Bill gate's new idea about cell phones

2Most of us think of cell phones primarily as a convenient tool to stay in touch with people and store information. But increasingly, scientists are exploring ways to use cell phones to deliver critical health care to people in developing countries.

     If you’re like me, you’ve probably become quite attached to your cell phone. These amazing devices allow us to do things that previously could be done only with a computer, such as search the Internet, read books, watch TV and movies, and purchase things online.
      But what I find even more impressive is how researchers are examining ways to put cell phones to use to improve health in developing countries. This week, the foundation announced grants of $100,000 each to eight scientists who are pioneering the use of cell phones to improve health care in communities where resources are limited. The grants are part of Grand Challenges Explorations, a foundation-funded effort to jumpstart unconventional projects that we believe have the potential to improve global health.
      For example, Peter Lillehoj and Chih-Ming Ho of the University of California, Los Angeles, received a grant to develop a disposable malaria biosensor based on a SIM card platform. The SIM card-biosensor will allow malaria detection to be performed using a cell-phone, which will make diagnostic testing more widely available in rural and remote areas.
      Terry Ferrari of World Vision will be field testing the use of two cell phone modules that will help community health workers in Mozambique caring for pregnant women and newborns to assess, to take action, and to refer cases with complications and emergencies. Another mobile-phone based tool being developed by Marc Mitchell of D-Tree International uses clinical algorithms to quickly identify women at risk during labor and delivery and assist with emergency transfer to a hospital. If these tools are successful, they could significantly reduce maternal and infant mortality rates.
        Mark Thomas will be leading a team at VaxTrac to field test a mobile phone-based vaccination registry that uses fingerprint scans to track people who have received immunizations. The goal is to reduce redundant doses and increase coverage levels in developing countries.
       I shared information about these and other innovative cell phone projects that we’re funding today at the 2010 mHealth Summit, an international conference focusing on the use of mobile technology to improve health care in the developing world.
       Cell phones are amazing tools. For some of us, they’re about staying in touch. For millions of people, it could be about staying alive. 

-Bill Gates

Article from Bill Gate's Website

Guy Kawasaki: Make Meaning

“If you make meaning, you will probably make money. But if you set out to make money, you will probably not make meaning and you won’t make money.” 

I’ve been writing a small number of articles about Entrepreneurship particularly about Technopreneurship and somehow I got some helpful and motivating ideas to start my own business.  I’m pretty sure that on one of my articles, I had mentioned there the main reasons why I wanted to set up my own—and Making money is on the list. Well, honestly, I love the idea that owning a business will give you the ability to earn much more money than you are likely to ever earn in your day-to-day job. And also considering the fact that it would be better to be your own boss rather than doing what you’re told. However, recently I learned that this reason must not be the essence of entrepreneurship. People having this kind of principle are the people who most likely fail. This knowledge was based from the talk of the awesome man named Guy Kawasaki to the Stanford Technology Ventures Program in Stanford University. Guy Kawasaki, in case you don’t know him, is a Silicon Valley venture capitalist. He was once an Apple Employee helped to market the Macintosh way back 1984. Currently, he is the Managing Director of Garage Technology Ventures, a seed-stage and early-stage venture capital fund that willing to invest in extraordinary entrepreneurs who have the ability to build great teams and great companies.

                This guy was first introduced to us by our facilitator through a video clip. A 2:52 minutes lecture that talks about the core or real essence of entrepreneurship. He said that the true essence of entrepreneurship is about making meaning. According to him, making meaning first would probably make money, but making money first would not probably make meaning which means you won’t make money. Since all of us or most of us dreamt of starting our own business, having the right reasons for staring a company must be given vast importance.

 

Wrong and are the most common reasons in starting up a business

                Actually, there are a lot of reasons that encouraged people to establish their own business, and the most common of them, as I mentioned, is about “making money”. Many people started a business without considering the things that must be considered. They are the people who constantly keep their sight into themselves and not to the people that surrounds them. These people are also the cause of the increase in business failures every year.

Here I gathered most common reasons (which I learned were wrong) that most of the starters consider as motivations:

-To get rich quick and won’t have to work much

Judging by their behavior, most people have an obsession with wealth. Politicians promise to create it, most popular magazines are filled with gossip about those who have it, and the average person spends much of their adult life trying to obtain it. We are creatures obsessed with money, partly for what it can buy, but also as a thing of value in it. Money is a massive motivator for an entrepreneur. Dreams of wealth are what attract people to start their own businesses; chasing those daily, weekly or monthly targets keeps you on your toes and gives you constant new goals to shoot for, and the desire to develop and grow a business to reap the rich financial rewards is strong. However, thinking about money first would not bring you a sweet success since it would make you focused only on the quantity and not on the quality; this would soon bring you to your downfall.  Remember that the world of business is full of risks and challenges.

 

- So I can have more time with my family and friends

The most commonly held fallacy about entrepreneurial life is that owning your own business will somehow offer you more freedom.Anyone who responds with the “it’s for the freedom” answer either has never owned their own business and has a troublingly fantastical view of the responsibilities of such a position, or alternatively has just successfully completed their exit strategy making them instant millionaires. Either way private investors are likely to consider this response to mean that their money would be best offered elsewhere.

You can assume that all private investors will know that the life of an entrepreneur is far from easy, and that any suggestion of freedom is likely to indicate inexperience or a lack of drive, neither of which should you be advertising if you’re hoping for their financial support.

-so I can be my own boss and no one can tell me what to do

                As a successful business owner you can name your own schedule. Vacation? Days off? Take them whenever you want. No one can say anything when you come in late, leave early, or take a three-hour lunch. If your business is a successful, well-oiled machine you can do what you want and you deserve to do what you want for all the hard work you’ve done! Ultimately this can mean more time with your family (maybe you’ve even employed your family). Also, if you have enough wealth from your business you can afford what you need when it comes to healthcare options and you aren’t tied down to what a company is offering you. However, you will always have responsibilities, but if your business is successful the responsibilities become less of a burden. Things eventually fall into place. Part of it can be fun! You want to be your own boss so you can make the decisions. You decide how to market your product. It’s a big responsibility because you’ll either fail or succeed, but it’s a fun responsibility because you’re in charge! As your own boss you take on a tremendous amount of responsibility. First, you’re responsible for making your dream a success. That’s a lot of hard work. Secondly, you’re responsible to your investors (that includes family who have invested their future in you). Finally, if you have employees it is your responsibility to make sure they are doing their jobs and that the business is doing well enough to keep them employed. Bills must be paid and payments must be collected. Marketing and advertising is another responsibility. You have to be sure all these wheels are turning all the time. A well-oiled machine takes time to build and takes constant maintenance. You didn’t want to become your own boss so your life would be less stressful, did you?

Topic note:

I believe that reasons for launching a business will encourage you to do better, pick you up when you’re pushed down, and allow you to be proud of what you have achieved that’s why it is very important that we should start our business in right reasons. Now, how can we identify and know the right reasons/reason in stating up a business? Here are the learnings I acquired from the talk of Guy Kawasaki that might help you:

We should make meaning first

Creativity and innovation are not ends in themselves. Their ultimate objective is to create meaningful new value. In today's article, let's get a better understanding of the concepts of value creation and meaning. 

Guy Kawasaki relates the following advice to would-be entrepreneurs: "The core of entrepreneurship is about making meaning. Many people start companies to make money — the quick flip, the dot.com phenomenon. I have noticed that those companies that are fundamentally founded to change the world, to make it a better place, are the companies that make a difference. They are the ones that succeed. My naive and romantic belief is that if you make meaning, you probably make money. But if you set out to make money, you will probably not make meaning and you won't make money. So you need to make meaning — that should be the core of why you start a company." 

Similarly, making meaning — and not making money — is at the core of creativity and innovation. 

Now, exactly what does making meaning connote? And how can we do it?

 

Making meaning implies adding significance or value to something; doing something that is novel, relevant, appropriate, worthwhile and highly useful. 

For example, in the context of Bangkok, you probably agree that opening another spa or internet cafe does not create much value, while coming up with an innovative traffic and transport concept for the metropolis represents a significant value proposition. As Guy Kawasaki points out, making meaning is all about making our world a better place. We can achieve this noble objective by following one of three paths toward meaningful value creation: 

- increase the quality of life

 Many truly great innovations in the history of humanity greatly increased the quality of people's life. Can you imagine how our daily lives have changed by the invention of the personal computer? What about mobile phones or the internet? How about air conditioning or electricity, not to mention airplanes, cars, and other means of transport. We need to ask: How can we increase the quality of life of our customers with what we're doing? Over 100 million products sold testify to how the iPod has increased the quality of life for music lovers around the world.

-Right a wrong 

Take note of problems you encounter as you go through life on a list and look for ways to turn these problems into business or innovation opportunities. What annoys you and needs to be fixed? What does not work as well as it should? What is poorly designed and needs improvement? What unmet and often unarticulated need has not yet been addressed by the market? What really sucks and could be changed for the better by you? Online music is a good example: P2P-sharing services allowed people to easily find their favorite songs online. In October 2003, Apple righted another wrong by offering a legal way to acquire songs online with the opening of the iTunes Music Store. 

-Prevent the end of something good

 As the world changes, people vary in their perception of which of these changes are good and bad. Is there something good, beautiful, or wonderful that is about to come to an end due to changes in the environment? If you just cannot stand the fact that something good is about to end, turn the problem into an opportunity to start a business, an innovation project or a social movement. For example, in Africa, national parks with premium safari lodges help to preserve the beauty of the African wilderness while creating job opportunities for the locals and tourism income for the country and its entrepreneurs. 

Conclusion:

"Anything that won't sell, I don't want to invent. Its sale is proof of utility, and utility is success," said Thomas Edison. Like Guy Kawasaki, the world's greatest inventor understood: To make money, first focus your innovation efforts on making meaning. Make it your prime motivation to engage in creativity and your main judgment criteria for innovation. 

References:
http://blog.angelsden.co.uk/index.php/2010/11/top-5-reasons-for-starting-a-business/
http://thinkergy.com/resources/articles/true-innovation-is-about-making-meaning.html

Try to walk around somewhere and discover technopreneur idea

Try to walk around somewhere and discover technopreneur idea

I tried to walk around somewhere just to generate some good interesting technopreneur idea/s but unfortunately, (to be honest) I haven’t think of one.  I just found myself thinking of (common) technopreneur ideas that competing fiercely in their respective markets. Well, we can’t force ourselves to think of one since the essence of serendipity walking (as what they call them) is a kind of unconscious consciousness – an awareness that if we listen … can take us down unexpected paths. However, even if I did not formulate some interesting outcomes on my serendipity walking thingy, I still have the idea I had before that (though not new) would somehow be the subject where my efforts will be place in if ever.

I do not know if you are familiar with the term virtual assistance. As you move around the 'net, you'll see a variety of definitions about what Virtual Assistance is, and what Vas (Virtual assistants) do. It's up to you to decide which definition you want to embrace.  One definition is that a VA is anyone who provides any sort of assistance to another person or business without having to be physically present in the client's location. That definition has a VA providing administrative and personal support, across the board, in long-term and collaborative relationships. So, a VA is a person who supports a client, across the board, administratively and personally without being geographically present in the client's location.

                A VA is not someone who provides consulting services. That person is a consultant. A VA isn't someone who only provides bookkeeping services. That person is a bookkeeper. A VA isn't someone who only provides marketing support. That person is a marketing consultant or a marketing assistant. A VA isn't someone who books speaking engagements. That person is an agent. Nor are VAs Tax Advisors, Accountants, Medical Transcriptionists, Web Designers, or professional business and personal coaches.
                “Virtual Assistance" isn't a handy catch-phrase for people working from home.  It's a profession in its own right, and it deserves a definition that separates it from all others.  Much in the same way that all brain surgeons are doctors, but not all doctors are brain surgeons, all VAs are virtual workers, but not all virtual workers are VAs.  What makes a person a VA isn't that the services can be performed at a distance from a client, but rather that the services that are being performed are administrative in scale and scope, and are provided with the desire to support the client across the board, not with just one specific function or task, no matter how ongoing that might be. (See www.eworkingwomen.com/experts/va.html)

                Internet has become a part of people’s daily lives especially nowadays that if it starts low connectivity, would bring too much worries and anxiety for almost all of its users, includes business areas. But for interest's sake, lets say we were in some kind of Hollywood Armageddon movie, and a band of hackers were working together on a powerful Digital WWW Doomsday Bug with the ability to permanently jam or destroy connections.... and the internet really got shut down....That would be the end of life as I know it. To think.... no more banks, complete files & records lost in all departments on all of us, businesses collapse, everything gone, total global pandemonium will ensue... and worse, no more e-mail, youtube, wikipedia, and facebook. The Internet is so big, so powerful, and so pointless, that for some people it is a complete substitute for life.

                The fact that internet has been the very first and effective tool in giving convenience to people these days it is no surprise that it would likewise become an avenue for people who wants to make a living. One of the ideas I thought that would effectively optimize the use of internet is about having my own Virtual Assistance Company (I dunno what the best term to describe this idea). As more and more people are having their own business whether online or offline, the need of virtual assistants arises. Business owners often have so much to do but do not have enough time to get it done. This is where my business will come in.

                This kind of Service Company will provide clients with a wide variety of support services through a single point of contact. Tasks may or may not be delegated to another person in the company depending on who is best-suited for the assignment. For instance, graphic design work would be delegated to a graphic designer within the company. Proponents of this model say that the benefit to the client is that all types of services are offered under one roof.  I think more virtual assistants prefer to be into company rather than having their own because it would help them start efficiently, be guided to what industry they like to focus on, at the same time work with big clients (means earning a lot of dollars!), they can also control their works…they can decide how much the service will worth.

Why I choose this kind of venture?

·         Conveniences   

        the first thing I considered is its convenience. Since it mainly uses the internet (which allows you to access anywhere in    anytime), you can have your job wherever you wanna go. Virtual assistants utilize today's technology to deliver their services and communicate with clients by working remotely. And since Businesses today (whether online or offline) uses Virtual assistants to support their operations, a large number of opportunities and works may arise.

·        home-based businesses 
        The beauty of this work is that the only things you can't really do are things which actually need to be touched in your client's office, such as paper filing (and even that's possible if you're creative!). Otherwise, you and your clients are only bound by imagination, need, skills and desire.

·        Relatively easy business to start

In putting up business, money will be major thing to be considered. You need to have enough capital to rent an office space and pay bills such as electricity, water, and internet connection. The advantage of this kind of venture is the fact that through this you can save much more money. Plus you will not be bothered by electricity, water, and internet connection bills because you can make your own home as your office.

·       Easy earnings 
       Since there are no limitations and boundaries to whom you will render your business, or to what, a lot of great possibilities would grow. Perhaps, easy-dollar making people on the other side of the world would just call you and ask you for assistance even if you are on your home doing whatever. And another thing, as what I mentioned, being a VA, you can have the ability to control, rate your projects or assignments. You can also decide if you will going part time or not.Some people think they'd like to keep a full-time job, and work part-time as a VA in the evening and on weekends, building a practice until the income generated is on par with the income earned at the full-time job. If that's something you're considering, know that, depending on your circumstances and financial needs that might not be an especially realistic goal, as it may require you to work more hours than you have the capacity to handle.

If you too want to become a Virtual Assistant, I gather this info from www.mysmallbiz.com/how-to-become-a-virtual-assistant/

How to become a VA?

Because a VA forms a long-term partnership with just a few clients, she learns her client’s business and can add value through her independent work.

To be a VA, you need to be very comfortable with computer programs and have strong word processing, spreadsheet and secretarial skills. In addition, as a business owner, you’ll need to be a professional and organized self-starter.

Does this sound like you? Opportunities for VAs are expanding as companies outsource support staff. And, as more small businesses grow, they may need support but not be able to afford in-house staffing.

The beauty of the business is that your clients can be located anywhere in the world, so you don’t have to be restricted geographically.

A number of organizations provide more information on how to become a Virtual Assistant. Assistu.com provides training courses and employment tips for people interested in this career. Industry organizations such as International Virtual Assistants Association (ivaa.org) offer certification that may help you increase credibility as well as gain additional networking opportunities.

Tools Needed 

Because your work relies on communication, your technology must be reliable and updated. A good computer with a high-speed Internet connection and e-mail is a must. Your computer should have a commonly used word processing and spreadsheet program that you are comfortable using.

In addition, a separate phone line (or cell phone) with long distance, along with a copier/printer and a fax machine round out the essentials.

Make sure you establish an online payment option, such as Paypal, so clients can pay you easily.

What to Know About Becoming A Virtual Assistant

While some work can be done during flexible hours, some work will need to be accomplished during your client’s business hours (i.e. phone conferences). So if your client is in a significantly different time zone than you, you may need to make early morning or late night phone calls.

VAs can specialize in specific areas or industries such as Internet marketing, real estate, web design and desktop publishing. If your background or interests lead you to one of these areas, you can develop your own niche too when starting a virtual assistant business.

How to Market Your VA Business

·        As this is a technology dependent business, show you’re savvy with your own website.

·        Make business cards and hand them out at every opportunity.

·        Join professional organizations related to Virtual Assistants and to the industry you’d like to focus on.

·        Join search engines and job boards on the Internet to let people worldwide know you are available.

·         Find companies in your area to contact to see if they have a need for a VA.

Becoming a Virtual Assistant is a great opportunity to use your skills and technology to operate your own successful business.

 Last thought…

                The virtual assistant industry is a growing one that, if you are willing to work hard and are dedicated, can provide you with unlimited career and educational opportunities. How far you advance in the virtual assistance field is really up to you. You can work as a freelancer or you can build your own nationwide or worldwide virtual assistant freelance organization where you can hire as many employees as you want: The sky really is the limit when it comes to virtual assisting.

HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL TECHNOPRENEUR?

My reflection/learning's on Technopreneurship 1

    I marked the subject course Technopreneurship 1 as full of creativity,wisdom, knowledge and fun. I enrolled in this subject without me knowing that it would not be a simple battle for me to win. I spent a lot of effort just to make passing close to reality. Well, that includes making on the class on time and trying not to sink my head when preparing written documents like this one! Ha-ha. You know, I really do struggle with putting my ideas and thoughts on paper that's why my writing skills may be a little rusty. Nah, I mean, not little. Maybe this is just one of the lessons I learned in the said subject though it was not some sort of English 101.
The activities and lectures conducted and discussed in the scope of this subject were never became boring. Our facilitator did an excellent job in imparting us knowledge and information regarding this matter. Honestly, I hate business-related subjects not because I find them uninteresting; I just suck on this field. However, I do of course thought of having my own business but I never thought I could have the ability not to make stay as a thought only. Listening to the lectures on this subject not only gave me knowledge about technopreneurship but also confidence and motivations.

        As far as I can remember, we first discussed about the definition of technopreneurship. If you didn’t know this yet, Technopreneurship is simply entrepreneurship in the field of high technology. For you to be called a technopreneur, you must be engaged into innovative technology venture through developing new technology products or even services. Sounds hard? Yes, it is really is! As what I’ve learned during the entire course, getting into this field is not easy as it may seem. I learned that not everyone has the capacity and the capability to become successful in this area. Even though you have all the resources necessary, you can’t still assure triumph. Only a very few people make the journey to thriving businesses. And it is the decisions that these people take that makes them shine like crazy diamonds in a world full of diminishing and dimming pebbles. The term decisions that I am using here are not just about decisions made by the use of your head only. I learned that it is not intelligence or ideas alone make a business prosper. Even though this matters a lot, this must not be the entire baseline in every decisions or actions a technopreneur will have. Ideas are important to start a business. Ideas that guaranteed to work, that is. However, in order to ensure that your idea becomes a real world success, you will have to take pains to measure its feasibility. Measuring its feasibility means knowing your self, interacting and coping with other people and the environment. These were the reasons why we engage into the first topic in SEED Model—Self-Mastery. Self-mastery is knowing one’s self, very obvious huh? Hehe. As what our instructor said, “Self-mastery brings passion”. “When you know yourself, you know what you want and do not want”, he added. I definitely agree with him. I think it is paramount important to know yourself before engaging into business because I believe that your business is actually yourself. It is a reflection of your own personality. It represents what you know and what you love to do best. It stands for what you are good at and what you love. I remember we did an activity where in we were ask by our instructor to list all the things we love, best at and irritants. I wrote there things all about art such as sketching, crafting, drawing, and other art related thingy for ‘love’ and ‘best at’ sections, and “cockroaches” for the last (hmm. Far out =P ). I realized that I really love art indeed! LOL. After that activity, I learned that we should never engage in anything that we do not know anything about even if we can afford to hire the “best brain” that can implement our plans for us. And also considering the fact that other person’s brain may not really be able to neither understand the depth of our passion nor grasp what we really like to do in the real sense. There is nothing like being” hands-on” in the business; more so when we are just starting. This is the reason why before engaging ourselves into technopreneurship or even on other kind of venture, we must first think of the things we love to do. As what Steve Jobs said, we can’t do great if we don’t love what we are doing. In my case, I love art. But I also consider the facts that there are a lot of art related businesses and the competition in the market is fierce. So, I guess the best thing to do is to sell and promote my products in different approach—unique approach. Arts are not limited only to drawing and alike; there are a lot to do with art and it could offer you other than the traditional art we know. What I am saying is that we must become innovative while staying in the field we love. Sticking into what is normal will not make us the person we like to become.

            Aside from the activity I mentioned earlier, we also conducted 4 more activities that would help us measure and know ourselves more. Those activities were actually tests—personality test, emotional quotient test, adversity quotient test, and intelligence quotient test. These tests are necessary in assessing one’s self and for career planning process. I learned that knowing your skills, values, interests, and personality are important for the success of your career choice. As what I’ve always pointing out, ideas or intelligence alone are not the only bases for you to be called an entrepreneur, and not just entrepreneur, but successful entrepreneur. I believe your skills, talent, knowledge, personality, and strengths will be your best assets in any cases. And if you gonna ask me about my results on the tests, well, I can tell you they were satisfying. They were not bad as I expected they would. I remember, we took the personality test as our prelim exam. The test was not hard, it composed of situations (common) that would measure your personality by calculating your responses. I wondered that time why we need to test our personality. Even though I know that I still have to know what my subconscious mind is doing, I never thought that testing our personality is vital in business. It was when our instructor gave us his talk. According to him, your personality affects everything in your life. That might be personal relationship or professional associations. It is who you are. It the way people see you, the way they will interact with you and the way you interact with them. Your personality will ultimately define how effectively you work with people and how they work with you. So, doesn't it make sense that you should have a realistic understanding of your personality before you get started in any important new life event? Indeed, learning how people see you is a very positive step toward promoting yourself effectively especially in business where in you will be more into interacting with other people.




           And with my Emotional Quotient test? Outstanding! I mean above average. LOL. FYI,this test measures the people’s ability to collaborate, network, socialize, negotiate, and cooperate or simply the capacity for effectively recognizing and managing our own emotions and those of others. I suck on socializing and negotiating part of the test that’s why I only got this rating. Our instructor said that EQ is the primary determinant of success than IQ. At the start, I did not agree with him ‘cause I really thought Intelligence matters most in businesses. It was until he gave his talk again (lol). He said emotions have the potential to get in the way of our most important business relationships. A lack of EQ is the main reason promising careers derail. He said that successful entrepreneurs were not necessarily gifted with IQ and that it has virtually nothing to do with success in life. What they actually have is EQ. I guess I don’t have any reason to argue with him anymore since I proved it myself by reading inspiring articles about businesses.
And about my AQ? As good as my EQ. At first I got confuse with the difference of AQ from EQ. Maybe the first letter? Just kidding. According to the site http://hi.baidu.com/geovindu/blog/item/c492d288163c3a9fa4c27282.html, EQ (Emotional Intelligence Quotient, abbreviated as EQ), is to manage their own emotions and interpersonal capabilities while AQ (Adversity Intelligence Quotient, abbreviated as AQ), refers to the ability to pressure the face of adversity, or, and capabilities. Therefore, AQ measures how stoic a person is, and proposes that the more stoic one is, the more he can resist failure. It makes sense, because when you don't break or give up in extreme conditions, you are bound to succeed. However, it forgets that the person may be stoic, but may also be reticent and aloof, and therefore alienated. He may not have money, people network, love, happiness and consequently balance in his life. He might be a successful fighter, but may have picked the wrong fights (or is often on the wrong side). Does that account for success? 

         At last about my IQ. I was quite impressed with the result. I thought I have a very very low IQ. Yey! I have not. Too good to know also that in businesses we don’t actually need to be kinda smart. Because if we do, I think I am no space for this field. However, even if IQ is not the primary thing we need in business, it still plays important role in running our business. Intelligence is something our culture particularly values, and it can certainly be counted among the more desirable things to have in life. With intelligence, we can have the ability for complex thinking and reasoning, and the processes, such as attention and memory, that support it, it’s an asset in helping people stay motivated and meet long-term goals. But again, IQ alone fails to achieve a high position.
On the class, aside from those tests, we were also asked to make our personal vision or goals in life. According our mentor, a vision is a picture or idea you have in your mind of yourself, your business, or anything that is going to happen. A clear vision helps you pursue dreams and achieve goals; an idea of the future, a strong wish. A vision that is clear will open your mind to the endless possibilities of the future. Thinking that I am not a child anymore, that I can no longer depend on my parents for everything, that I also need to live my own life and create my own career success is quite hard indeed. Over the years, I have been thinking of my goals in life, but I always turn out trapped in goals I didn’t really choose. I mean I can’t actually point out what I want to become. This feeling ended until I realized that like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates; little by little somehow I could make my own vision. Now, fortunately I had realized how the future will hold me. Though I can’t tell exactly how it will be, in some way I can assure it will be good. I love this topic because I learned that a vision actually will help you to overcome obstacles in the way and helps you hold on when times are tough. And a vision that is well defined helps you to focus and create a purpose that becomes your measurement for your success. And if you do not have a vision of who you want to be, how you want to succeed or what you want out of life, you begin to lack drive and your life becomes just an order of events =).  


            The last highlighted activity I remember was our Business Proposal Presentation--about Techno Business. Waaaahh. This activity was really a tough one. We did 3 or 4 presentations I guess just to make our instructors thumb up. We did a lot of brainstorming. I and my group mates did all the things we can. We even gathered all the things we love to do and best at just to generate a good business plan but we still ended with a mistake. We were not aware that time that all we need to have was a unique proposal. A business proposal that would surely click. But it was hard to think a unique plan. It was until our group mate thought of something wonderful. We ended in a webpage with amazing content—online live streaming of cockfights or simply online derby. I think it was a great idea since cockfighting nowadays became one of the famous game or shall we say a famous legal gamble and if be brought to the internet world, a lot of money will be raise for sure. You know, I think one of the best things I learned from this activity, we should be aware of our environment because there are a lot of business ideas and opportunities out from our surroundings. They are just there, waiting to be discovered.

          This subject was indeed a remarkable one. I did gain a lot of knowledge and wisdom. If you gonna ask me what I don’t like with this subject? Maybe the subject description…I hate to spell it. =)

How do you see yourself as a technopreneur?

                  Seeing myself as a technopreneur? Actually, I don’t know if there’s a reduction in the focusing power of my eye that I can’t clearly see myself as being one! Just kidding! Envisaging my self as a technopreneur seems to be flattering. To be frank, computing is not really my field, but since I kept on encountering it, somehow my heart was forced to love it! Clap! Clap! Actually, to be honest with you and to myself, my future is still a blur to me. I don’t know yet what I would become in the future or where in the world I’m going to set myself in. if only I am as fortunate as Steve jobs who discovered his passion at early stage of his life probably I won’t buffer this much. If I’m a computer right now—I’m most likely hanging!

Perhaps any IT student like me if ask by this question, it would create a span of time thinking the possibility of being one. Well, of course there’s a great possibility since this will be our future. Yes this will be. Doubtless,the reason why it made me think seriously answering this question for my mind is already set on Steve Jobs and Bill Gates examples. They are revolutionaries, and to be one would be amazing and at the same time edgy. I can’t imagine myself to be like them-- geniuses who were full of determination, persistence, visions and enthusiasm.

Going back to the question, visualizing myself as a technopreneur, a newbie technopreneur gives me a lot of exciting and unknown frontiers. It makes me feel I’m taking an exam—I don’t know what the answers are and how to answer. I have no idea where to start and how to. I’m still thinking of something that I could offer into the community that somehow would represent me and my passion.

In point of fact , I only viewed myself simply a student, going to school every weekdays, learning what the four corners can teach me. Pity me, for since my first year being an IT student I’m just looking forward to be employed. I never thought of setting up my own business, I’d rather go abroad and find opportunities there but now I realized there is a lot of opportunities here I’m just too blind to see it. Thanks a lot for the movie “Pirates of the Silicon Valley”, it made me realized Information technology doesn’t end after I graduate nor it has an ending. Information technology has no limitations. The thing that makes it limited is the ideas of the people. We could actually extend the limitations through innovating. And that’s the essence of being a technopreneur.

Reading the definitions on the net, made me conclude that it is not easy to become a technopreneur. A lot of things needed to be acquired, becoming a skilled and effective designer, researcher and a developer. It’s also important to have a good management style. According to a website http://associatedcontent.com/article/369728/what is tecnopreneur.html?/cat=3,”a tecnopreneur is an entrepreneur who is technology SAVVY, CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE, DYNAMIC, dares to be DIFFERENT and take the UNEXPLORED PATH, and very PASSIONATE about their work”(Emphasis mine). Hmmm.. in actuality it is complicated. Maybe sounds so impossible to posses these characteristics but we never can tell. In the near future, through God’s mercy, I will be able to acquire all of these! Furthermore during our class meeting in this subject (Technoprenuership) under Prof. Randy Gamboa presses on the magic word “Skills”. I believed soon I’ll be going to packed up that “skills”. But how exactly can I become a technopreneur?

Hmmmm… how exactly can I become a technoprenuer? I know that being a technopreneur requires expert organizing skills in order to keep on top of everything. And being in the business, it’s no surprise that on my way I’ll be hitting a number of bumps. So, I’m just going to prepare myself for them. Though I’m not that kind of business oriented person but one way or another I’m not closing myself to be productive in this industry. I’ll try to be innovative and creative of making my own simple things on my own simple world. I’ll try pouring out something great from something better and good. Despite the fact that technopreneurship is a difficult adventure since it takes a lot of assignment and planning to get a business up and running, I’m willing to take risks…CALCULATED risks as our Professor used to call it.

The brilliant thing of being a technoprenuer ,I can make myself my own boss and accordingly accept to accept all responsibilities for my business(that’s pretty scary though! It’s also a lesson for me to be mature!). Being employed by someone else offers a slew of advantages, and what worst, we are under instructions. We are being commanded on what we will do. At times we are being scolded and we can’t even defend ourselves from false claims that our employers might throw unto us. And getting paid for the hours you're on work. If you don't turn up one day then you won't get paid. When you're self-employed and you've set up your business properly you'll find that certain aspects of it run by themselves (and more importantly make money for you by themselves).Realizing this make me think again of establishing my own business. Not just I can earn a lot from it than just having a fix salary, it could also help my skills sharpen and of course I’m can be a productive citizen. I’m not just helping myself but also the other people around me. A number of people might disagree but it comes to realization that having a regular job is not always the best way of making money and supporting yourself. Although too risky, starting our own business would bring us so many advantage.

Since a growing number of technoprenuers are existing in every part of the world today, surely, engaging myself in this business will not be just an ‘ABC’. We are all aware of course that as the number of people engaging in the same field increases,the narrower the probability for us to excel in it right? However, technology offers us a wide variety of opportunities,no need to be alarm.. .yeah. so maybe I will just take everything slowly.

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