Photo adapted from Thinkpanama

Imagine this: RM30 million is yours. All yours.

How will you invest it? Think big playa. Big playas usually think for a moment before they invest RM30 million. So I’ll give you a moment to think.

Yes. Invest RM30 million in a smart way. What will you do…

What was that?

Buy 2 giant pandas?

Pandas you say. Hmm. 2 giant pandas. You’re thinking ‘out of the box’. I like that. Sounds like a plan. Let’s buy 2 giant pandas then.

JEEZ LOUSIE I GIVE YOU RM30 MILLION AND YOU BUY 2 GIANT PANDAS guess what sis that’s what Zoo Negara plans to do with RM30 million See the article on theStar.

Wait wow wow wait wait… let’s not jump to conclusions here! There’s more to the story.

First, let’s get our facts right.

In Zoo Negara’s defence, they’re not going to spend RM30 million just 2 giant pandas. They know exactly what they’re doing.

From the article in the Star:

… Malaysia was eyeing the giant pandas, ringtail lemurs, white tigers, and golden monkeys from Chinese zoos. “On our end, we might be sending them our milky storks and painted storks, and other animals which we have in surplus.

Golden monkeys! This how big time playas do deal-making. It’s not just “Oh I’ll take 2 of those what are they giant pandas yeah OK two of them for 30 quid” It’s more than that. Big deals involve golden monkeys. As in like, gold. And milky storks, just like in the stock market.

Think big playa investments stops there? The deal gets sweeter.

“If we do get the giant pandas, one male and one female, they will come with their own curator, veterinarian and Chinese bamboo.”

Don’t settle for the just the friggin Pandas, big playas get the works, like a McPanda Happy Meal, supersized to RM30 million.

Does it make sense now?

Maybe not. But this is where the lesson begins.

Introducing: Productive Absurdity

Some things don’t make sense at first, but they can be very useful to us if swung the right way.

I call this ‘Productive Absurdity’.

 
Photo adapted from XianMing

To grasp the bull of ‘Productive Absurdity’ by its horns, or rather, the panda by its ears, do the following

1. ACCEPT that some things don’t make sense to you, and might not make sense to anyone! Does absurd stuff really frustrate you? I understand. But then again, maybe I don’t understand. It’s absurd! None of us will never understand it. Our brains aren’t equipped with that kind of superpowers. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be in PEACE with things which don’t make sense at all, right?
2. FIND a way to make it useful. Either by laughing at it, learning from it, tweaking the idea, letting it spike your creativity, use it to inspire others to take action, or use it make them laugh, cry etc. Think about it. The very same energy you use fighting with the absurd (knowing you will lose)… converted energy making the absurd very useful. Suddenly, you’re a Productive Absurdity ninja!

For the seriously introverted, this may remind you of existentialism and absurdism if you’re thinking about “In a world without meaning, you’re free to creating meaning for anything”.

You nailed it. Create meaning.

This is exactly what we’re going to do with the 2 giant pandas, since the big playas and golden monkeys involved in the deal seem unstoppable.

You too can apply Productive Absurdity to this example, as we return to alternative panda investment strategies used by big playas:

The big picture of Return on investment

OK, let’s say, on some alien planet somewhere, we have a zoo which aims to spend RM30 million of taxpayer money on 2 giant pandas. That may be absurd right? And perhaps, not so productive if left at that. But sprinkle a bit of Productive Absurdity and you will get…

Alternative Investment Strategy #1:

RM30mil for a giant robotic panda instead! If it’s going to be absurd anyway, might as well make it useful! Build a giant robotic panda! ROI? A giant robotic panda will attract more tourists than two normal everyday bamboo eating slow moving real pandas. Same price. More tourists.

And consider the positive externalities: It may even attract Ultraman to fight it. Now you will have a fight Don King might promote to get EVEN MORE TOURISTS just like how the Thrilla in Manila worked for the Philippines, we will have the Paannnnda in Malaysia. Boom. There’s another genius idea.

 
ABSURD AND AWESOME ARTWORK: Love at first Fight, by Malaysian Artist, Munkao

Alternative Investment Strategy #2:

Extend the same logic to the Malaysian Economic Stimulus Package. Cancel entrepreneurship grants, and spend the cash not 2, but 200 pandas instead! Think big! That will attract tourists more than 2 pandas can. Do the math. 100 times more tourists, minimum. We can even put the 200 pandas on the F1 tracks and have this massive panda race. And shoot a Malaysian film based on these F1 pandas, called “The Fast and Furriest”. Kung Fu Panda grossed $631,910,531 so let’s say we gross the same, we would have made back our money, AND we get to keep 200 pandas for MORE box office hits. Eg. We get the 200 pandas to hit the gym, then shoot the film “200”.

(Yes. Believe it. The view of this animated panda’s crotch. Stare into it. This grossed USD600M. Absurd. But productive. Imported oriental culture and sold it back to China. Very productive.)

See how far Productive Absurdity can take you?

Smart people don’t restrict their ideas to pandas. See how it can be applied to tigers in Penang: You won’t believe it. See article on theStar

In summary, Productive Absurdity makes life a ride in an amusement park. Just accept things in general may not make sense, and find a productive use for it anyway :)

Trust me, I do this for a living. I rally a generation of bored youths on YouthSays.com and carefully take time to unlock their potential to save the universe from doom.

Absurd? You bet.

//

Further reading thinking:

• What do Malaysian Youths at YouthSays have to say about Panda Investment strategy?
• Wikipedia’s entry for "Absurd Humor"
• All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. ~ Albert Camus

Perhaps its not fair to call it a dance, although that would have been neat. Imagination aside, it was more like a series of talks.

Mine was a concise 9 minute session, directed at entrepreneurs who just got their pre-seed grants:

• Made a case against common perceptions of ‘innovation’.
• Examples and experience from managing a fast-growing startup Joel and I have recently put together.
• Definitely not one of my best speeches, considering the ANIMAL IN ME didn’t emerge. But I was still accused of being energetic, and there may be some useful ideas in there, especially for those from a tech background, moving into business.

(My full speech transcript is at the end of this blog post)

You can also download slides of other speakers’ presentations.

Speech aside, I met so many cool people at the event!

For example, you would never expect a Venture Capitalist (VC) to be like Chok Bee Wee, Managing Director of Teak Capital.

Chok, who invested in Jobstreet and helped groom them to be the hundred million dollar company it is today, is not your typical VC. She is straightforward and caring, LIKE A MOTHER. Feels like someone who will look out for you, and won’t hesitate to tell you to your room is a complete mess.

Then there’s Pamir, a VC from investment group Newtonmore Advisors in the UK. He gave us plenty of good advice.

We also bumped into successful young entrepreneurs like Bob Chua of Pulse Group. One of the more bobular dudes who spoke that day, his journey from bedroom entrepreneur to and IPO in AIMS in 33 months, has MOMENTUM written all over him, pushing the future of market research as we know it. At the rate he is going, he will easily be one of Malaysia’s most globally successful entrepreneurs in the next 3 years.

Got a pic with Ashroff, too, a familiar face in these circles! Another dude who makes you feel like family.

We also met two silly looking zombies who look eerily familiar.

And Ganesh Kumar, a real success story. Read “Going for broke” (Published by TeAM, in bookstores now) to hear his full story.

It’s worth the read.

Many early stage startups were also at Innotech. Like Socialwalk, with Tham King Yiew, who was ranting about bad experiences with web developers.

And how can I not forget… The MDeC Crew!

Life has been full of surprises ever since I set out to sail on my own. And along the way, friends have strangers have been very kind to me.

I don’t catch up with Roslan and MDeC team often, but in the background they’ve been opening up many doors to local technologists and entrepreneurs. I have personally benefited a lot from the efforts of the MDeC crew, including the invitation to speak here at Innotech 2008.

Lets have a look at a few of them!

“Good Vibes” Syafinaz.

Jamie “Rock Steady” Haniff

And Roslan, um, “Bakri” Zakaria

Thanks everyone!

Overall it was a great day with great food, great conversations, and we left Innotech having added validation of our business model, and added excitement to follow through with the journey we set out on.

For those of you who are curious about my presentation, here it is:

Khailee Ng, The Youth Intelligence, Innotech 2008

I remember stumbling across something pretty neat, a while ago.

I was 24 years old at the time.

It was late in the night. Like 4am. And I was sort of, half dressed in front of the computer. Doing what young, hot-blooded young men do in front the computer. (You know, reading techcrunch and stuff.)

Then I came across this picture:

It’s not the most arousing picture, I know. It’s a surfer. A male surfer. And he’s not even wearing a bikini. Which is probably a good thing.

So why is this surfer?

Well, this picture is a powerful metaphor, and reminder for something we already know.

It’s actually taken off a slide from Greg McAdoo, partner at Sequoia Capital. As most of you may know, Sequoia Capital is a pretty large and successful VC, funded the likes of Yahoo! And Google.

Greg brought up this slide when he spoke at startup school about the kind of companies he funds, and the conditions required for a company to really scale. (See his full presentation here)

He likened an entrepreneur to a surfer. Where you could be a really hardworking and smart entrepreneur, but if you’re not riding on a really big wave, you’re not going to be growing a really big company.

He also spoke about how the biggest most successful companies of our time were NOT about trying to create waves which weren’t there – but seeing big waves coming, and riding them in an interesting way.

So I stared at the picture for a long while, and this question crossed my mind.

And I’m sure any entrepreneur or VC like yourself would at some point wonder the same….

Are we really riding on a big wave?

Like, a really big wave?

Or an imaginary one?

Ladies and gentlemen. 

Thanks for having me here. It’s great to get to know you. I’m Khailee. The technology and community director with The Youth Intelligence, and cofounder of Malaysia’s Largest Youth Opinion Community, YouthSays.

6 months after my semi-naked night surfing the web, looking at surfers, When I discovered 3 things

1. I am still 24 years old
2. I’ve got more clothes on
3. And I’ve been asked to speak here today about “Social Net and Entrepreneurship HOT SPOTS”

Which is very convenient if you think about it.

Because a HOT SPOT in the social net and entrepreneurship, is probably not too different from a really hot trend or are and perhaps a really big wave.

So let’s travel into a really big wave today, and try to find a new perspective on how to ride them. Cool?

I’ll share my perspective as a young Malaysian, as well as an entrepreneur currently scaling up a profitable company.

We’ll be talking about this ONE BIG WAVE we are all being affected by.

This is ONE BIG WAVE many may know about – but not many may know what to do about it. This of course opens up great opportunities for all of us, and I’ll get to that in a bit.

I’ll also touch on something I’ve personally discovered is of utmost importance in riding big waves – especially when you’re already armed with great technology and belief in your product.

So to get our feet wet.

Let’s dive straight into THIS BIG WAVE – and have a look at the OBVIOUS part.

2 MILLION YOUTHS WILL MAKE THE DIFFERENCE

Front page of theStar newspaper last week.

Fellow Malaysians will know firsthand how the government is waking up to this generation of youths who are currently exercising their right to decide on what they want, when they want it.

And it’s becoming clear, it’s not just in Malaysia, this wave is hitting the entire region.

So what’s going on with these youths?

I’ve been involved with building communities all my life. I started what was once the most vibrant Malaysian socio-political youth community online, some offline communities in the local music scene, and later I was involved with rallying communities around products and web applications in US & UK markets.

And just like any Malaysian infected with too much 2.0, I’d use to think.

“Oh Malaysia is so backward, it’ll take a couple of years before our society is revolutionized by technology.”

But you know how life is full of surprises. It seems this ‘future’ is happening. Right now.

(The above is based on a nationwide sample of 8,000 Malaysian youths. Survey conducted by The Youth Intelligence, October 2008)

As we speak, Malaysian youths are organizing themselves online, and on-ground, around the issues they care about, their own interest and passions. You can email me if you want examples, but ladies and gentlemen, this is just the beginning.

Now. For the not so OBVIOUS part.

Businesses are actually waking up. It’s not fair to accuse them of being in the dark, because the past 6 months, feedback from all the biggest brands and agencies tell me that they are definitely keen to ride this wave with us.

Some have mentioned, they read the papers and think…

Wow, 2 million young voters will make the difference. How about 2 million young consumers?

Especially when by 2010, over 65% of Malaysians will be under 35.

That’s a lot of youths. Youths who are using the internet in interesting ways. The same is happening to Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines and so forth.

But here’s the BIG FAT GAP.

Last Friday, I was meeting a new client. They’re a multinational brand with a growing focus on the youth market, and after some discussion, they blurted out.

“Look. I want to be transparent about this. I’ve got a budget of XX,XXXX that I have to spend online by this December”

“But my suppliers have been giving me proposals I just don’t understand, they’re asking me to spend on banner ads on these sites, but how does that really convert to sales?”

The businesses want to get on board – but as entrepreneurs and marketers we can’t accuse them of being BLUR about it – we have to show them what that really means.

Sometimes, it seems, there are way too many businesses focused on giving people new new new – on innovation this and that – but not enough effort is being put into translating that into something of OBVIOUS value.

We’re standing here armed with technology, talent, ideas, funding – and to truly ride waves of this sort, what we need, is more marketing focus.

This bleeds into all our decisions.

Are we going to build a new feature? Or improve my presentation deck. Am I going to hire a new programmer, or meet new clients?

Technology is what drives this wave – but it’s not all there is to riding it.

In the same was we laugh at technologists when they say “Build and they will come” Marketers fall into that trap too. Theirs is “Tell them and they will come”.

Well, I experienced that I had to do much more.

Just a personal example, just 6 months ago, my business partner and I put up a website for Malaysian youths to do surveys for brands, and to discuss issues, share opinions, and answer each others questions. It quickly grew to 40,000 members – and it keeps on going…

But the only reason why our business is growing profitably right now with big brands like ASTRO CELCOM etc was because we STOPPED focusing on innovating on our technology – and focused on innovating on how we can help businesses with the existing technology and products we had. 

On many meetings, I wasn’t there to sell technology – or potential – I was there to sell them a problem and solution. I had to be a marketing strategist, a management consultant, and creative agency all at once – to push this to market.

In summary.

It used to be that businesses and the media told the youths what they wanted – and now the youths are telling the world what they want.

And that’s a wave that has hit.

While technological innovation in this space is great – there’s a lot of opportunity for great marketers, too.

So if you’re already out there, given limited resources, if your product or technology is ‘good enough’, stop innovating on it. Focus on marketing and help people to use it.

Here’s a slide with some links, and my contact. Should you find yourself semi naked in front of a computer at night, drop me a line.

And I’d like to close by saying.

We live in some pretty exciting times!

I’d like to think we’re in the same boat. Maybe some of you have not caught your wave. Some of us are in the midst of it. Some of us are leading it.

And as we roll forward with entrepreneurship and innovation in technology and marketing – let’s enjoy the thrill of innovating on our minds as well.

~

The session had already started when I arrived.

Racecar driver Alex Yoong was already on stage, sharing some interesting ideas about alternative, possibly higher paying, more fulfilling career options involving your “being good with your hands”.

NTV7 Breakfast Show host, Jessica Teng spoke next about broadcast journalism and her lifestyle.

Then, it was my turn.

Before I tell you about what really happened to me, there is a background story to why I was invited in the first place.

It was theStar Education Fair 2008.

It happens every year, and its a whopper of sorts, attracting thousands of eager parents and children, shopping for their destiny.

They had career talks and such throughout the day, and the 3 of us were invited to speak on “University and working: Personal experiences”.

I was not entirely sure why I was invited, but I’m guess it was because theStar had written about me a couple of times, and they knew how much I loved infecting young minds with some crazy ideas on a Saturday morning ;)

Okay so maybe they didn’t know that. But it’s true. I love working with young-ish peeps like moi.

Anyhoo – my audience today were maybe a hundred over high school students, some college kids, and their parents.

We were in an overly formal setting, which tamed my usual animated character, but that didn’t stop me from being a beast.

I was swift… but reminded myself not to talk too fast…

After my 10 minutes of anarchy, the deed was done. I know 90% of the crowd must have disagreed with some of my points, but I have always looked out for the misfits who were going YES YES YES.

Misfits aside, I was approached by students and parents, many of them had good questions. Such as this young lad the name of Aaron who may grow up to be doctor.

So.

What did I talk about?

Here is the full script…

Khailee’s Speech At TheStar Education Fair 2008

University Life – My Personal 5 Point Strategy

What’s up guys, I’ve got like, 10 – 15 minutes to help you choose a strategy for balancing out your university life.

So I won’t spend ANY time talking about who I am and what I do.

Let’s just assume I’m a race car driver, and my name is Khailee. We can talk about the details later.

For the next 10 minutes of your life, I’m going to dive into the exact strategy I have used to navigate my university life.

Why my strategy?

Well, my strategy has helped me achieve a couple of things.

• Get kicked out of the Malaysian Student’s Club in Sydney
• Have lecturers refuse to teach me
• Almost drop out of college
• Have a University recommend me into a mental clinic

I admit, this strategy is kinda risky and strange.

Dear parents, I’m not even sure if you want me to share this with your children.

But to be fair, my strategy also helped me achieve a few things before I graduated…

• Co-founded, theCICAK.com – a popular, influential socio-political youth magazine.
• Graduated Top student in business, and invited into a PhD
• Nabbed a couple of awards in art , photography, drama…
• More importantly, it enabled me to wake up everyday, paid good money to do what I love.

What am I doing now?

We can talk about that later. Like I said, let’s talk strategy first.

What’s Your Strategy?

How many of you have a strategy, for their uni life… like….

• “Try and pass all my subjects, try and get some working experience”
• “I’ll go with the flow / see how it goes”
• “Some other strategy”

Yes? No? Maybe? Cool.

Admittedly, I had no choice…

Honestly, between you and me… I didn’t know what to think – gawd – was 16 years old shopping around theStar’s career fair… when I got home, with a bag full of flyers, my dad asked me what I wanted to do… I told him I didn’t know.

BECAUSE I DIDNT KNOW ANYTHING – MY ONLY STRATEGY WAS TO DO WHATEVER IT TAKES TO KNOW EVERYTHING.

I really had to get out there – stop doing normal boring stuff I’ve been doing all my life.

This was my only strategy. Do whatever it takes to know everything.

And this led me to do 5 main things.

I’m going to share these 5 things I did – which you may, or may not agree with.

1. AVOID TYPICAL PEOPLE (Especially Malaysians!)

I arrived in Sydney to discover the Malaysian student committee actively re-creating the comfort zone they were missing oh-so-badly. They organizes activities for Malaysians, mixing around with Malaysians etc… scary!

If you’re overseas – don’t waste it with Malaysians. You’ve been doing that for 10+ years and can do that the rest of your life. Invest your time wisely – learning about other cultures, and other sorts of unconventional people!

2. DONT GET A PART TIME JOB

Unless you have to fry char kwoay teow to send your sister to add math tuition – respect.

But for those of you who have parents paying for your education – my argument is that it costs more per hour keeping you overseas than you can earn being a waiter.

Think about how else that time can be used to enhance your learning – reading things online, learning a new skills, developing relationships with interesting people, and doing CRAZY things… especially…

3. JOIN CLUBS AND SOCIETIES

Personally I was active in over 6 societies Drama, Film, Business, Malaysian Students Association, Outdoor, Debating, International Students Council… and through that I’ve met amazing people – had a loads of fun and good memories.

Every weekend I was doing something different with different people!

My advice is – whatever you are curious about, whether it’s something you like or don’t know anything about.. go out there to meet like minds… and throw yourself into leadership positions even!

Experiment while you can afford to ;)

4. TEST YOUR SUBJECTS / TEACHERS BEFORE YOU CHOOSE

I joined up to 8 classes at a start of a semester- and then I quit those I didn’t like. I would sit in on my friend’s classes to see what it’s like so I can take it next semester.

This is one way to really find the best teachers, and take the subjects you will really get into. In any school, there is always “the good teachers” – go find them. Follow your curiosity, excitement, whenever you can. It’ll make studying a joy, and getting great grades way easier.

5. GET THE BEST RESULTS

Have you ever looked back and “forgotten” everything you’ve studied? Well that happened to the subjects I scored “OK” in. But for most subjects where I scored top grades in – I realize it’s still in my head – part of my mental toolbox. Some people may argue that getting good grades doesn’t really matter – but I personally advise getting the BEST grades – try it once and you’ll feel the difference!

IN SUMMARY

1. Avoid Typical people – especially Malaysians
2. Don’t get a part time job
3. Joins many clubs and societies
4. Test out subjects and teachers
5. Get the best results!

For those of you who don’t see this working for you, or if you have already decided on a lot of things, forget everything I said and do it your way!

BUT – If you’re not ready to decide – Do everything you can to EXPLORE and LEARN.

You know, it’s your choice – you can believe your tertiary education is really just a piece of paper.

Or, it can be a chance to flex your brain. To grow as a person. And ultimately, find your place in this world :)