My Entrepreneurial Journey: The Leap of Faith
7th Sep 2020. This will probably be a date that will forever hold a special place in my heart. Why? This is the day I decided to take action and pursue the life I have hoped for. On 7th Sep 2020, in the midst of a pandemic and imminent global recession, I tendered my resignation letter to join NTUitive’s 9-month Venture Builder Program funded by the SGUnited Traineeships Programme. I want to be the man in the arena.
A little about myself
I was a scholar from Surbana Jurong Consultants Pte Ltd under the BCA-SJ Direct Built Environment Undergraduate Scholarship. I had a stable job with good career prospects and stable income. Upon resignation, I only served 2 out of 3 years of my bond. Yes, it is likely that I have to pay a penalty for breaking my bond, but I believe it is going to be worth it.
Today marks the end of Week 1 of NTUitive Venture Builder Program. As part of our program, we were tasked to maintain a weekly blog post to reflect upon our learning for the week, guided by the following questions:
- What I learnt this week?
- What I achieved this week?
- What are my plans for next week?
However, with week 1 being more focused on administration and other on-boarding matters, I wish to focus on the following questions instead:
- Why did I join NTUitive Venture Builder Program?
- What are my objectives or expected outcomes for the program?
- How do I plan to achieve my objectives?
Why did I join NTUitive Venture Builder Program?
As briefly mentioned above, I want to be the man in the arena. I feel that this decision aligns with my purpose of life. I want to experience life-long joy by being in a community where I feel a sense of belonging and by giving and receiving love. I believe that by being in the program, I will be surrounded by people whom I can truly express who I am without fear of judgement, even though we may have differing opinions. Also, I believe NTUitive Venture Builder Program have the right setup to equip me with the necessary abilities, skills and resources to build a successful venture, where I can serve, with great pleasure, a targeted community of my interest and have their appreciation and trust.
If you are interested to know more about my purpose of life, you may check out my LinkedIn article, where I attempted to crystallize my thoughts on the subject.
In addition, I believe this program is a good avenue for me to discover more about where my interest lies and have a clearer definition of what meaningful work means to me.
What are my objectives or expected outcomes for the 9-month program?
At the end of the 9-month program, I hope to know how to apply the abilities and skills that I have learnt from the program. Only if I know how to apply can I confidently say that I have learnt the abilities and skills.
Most importantly, through this venture building journey on the idea that I have been tasked to work on, I hope to better understand myself and have a clearer idea of where my fields of interest are and what role do I want to play in the startup ecosystem.
As for the ideal outcome that would be:
- I love the idea that I have been tasked.
- I love the role I am playing.
- I love the people I am working with.
- The people that I am working with loves me and I can be part of the team to continue working on the idea.
How do I plan to achieve my objectives?
Firstly, I will always put my best foot forward so that at the end of the program I will not have any regrets even if things do not turn out the way I have hoped for.
Secondly, I will attempt to document and crystallize my thoughts as clearly as possible through the weekly blog posts so that I can deeply reflect upon my progress and to know myself better at a deeper level.
Lastly, build meaningful relationships, have fun and enjoy the journey.
THE MAN IN THE ARENA
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” — Theodore Roosevelt
