Web 2.0 Entrepreneur

Focus on simplicity for your Web2.0 ideas

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on May 4th, 2007 filed in Web App Development, Web2.0


• 2 Comments »
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Forget about creating another Netvibes or Meebo. Leave the complexity of such development to the bigger players unless you also have some very very experienced developers to back you up. For a start, focus on simple ideas. Ideas that a normal person like you and me are able to think inside out. Ideas that the end-users can easily “get it”. Ideas that can even make your mom nod when you try to explain to her about your project. Afterall, it has been proven many times that simple web applications can really make it big in the Web2.0 arena - and complex Web2.0 applications does not necessarily mean they’ll be a success. Think about Twitter. It started off with a very simple idea which stemmed up from one of the very basic questions in life: “What are you doing?” From that idea, they created a community around it. They created widgets out of it. And all of a sudden Twitter becomes a trend.

Or perhaps look at how just a simple online to-do list can have so many users praising it. Or an online project management app that is used by many big time project managers. How about Technorati (blog search engine)? Feedburner (feed manager)? MyBlogLog (visitor tracking)? All these applications proved that we don’t need to think too much about creating an application that does so many different things. A good application should focus on doing only one specific thing, and being especially good doing it. Most users love simplistic, focused applications. And that is what we should craft our ideas upon. There is a saying that goes: “Great things often start with a simple idea”. I believe in it..

Work with a partner or go solo in your Internet venture?

• Posted by Tengku Zahasman on May 1st, 2007 filed in Thoughts, Entrepreneurship


• 3 Comments »
• (439 Views)

People say that “two heads are better than one”. I say it’s true, but ONLY IF the other person is also as passionate as you are in whatever you’re venturing in. Getting the right partner can boost your business’ productivity to the max but be careful not to hook up with the wrong one as they will give you more headaches compared to working solo. I am currently not running my venture with anyone else. I work out everything by myself. I am the planner, I am the developer, I am the marketer and I am the technical support. That’s one of the obvious benefit of the Internet business - it allows you to run your business on your own because when it comes to the Internet, many things can be automated.

Is it cool working solo?

While I’m already comfortable working as a one-man-show, I realized that this should not continue on forever. I thought how great it is to have a partner (or co-founder if you wanna call it) who is as passionate as I am and having that person to work with me in making the business a success. Being able to share ideas together would be fun and energizing. Knowing that someone else is also working hard on your projects can be a stress reliever as you’re assured that something is being taken care of. The reason why I’m still working solo is not because I don’t want a partner, but because I have yet to find the perfect one. Finding the right partner is not as easy as finding the right staff. Finding a staff means you look into their skills and personality and offer them money. But for a partner, you want them to be as close as to your own clone. You have to be at the right place at the right time, with the right person. That’s why it’s hard to find the right partner. But it’s also not impossible. It’s a lot easier if you already have a close friend who shares the same passion with you in venturing in the Internet business and becoming a successful Internet entrepreneur.

What’s my recommendation?

If you ask me whether you should find a partner or just work on your own, I’ll have to ask you how huge and how far do you want your business to go. If you only want to be a work-at-home mom/daddy and get thousands of dollars a month out of blogging, then you can do it solo (your siblings or your spouse can be your partner if you ever need one). But if you’re aiming in building a huge business one day, developing international web applications, getting tenth to hundreds of thousands of dollars a month, getting an office with a few staffs or maybe even build your own skyscrapers (woah!), meeting people and making your own business travels, then you better find ‘the right’ partner soon. Be smart.