What I hope to learn in CS3216

As I always have dreamt of starting up since young, I hope to acquire the skills needed to do so in CS3216.

Specifically, I wish to learn how to come up with ideas, how to test them, pitch (not just to prospective users, but also to persuade others in working with me to achieve the vision together), shore up my technical capabilities and learn how to work with others.

“Ideas are cheap. Execution is everything.” – Chris Sacca

For much of my youth, I lived by this mantra. I can’t pinpoint where exactly did I get this from – maybe it was from TV shows like The Apprentice and Shark Tank that I grew up watching, or perhaps it was from my Dad, who made a living “looking at what people are doing and asking how he could do 10% better than them”.

But lately, I have started to question whether ideas are really as worthless as they are often made out to be.

Take for example, brands. The brand’s existence is intangible. It is literally just an idea. Yet Forbes values Nike’s brand at a staggering US$ 36.8 billion. Or SUPREME tee shirts. Slap a simple “SUPREME” logo on it and you can retail it for US$ 151. Release it in a limited collection and you have hordes of fans who are even willing to queue overnight to buy them.

Why? I’m not sure, but I am willing to bet that their idea of the brand plays a large role.

I don’t know what to make of this, but I’d really like to find an answer in CS3216.

It would be amazing if I could also learn how to craft ideas that can inspire legions of people to sign up! But of course, I would also have to learn how to test whether my ideas actually work – on that end, I really look forward to interacting with prospective customers to challenge my assumptions!

Of course, having an amazing idea that can inspire tribes of people to sign up is not enough. I would also have to learn how to sell it to them.

Having a great idea and being able to sell it is still insufficient. I would also have to materialise the idea, so I have to learn how to inspire people to work with me!

I also hope to learn how to manage my time better – which as you can tell from the time I am submitting this, I have quite a long way to go!

As our product will ultimately be software, I also hope to use the chance to shore up my technical skills!

But most importantly, I hope to learn how to better work with people. I strongly believe that amazing ideas and brands like Nike or SUPREME cannot be built alone. They are built by concocting a mixture of diverse perspectives.