Recently, different bloggers, Aaron and Fearfully Opinionated have discussed the need and importance for financial education for Singaporeans in order for them to survive in our new economy. Actually, there is a simple solution to how we can help Singaporeans to get a sound financial education by reading. The solution is to read this book “Growing Your Tree of Prosperity” by Christopher Ng Wai Chung, which I strongly recommend as a beginner’s guide on financial education in Singapore. This book offers details on how you can grow your financial investments, take advantage of the global economic trends and survive in the changing economy in Singapore. Read more
The Marine Corps Way explains how to unlock the ingenuity and energy of an organization’s most precious asset: its people. Wannapreneur gives us the key learning points of this book. Read more
Recently, Matthijs van Leeuwen, a co-founder of SimuGen (the biotech company who I co-founded with) dropped me a visit. While catching up with me on business, he gave me the book “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill as a birthday present, which was in turn, recommended by Daniel Sheehan (another co-founder and friend of mine in Cambridge). As I am not fond of books about telling me that they have the right formula for making a million bucks, this book was surprisingly good, and even my business mentor in Singapore, Justin Ong also highly recommended it. The book was published in 1937 and strangely the lessons mentioned in the book are still relevant for many people today. So, in this article, we review this timeless classic by Napoleon Hill. Read more
September 17, 2006 by SGE
SG Entrepreneurs has been a strong advocate of the bootstrapping model in starting their enterprise. If you are planning to start a business enterprise in Singapore and you do not want to spend any money in buying any books to read, here is a collection of free online resources that can help you to get started. You will find a compiled list of 20 free business guides that mainly centers on topics and issues regarding manpower, fundraising, legal and tax issues, accounting and pension. Read more
We often read a lot about successful companies (for example: Dell, Google, Microsoft, MacDonald) and their best practices that turn them from good to great. With the emergence of China possibly as a new economic superpower within the next decade, our interests are geared towards the successful Chinese companies that had emerged over the past two decades. Chief among those, who made news by taking over of the IBM PC division, is Lenovo or è”想. “The Lenovo Affair” written by Lin Zhijun, translated by Martin Avery, described the rise of Lenovo and the main characters behind the company. Read more
After watching bits and pieces of this movie in youTube, I took a trip down to HMV and acquired a DVD copy of the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley. Starring Noah Wyle (famous from ER) as Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates, and directed by Martyn Burke, the movie documents the rise of the personal computer industry through the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft in the early years. Read more
What is the power of unfair advantage? How does the entrepreneur create and build upon this advantage so that he or she can create a successful enterprise? If you have found the inspiration from some entrepreneurs on starting up, here is the review on “The Power of Unfair Advantage by John Nesheim” is the answer to give you details on how you can build your new business enterprise. Read more
I have seen this book many times lingering on the Entrepreneurship section in Kinokuniya bookstore, Singapore. Of course, the catalyst to buy Tom Kelley and Jonathon Littman’s The Art of Innovation came from the 50 minutes interview with Marissa Mayer and DT’s recommendation on his blog. This is a book about reviewing the strategies, processes and ideas behind a Silicon Valley-based firm, IDEO, which design the famous Palm hand-held and many other innovations. Read more
Leaders often hear ‘yes’ far too often. Hierarchy and seniority are particularly important for Asian culture. The question is, how do you effectively exert your influence both as leader or as follower? Here is an excellent monograph “Why Great Leaders don’t take Yes for an Answer” by Michael Roberto that depict the rules of leadership, particularly in the area of building consensus and managing conflict among teams.
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