 Feb 11, 2012
Not Thinking Big Enough
Thinking Big
While reading up on the Google Boys, Sergey Brin once told a colleague that his (colleague's) idea was good...but not big enough! Until now, I think about that...not big enough. It's slightly over a year now since I embarked on my vision of a social enterprise that I took from concept to design to development and now growth. It's more than just viable now - in terms of internet viewership, it's probably the fastest-growing portal in the Philippines. But I feel constipated about its subscription growth. It hasn't grown rapidly enough despite my best efforts to replicate my efficiency and even render myself expendable. Again, it's not about the money, but perfecting the game...and making it as big as it can possibly be is part of that perfection.
Mentor
I've always maintained that having a mentor can significantly hasten growth and development. The great leaders of our time talked about the people who took them into their fold to be the iconic figures that they've become. A spiritual devotee even told me that without a guru, one cannot attain enlightenment - I disagree, but I could just imagine that having a learned teacher blueprint a path for you accelerates growth instead of having to figure things out on your own through trial and error.
If He was in my Shoe...
That's what I miss. If I had a mentor...I mean a real one, not a charming gab-talker who turns out to be a psycho, where would I be now? In the same way that during a time of uncertainty, a US president (I think it was Kennedy) would look at Lincoln's portrait and ask him, "What would you do if you were in my shoes?". In my wealth-building process, I often find myself thinking, "How would Henry Sy do it?". Why Henry Sy? Well, from a modest shoe store, he built SM into a mall empire. He's become my metaphor for thinking big.
What is Big Enough?
I'm haunted now. How do I go beyond my own limited box to see the possibilities that lay outside? I'm mustering ideas from life experience, from logic, books, the internet, from little morsels of knowledge I stumble upon, but I can't figure out how to make it grow exponentially bigger than what it is. How would Henry Sy make it bigger?
Cultural Alliances
Unlike the Chinese who forge business through a network of established associates, or club members who support each other through alliances, or even extended clan members who only buy from one another but sell to everyone, I'm entirely on my own running through this cultural-business maze I know little about...and getting lost many times.
There are many more things I'd like to do in life. And I can't do them until I finish this. Got to think big so I can move on to other things.
--- TheLoneRider
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