Arriving in a vibrant city such as Hong Kong can be a bittersweet journey. The sweet flavors arrive in the sense that there is a huge potential to meet entrepreneurs, hustlers, and life changers. The sour tones arrive in the anxious sense of making friends, building community and
“where do I start?”
Learning from Malcom Maxwell’s innovative bestseller the Tipping Point, I needed to find a {CONNECTOR} + {MAVEN}
{Connector} = people who bring the world together by making introductions {Maven} = information specialist who understand the market place
After asking a few UC Berkeley friends, the name Travis Darrow {maven + connector} came up constantly. My friend says Travis Darrow organizes mixers, is well connected, and simply helps out UC Berkeley graduates.
This was enough to stir curiosity. On a breezy night, I was invited to have drink with Travis Darrow along with his elegant wife Tricia Tranat posh Red bar in IFC.
Immediately, we struck a harmonizing chord. Travis Darrow said, “have a drink, sangria. The fruits pieces are great.” While on the roof top over looking the harbor, we started talking about business strategies, basketball, and life in Hong Kong. He is calm, down to earth, and charming at the same time.
Despite his wealth of knowledge about Hong Kong and business, I appreciated that Travis Darrow was genuinely curious about Campusfork Inc. and helping me get connected.
There are 2 Types of people
A) People who say “hey, I know a web entrepreneur, you should met with him” but never follow through. They are full of shitake mushroom
B) People who say “hey, I know someone than can help you understand the internet market in Hong Kong” and actually follow through
Within a few weeks, Travis Darrow was able to set up me up with entrepreneurs including + Mushtaq Kapasi {former Goldman Sachs banker with a law degree from Yale, very down to earth and bright} + Patrick Lee {Rottentomatoes co-founder and CEO of Alivenotdead, very calm and smart}
Whether you’re trying to make new friends in a new city or just want to abandon your current friends, try finding a person who is a MAVEN + CONNECTOR that share your passion {comic books, yo yo, fashion}
Love,
Rayfil Wong
Ending notes.
Sorry to my loyal readers, I have been partying too in Hong Kong + taking diligent notes from successful entrepreneurs.
My next post: how Rayfil Wong lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks
Coming from innovative ally in Silicon Valley, I began to doubt. Just when doubt appeared to solidify, I took a stab at Web Wednesday which ended up on par.
I met the founder Napolean Biggs via Joey Lo (Twiitter) + Vinko (Facebook). Arriving in the underground Valor tavern of trendy Lan Kwai Fong, a few hundred tech savvy innovators arrived.
Napolean himself is a successful/smart/innovative serial entrepreneur with subpurb people skills. His company, Palava Digital helps people understand the internet. During this exploration trip to Hong Kong, my goal is to dig and learn from these entrepreneurs, so I can’t wait.
For around $15 USD, the entrance was well worth it. After two light hearted drinks, Napolean gathered the troops. As a class act, Napolean introduced me “and we have a foodporn addict all the way from San Francisco…” but playing center stage was Rex Ng.
Rex Ng, a former Yahoo employee, started 6Waves.com, a company that successfully developed Facebook applications. One application that features mafia games is rumored to generate around $60,000 USD monthly. More importantly, the audience got the inside story regarding how a bootstrap entrepreneur was able to be successful.
Just like masterful moderator like Charlie Rose, Napolean challenged Rex with countless questions from revenue streams and competition. All this energy heightened my senses.
Later that night, I met Jeff Lyndon.
He is young and smart. Currently, he is working on deploying video games. More stunningly, he started his entrepreneurial career creating War of War Craft characters by hiring farmers in China. I was impressed.
3 things I have learned
1} Although small, the tech savvy community is well knit 2} Web development may be low cost in China, but make sure you source the proper talent and have a good manager 3} It is hard to reach critical mass and few web resources reach this point. Openrice, a food website resource is just one that has reached critical mass. In Hong Kong, there is only a 7 million population and most do not spend much time on the internet. In terms of behavior, few buy clothes online, unlike Americans.
I will end with a few notes. 1} Keeping my eyes open + ears wide, I am observing trends and behaviors 2} Hong Kong is a city focused mainly on finance, real estate, and manufacturing 3} It may be hard for your product (restaurant), service (insurance), or self brand (Jackie Chan) to hit mainstream or critical mass, but if you do be prepared to have great fruits in neighboring places such as Singapore, China, and South Korea
P.S.:Thanks to Betty Lam for a warm Hong Kong Welcom
Rayfil’s first Mansion (not house) party in Hong Kong.
Michelle said, “lets go to a house party, it’s for a good cause.”
Michelle Woo is a USC (Unversity of Southern California) grad that I met at a alumni networking event. She is smart and a great Hong Kong tour guide. Warmly, she invited me to an eye opening event along with sassy Kitty Wong.
Kitty Tam is a professional working for a European magazine with a great sense of humor and energy. All three of us jived (got along) well since we’re all down to earth and not stuffy.
Stuffy = arrogant, insecure, self absorbed person
Those who know me, I try to always confirm for an event for a good cause. The charity event was for the devastating earthquake in China last year. The party organizers are part of Habitat for Humanity in Hong Kong.
Note:Special thanks to Dwayne Chow, master of ceremonies. He has a great heart working along with Habitat for Humanity and very down to earth guy.
Arriving by taxi, a private road greeted us in the late evening toward Bowen Road. For those who have never been to Hong Kong, rich people usually live up in the hills away from noise pollution.
Passing through the private security guard, the winding path lead up toward the ground floor indoor garage.
Looking more like a Hong Kong auto show, Porsche 911 and a host of exotic cars rounded out the menu. The house was owned by a textile entrepreneur. Cars, a team of domestic helpers, and reportedly a jet was available upon his request.
Once the wooden door opened, an army of shoes filled the lobby. Arriving at main level, my senses were heightened. It appeared that I had arrived at architectural digest. Minimalist modern décor and hi ceiling were primary features. With a clear panoramic view, the infinity pool caught my eye. A side pool room added character.
My guess was that the custome design home was worth over $20 millions USD.
With an army of drinks and food, perhaps I had arrived at paradise. So please, don’t wake me up. A few hundred English speakers filled the lawn, and the back draft of the Hong Kong skyline perhaps created a breath taking view.
The ambiance was lively with the luau and toga theme taking center stage. As with most social scenes, the air was dense as gawkers profiled different characters. A few slender and tall bikini babes, inflatable dolphins, and stuffy finance dudes filled the room.
In Hong Kong, the main career focus is in the finance area. Career driven professionals that were educated in American and now have return back to Hong Kong.
As I meet a few characters, guests immediately danced toward the back.
AHHHHHHHHHHH! Water balloon fight!!!!!!!
Oh great. Thank God that it lasted only few minutes. After being in Hong Kong for a few weeks, I read people pretty well. The sincere ones I can tell off the bat, as for cocky insecure guys, I can make a mile long list.
It was great meeting down to earth “fro yo” loving Elaine Choi + “burrito lover” Caroline Kracke.
While the temptation to be a super entrepreneur and build a costume design home is tempting, I will settle for a nice condo with my golden retriever. Often times, people focus on the material goods in life with out focusing on the “cost” and in this case, the sacrifice of living such as life.
Thus far in Hong Kong, I have meet a few guys I really like.
{Napolean Bigg} founder of WebWednesday and entrepreneur extraordinaire
{Eugene Pak}, successful accountant but lives life in a calm “Poker face” manner down to earth manner.
Two weeks ago,… I was disappointed, United Airlines had no more stand by seats. But instead of moaning and groaning, I kept my head held high.
At the baggage terminal, I ran into Tracy Morgan, comedian starring as “Tracy Jordan” in hit NBC show 30 Rock. “Tracy, people in China love you!” That’s my line for getting photos.
During that afternoon, the airport was not crowded. A few fans requested photos, but it was rather a quiet scene.
While Twittering on my laptop “Tracy Morgan at SFO” in that stainless steel telephone booth, he happen to sit in the both next to me with his girlfriend. Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I picked his brains.
“Tracy, how do you deal with struggles in life?”
In a more stern cautious face, Tracy reminded me to embrace struggles. He commented that comedian such as Martin Lawrence and a host of others struggle. He taught me that struggles are what make life worth living. All of the sudden, the comic genius in him broke out. He did a short monologue.
I’m paraphrasing, but to the extent that he mentioned that struggle is when my dad’s sperm attempts to reach my mom’s egg. Struggle is trying to get into heaven, and seeing if we’re on the list.
Tracy agreed with me, that comedians are one of the smartest people. He reminded me that the court jester was one of the most coveted people during the times of the kings. I told him that I wanted to bring more comedy to Hong Kong. He looked at me and just encouraged me to just do it.
Honestly, my passion is running Campusfork Inc. + also in the food industry, but I find that comedy just lightens the spirit, and just make people laugh. In India, I learn that there are laughing clubs since studies show that it is healthy.
Easter Sunday was a great treat.
While in line to attend Sunday service at Cornerstone in the Mission, I recognized a familiar face.
With his chiseled jaw line, immediately I recognized the best looking guy in the NBA, Kelenna Azubuike. Reverting to my elementary tone, I said “Mr. Kelenna, can I take a photo with you? It’s for my sister.”
Alright, it was all for me.
His demeanor is very gentle and calm.
I asked, “if I jump rope more, will I able to dunk?” {for the record, I dunked a volleyball in high school}
Azubuike smirked.
I like the Warrior’s guard for a 3 main reasons.
1) He is calm during clutch situations in a ball game. I have a lot to learn from him. Often times, I get too emotional during a game. 2) I love underdogs.
Underdog = people who have not been given the prime opportunity (disadvantage), but instead through hard work + persistence create their own opportunity.
After playing for Kentucky, the GQ looking guard went undrafted but through hard work, he was given the chance.
(watch NBA video above for full story)
3)It was encouraging to see someone in the NBA got to church just like ordinary folks.
Additional notes.
I ran into Kevin Johnson at my ala mater UC Berkeley a few years ago. He is now the mayor of Sacramento. Just like Kelenna, they both were nice guys.
My Warrior ties.
I have been a native of San Francisco for 25 years. The Warriors lack great management but I still love watching them play. A few years ago, I was invited by Eric Yata to play on the Warriors court.
Boy, that was so much fun. I launched a three pointed just to see the result, an AIR BALL. The court was squeaky clean and we had a back up announcer.
“Rayfil, for two points.”
Last celebrity spotting:
Me as an extra with Seth Rogen
