Kevin Wong – SLOWLY Startup Diaries, post 1
Two startups were not successful, so what will happen this time？
I don't have a deep memory of my childhood, but there is a particularly strong thought: “I don't want to be an office worker.” In fact, not only office work, but I also didn't have much interest in school (but I really like to teach myself!). Maybe it has something to do with the education system, their methods? My little thought is that I am not the kind of person who wants to be a great person or gain fame and fortune, but I am more afraid of formulaic things, afraid of facing myself and realizing I had lost vitality.
To put it bluntly, I'm just afraid of boredom 😆
The fear of boredom made me give up my studies early to devote myself to work, and try to start a business with just a little money I had saved... Seriously, I'm really glad I was so brave when I was young!
The first is a new media design company, co-founded with my friend Joe AI, who is also a designer, and having my own studio was my dream when I was a teenager. In the blink of an eye, it has been in business for seven years. In retrospect, both founders were creatives first, coupled with the fact that these young people were motivated and close (but without considering the needs of the operation at all). It was really catastrophic and full of mistakes, and there was a feeling that “it was so lucky that it could operate for so long without closing”. It was too chaotic at the time, until JoJo was invited to join, it began to be less wild and unrestrained, and she and I hit it off until now.
A visit in 2013
Could it be a seven-year itch?
Although he was barely qualified in operation and occasionally had some satisfactory works, they gradually lost the enthusiasm for taking on cases. Some ideas are starting to emerge: maybe what else can you build or create other than propaganda projects that only exist for a moment?
Then I met the musician Lin Yifeng, who was also a client of the design company at that time. Together with two other musicians, Feng Yingqi and Xie Guowei, we launched my second venture, this time to create Music Bee, a music crowdfunding platform, which in little more two years has achieved dozens of passionate music projects . However, for various reasons, I finally chose to endure the pain, and abandon this project; and I will not discuss it in detail here for the time being.
With the birth and end of the Music Bee, it is more certain that the road ahead wants to go a little different. Although these two earlier entrepreneurial experiences are not considered successful, they are indeed step by step, and I have benefited a lot. And without these experiences, there would be no third entrepreneurship, this time it is Slowly, an app that makes pen pals and runs on mobile phones.
About this blog 🤔
At first, it was often obsessed with form. Film? Podcast？ Or are you more involved in some start-up activities? However, if you have to spend a lot of time and effort on production, the current state is still a bit empty, so it may not last long, or even just put on hold. There are also issues such as language considerations... I haven't written for a while, but it's still easier and more straightforward to use words, right? And if you really want to tell such a personal story, is it better to use Chinese?
Of course, I also wonder (and think about it the most) whether such a short story will have any meaning or value to anyone compared to the extremely successful start-up unicorns that are often seen in the media? Or should I wait until I have better results? What if you never live up to your definition of “success”?
Then last weekend I suddenly read Buffer's founder Joel's post – this old article.
When we were making just $20 per month with Buffer, I had the feeling that I couldn’t help people: I wasn’t successful yet! What I’ve found, however, is that I could help far more people when I was at that stage. I believe you can too, whatever stage you’re at.
The fear of boredom is repeated, and finding a reason to write it down can also help organize your thoughts. Ok, let's ✍️ try it in text first.
🔔 The original text was published in startupslowly.com, on March 8, 2021. Sadly, this URL is now gone, redirecting to the slowly.app generic site. A backup of this site is on Archive.org here.
It also appeared in the original Mandarin language on Medium.com here
Translation Notes and rationale:
This translation was prepared by Yann2, a user, fan and supporter of the SLOWLY project. And it is in no way authorized or condoned by the original author. Any translation errors contained herein are my own, and subject to revisions – please send comments if necessary, thank you.
This translator's view is that the inner workings of Kevin's mind are of interest to the passionate fans of the app he has created from scratch. Hence, we bring here an English language version which can be more widely read. Thank you, Kevin!
All 7 original posts, now in English
post 1 : Two startups were not successful, what will happen this time
post 2 : How I found my first users
post 3 : 1345 free cups of coffee from around the world
post 4 : Write a personal introduction letter to the start-up
post 5 : An interview on the Clubhouse app
post 6 : Translating our Software – Crowdsourcing pros and cons?
post 7 : The Hard Truths About Business Development
Famous Last Words
Special thank you to all the folks behind the SLOWLY app.
Letters we share, with pen pals all over the world. A modern day take in the traditional penpal experience. Come and join us, using SLOWLY.
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