May 28th, 2008

Sailing to Tioman

» , ,

We set off on 24th early morning. We did our immigration clearance on the west side of Sentosa. We set off immediately to the east. Wind condition was bad so we were on our engine assisted sailing. Along the way, we saw a Malaysia police marine heading towards Pedra Branca, for the first time in 30 years allowed to be near there since the Malaysia now owns two (strategic) rocks. We also saw the Singapore stealth ship (I think) near there.

I done my fair bit of sailing but this is my first extended trip. The difference is like playing golf at the range and at the green – similar yet dramatically different. When you are out in the sea, no land nor ship in sight, you suddenly realised you are so insignificant. Your life is really in the hand of God, regardless of how much planning you do.

When the sunset, it sea sparkled and shimmered across the horizon, quietly, only the sound of the wind and the splashing of the waves.

Nightfall is the time to find a place to anchor, flipping through maps, wind and tide forecast and using GPS as a guide, you wonder how the heck sailors in the past did it without all the modern technologies.



Read the rest of this entry »

Posted on 8:51 am in Travel

May 23rd, 2008

Evening with Vint

» , ,

I was asked to introduce and moderate this evening session with Vint Cerf in Singapore jointly organized by The Digital Movement and IDA.

I didn’t take much notes but I managed to twitter a bit here and there during the session.

Vint Cerf is a great speaker and therefore really needs very little moderating nor prompting. On the other hand, I find myself fumbling quite a bit…looks like I am getting rusty at public speaking and presentation. But hey, the star of the show is Vint and he definitely took it!

Okay enough fun for the evening and time to pack my stuff. I am going sailing for the next couple of days to Tioman, hopefully coming back alive. Wish me luck!

Posted on 10:35 pm in Random Musing

May 21st, 2008

Deal Flow Is Dead, Long Live Thesis Driven Investing

»

This flow-centric business model made a tremendous amount of sense when the venture industry was relatively small and immature.  Back then, there were only a handful of competitors and funds were relatively modest in size.  For example, in 1980 there were only 183 venture capital firms and each firm had an average of only $41.6M under management.  Given this, as well as the immaturity of venture capital as an asset class in 1980, it’s probably safe to say that venture capital in 1980 was a true “buyer’s market” with more demand for capital than supply.   Perhaps more importantly, the investable landscape for venture capital, particularly technology venture capital, was both “thin” and “shallow”.  It was “thin” in that there were only a few sectors one could invest in.  It was “shallow” in that each sector was quite small and often only composed of a few companies. link »

For the rest of the industry, deal-flow based business models are now unsustainable thanks to two simple facts: 1. The venture industry simply is too big and too competitive for any firm to sit back wait for deals to come to them.  2. There is so much money in the industry now that any firm that is waiting for “hot” deal flow will likely find itself in the midst of a ruinous bidding war. link »

– from Burnham’s Beat: Deal Flow Is Dead, Long Live Thesis Driven Investing via sharedcopy.com

Posted on 7:30 am in Investments

May 3rd, 2008

Next Stop

» , ,

Goodbye lands of the Vikings.

Waiting for the plane to go back to Singapore for a short transit (a warm bath and change of cloths) before flying to Shanghai. See you on the other side of the globe.

Posted on 4:22 pm in Technology, Travel

May 2nd, 2008

Copenhagen

» ,

  

I think this is my first trip to Copenhagen but I am not sure. Small city (about 1M people) but lovely town. And gosh, they love their hotdogs!

Posted on 8:53 pm in Travel