Virutally Fab

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For the big fashion-lover that I am, I just had to try out My Closet Room after hearing their pitch at Sthlm Tech Meetup this Monday. Unfortunately, I forgot about the part that the haven’t finished their beta yet in Sweden and has only pre-launched in the US, so I couldn’t find them in iTunes app store (sad face). However, I did download a correspondence called My Fab Closet, which is also a Swedish startup and targets fashionistas, and has been praised in magazines such as Plazakvinna.

So I downloaded the My Fab Closet app, signed up and started using it. Since it is still in the development phase, some functions were still a bit unclear. However, you do get to mix and match your own outfits with your selected items as well as see what other fashonistas have matched and chosen. This I really appreciate, especially when I don’t use any other tools to build outfits and only do so in my head, it was nice to do it for real.

photo-2What’s also good about the app compared to other similar websites etc. is that this one is linked to actual stores with clothes that I can actually afford. Sites like Polyvore are linked to all kinds of brands, even those that have clothings that cost a fortune, thus making it less realistic and therefore less fun to use it. My Fab Closet has a realistic clothing base.

Besides building outfits, there is also a newsfeed with people updating their closet and so on, and you can also upload outfit pictures for other people to rate it as well as make a magazine cover of your own as your profile pic.

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The latter function was a bit…well, did not speak to me that much. Just as Alexander Bard had commented, such apps can be too much show-offy, something people, especially me, can get tired of in the long run. I would in reality much rather just start a fashion blog than use the app.

But, the app is definitely for entertainment, but I am doubtful how much I will use it for everyday. The layout is also a bit confusing, i.e. you can’t really figure out how and where you can find more pieces to select for your closet. Curious to see how My Closet Room is like. Although I get the feeling that it is quite similar to My Fab Closet…

Final Thoughts on the class

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It’s hard to believe that his course is about to wrap up. Just wanted to give some closing feedback and reflect on the last couple of weeks.

I can definitely say that Serdar, you brought in some great speakers that really connected with us aspiring entrepreneurs. Also, the personal stories that you shared both in and out of class really hit home. I hate to say this, but I think our conversations outside of and after class have made more of an impact on me than your lectures. And thank you start for making us blog and establish online presence because that has been something that several folks have urged me to do and I can see the potentials of it now. The next step for us all is to start our own websites.

I have to admit – my expectations coming into this class were high. I was hoping for more practicality and doing. I was hoping for more “entrepreneurial experience.” But I have realized that that’s what courses like “Execution – Running Your Own Company” and “Ideation” are for. Although I was not quite satisfied with the actual substance of this course, I have begun to realize (especially as I am skimming back through the readings) that what this class has truly taught me is two things: passion and execution.

Nothing will just fall out of the sky as much as you would like it to happen. They just won’t. An idea really is useless until you execute. Talk is cheap. Really. And to have idea without all your heart and soul fully in it will most likely never make it.

To keep it short, it is time to go out, try things, and execute. Even if one fails, there is much to be learned. And so what, sometimes failure is the greatest teacher. Let’s go make things happen!

China’s New Richest Man: Jack Ma

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Last week Jack Ma’s company, Alibaba Group–a family of Internet-based business–appeared in the stock market on Wall Street and he thus becomes the richest man in China and ranks 24th on Forbes with a net worth of  $21.8 billion. It’s a really huge news to us and suddenly Jack Ma, the founder and Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, becomes the focus of almost every one’s discussion.

It’s not truly a surprise I think, at the beginning of the year I saw a movie called American Dreams in China(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Dreams_in_China),which tells a similar story of 3 entrepreneurs struggling to make their ‘American Dream’ come true. Ma, a man of ordinary birth and ordinary family, makes all his way to Wall Street. He deserves to be the most successful entrepreneur and philanthropist of China.

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At early age, Ma decided to learn English well so he rode his bike to a   hotel nearby every morning to practise talking to foreigners there. Later in his youth, he fail the entrance exam twice and attended Hangzhou Tearcher’s Institute, which is quite similar to American Entrepreneurs like Mark Zukerberg and Bill Gates who quitted college to start up. Ma first started building websites for Chinese companies with the help of friends in the US. He has said that “the day we got connected to the Web, I invited friends and TV people over to my house,” and on a very slow dial-up connection, “we waited three and a half hours and got half a page…. We drank, watched TV and played cards, waiting. But I was so proud. I proved the Internet existed.”

In 1995, Ma founded China Yellowpages, which is believed to be China’s first Internet-based company.He then founded Alibaba in 1999, a China-based business-to-business marketplace site which currently serves more than 79 million members from more than 240 countries and territories. In September 2014 it was announced Alibaba was raising $20 billion in an IPO. Ma now serves as Executive Chairman of Alibaba Group, which is a holding company with nine major subsidiaries –Alibaba.com, Tmall, Taobao(just like eBay in US), eTao, Marketplace, Alibaba Cloud Computing, Juhuasuan, 1688.com, AliExpress.com and Alipay(which is the early competitor of Paypal and now serves the same way amongst China).

Now as the richest man, Ma said to journalist, that he lived a happier life when he earns 90rmb a month and struggled in society than being the richest one, which of course we never believe. Why telling all this? Simply because I think Jack Ma has a story worth telling, and as a business symbol of China, Ma becomes a new star that guide Chinese entrepreneurs to head his way.

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Entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley

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Last year, I got the amazing opportunity to go to San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Palo Alto for a week of entrepreneurial inspiration. During the week I met with a lot of interesting people – entrepreneurs, programmers, managers, CEOs and even a winegrower. They all had a lot to share from their respective experiences at companies as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Causes, Podio, Spotify, Silicon Vikings, Business Sweden etc. I had a fantastic time and gained a lot of insights, experience and a few tips on entrepreneurship, and the most important ones I would like to share with you!

Fail Fast and Fail Forward
As an entrepreneur you will fail at times, so better fail now and learn from your mistakes than keep going on for a long time and fail later. The earlier you fail, the earlier you can start over as a better entrepreneur.

Move Fast and Break Things
Suggests you should make progress at a fast pace. As an entrepreneur you should expect to fail (break things) and unless you break things, you’re not moving fast enough.

You are a product of your environment
This is the concept behind the advantage of incubators and accelerators. Having great people around you helps you be great yourself – so find a suitable ecosystem and let it shape you as you develop the entrepreneur in you.

Multitask
Many entrepreneurs in the Bay Area start their ventures alongside their regular jobs. This lets them put time in their startup (which often generates no money in early stages) but still receive salaries from their regular jobs. Also, a workplace provides a great opportunity to identify needs or problems that an entrepreneur can fulfill or solve. However, to take their venture to the next level, it’s almost necessary that the entrepreneurs quit their regular jobs and pursue the goals of their startup wholeheartedly.