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Geekwhat.com

A blog about music, technology, and financial investing


So you got a Business Idea…June 6

I’m not a fan of people who sit around and slack. Moreso, I dislike people who talk about business this, idea that, but don’t actually take action on anything. Most of ALL, I can’t STAND people who make a big deal about concealing their ideas for fear of someone stealing their grand, amazing, life-changing, phenomenal idea and running with it. Grow up.

Below is a genius quote by entrepreneur and CDBaby creator Derek Sivers, enjoy:

It’s so funny when I hear people being so protective of ideas. (People who want me to sign an NDA to tell me the simplest idea.)

To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.

Explanation:

AWFUL IDEA = -1
WEAK IDEA = 1
SO-SO IDEA = 5
GOOD IDEA = 10
GREAT IDEA = 15
BRILLIANT IDEA = 20

NO EXECUTION = $1
WEAK EXECUTION = $1000
SO-SO EXECUTION = $10,000
GOOD EXECUTION = $100,000
GREAT EXECUTION = $1,000,000
BRILLIANT EXECUTION = $10,000,000

To make a business, you need to multiply the two.
The most brilliant idea, with no execution, is worth $20.
The most brilliant idea takes great execution to be worth $20,000,000.
That’s why I don’t want to hear people’s ideas.
I’m not interested until I see th













Focusing on what You do BestApril 28

I realized recently that the following tried and true quote is a principle to live by. :

“Focus on what you do best.”

meganfox.jpg

Case in point. Megan Fox knows what she does best…

It simply leads to increased productivity, plus you can have others take care of the stuff you aren’t good at (which may in fact be their forte!). Another variation of this principle is knowing the most efficient way to get what you need (for instance, knowing where to go for specific information).

A few ways I applied this principle to life:

  1. I like singing but I admit that I am not one of the best singers on the market.
    Problem: In order to sell records, our band need an awesome singer.
    Solution: We now have a stellar vocalist, Ray Liu, that takes care of the majority of the vocals! Now I can focus more on what I’m great at: producing music and instrumentation!
  2. I had never applied for a visa to enter China and didn’t know the process.
    Problem: I need to find out how, but the process of searching online could be very arduous and time-consuming.
    Solution: My friend, Mason, works for the American Institute in Taiwan and must know the process. After contacting him, turns out I learned the process in a 10 minute phone call, sweet!

Life is all about havi





Smarts, Courage, and Passion Equals Recipe for Ongoing Success, Cool Silly on its wayMarch 16

Taking action is so awesome.

Our mini-album release performance in February 2010.

In my last two posts, I wrote about taking the driver’s seat and grasping control of my career and artistic direction. It is has been an amazing ride in the recent four to six months for my bandmates and me (and it’s just starting ;) ).

In my last post on November 25, 2009, I wrote the following goals for our band:

  1. Break the 1,000 fans mark on our Facebook page.
  2. Hit the radio airwaves.
  3. Release our own album next year.

Well, guess what?  No. 2 and no.3 are done.  We released our first mini-album on February 10, 2010 and as a result, we’ve been featured on two major radio interview shows. Check and check.  Goal no. 1 is i

Music plus Entrepreneurship equals Cool Silly album release!February 13

In my last entry, I wrote about achieving some cool feats by taking the driver’s seat and executing with my new band, Cool Silly.

Well, I just took this entrepreneurship project to the next level a few days ago…. how you might ask?

coolsilly-albumcover.jpg

An album release! (mini-album to be exact) ;)

Yep, we just released our debut mini-album a few days ago in Taipei, Taiwan.  With the exception of a professional mastering engineer to master our album, everything else we performed ourselves, including the following tasks:

  1. Music production (lyrics, music, recording, mixing)
  2. Design of posters, album booklet, and other various paraphernalia
  3. Release party coordination
  4. Digital outlet for selling our album
  5. etc. etc.

I won’t lie, the execution of these tasks was not a trivial feat.  I slept on average 5-6 hours each of the ten days prior to the release date.  But not without eventual success and satisfaction!!!  We had an awesome turnout at our release part

Cool Silly, the Brainchild of Tony Chung and Taking the Driver’s SeatNovember 24 2009

Last month, I wrote a post on taking the driver’s seat and grasping control of my career and artistic direction.  Well, sure enough, I did just that in the last thirty days and achieved some groundbreaking results.

coolsilly

Since leaving my previous agency last month, I started a pop trio called Cool Silly with two of my closest friends in Taiwan who I had previously written music with. The idea for this group came about when I saw a poster for an upcoming nationwide songwriting contest which would require live performances in each round of the contest.  I figured the three of us could 1. write a song for this contest without any problems, and 2. put on a pretty decent show.

Well, one month later, the results are in:

  1. We are number one in the country (hear our #1 song below).
  2. We have performed in front of 100,000 people.
  3. We have accrued over 3,000 views on our live performance video on youtube.
  4. We have our own concert lined up at the end of December.
  5. We are performing on a TV show later this week.
  6. We have an official band website (designed by yours truly ;) ) and close to 500 fans on our Facebook page.

This all happened in the span of one month…

What is key to all these milestones is that we achieved them with zero financial or agency backing a.k.a. we did everything ourselves with the help of some amazing friends. I guess desperate times really do call for desperate measures.  Sometimes you just have to get out of your comfort zone and believe in yourself and challenge your limits.  A few of the things that got my drive going:

  1. Leaving my previous agency i.e. no more income.
  2. Fast-approaching deadline of songwriting contest when I first heard about it (we wrote and recorded the song in literally a few days).
  3. The personal satisfaction and inspiration of gaining achievement upon achievement based solely on one’s own hard work and efforts.

To-be-achieved goals for Cool Silly:

  1. Break the 1,000 fans mark on our Facebook page.  Add us!
  2. Hit the radio airwaves.
  3. Release our own album next year.
  4. Start (and maintain) a youtube TV show (check).

And finally, here is the song that garnered us all the above achievements: