student, Meg Lamberger [02:50:00]
And if you have any experience with anything we talked about, I’d love for you to open up in the comments.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post.
Share your story in the comments.
Also, please leave an honest review for Misfits Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! They do matter in the rankings of the show, and I read each and every one of them.
