Category: #unfiltered

Posted on

#unfiltered #3 Plan Bs – Should we have them?

I woke up today with a thought that’s been gnawing at me for years now. Why do we have backup plans – Plan Bs, Plan Cs, etc? Does it inhibit our drive? Or readily prepare us for the worst? At what point are we sacrificing our commitment for safety?

When I started this blog, my writing mentor recommended that I have 10 pieces written and ready before I launch my blog. And I did exactly that. All cards out, I still have 8 of my pieces saved in my backlogs, which as you have already deducted, I’ve used 2 of my pieces already. Why? My mentor told me that, in my commitment to publish content weekly, I will indubitably have dry spells – dry weeks. And I did… twice. So, I regressed to my lowest common denominator and pulled something out of my archives. But during those two weeks, it helped me stay in my comfort zone. That instead of fighting writer’s block (if such a thing exists), I chose to run from it.

Part of the reason I started this #unfiltered series is to help me be content with content. I am guilty of 8/10 times second-guessing my way out of doing something. If I contemplate over something long enough, I’ll realize fears that I never thought possible, and opt for the safer option – not doing it at all.

From when we were young, we’re taught to always prepare backup options. When applying to colleges, we’re told to apply to our 2-3 reach schools, and 10-15 other schools we’re confident about getting into. When applying to jobs, one of my hometown neighbors, 2 years my senior, advised me to apply to 200 jobs, expect 10-20 interviews, another 3-5 for final rounds, and 1-2 offers to choose from. Effectively, asking me to apply to 198 backup alternatives.

I get it. As the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers. Both high school and my early years of college have drilled that saying into me – by my peers and by my teachers.

A part of me hates it, but a part of me realizes the truth in there. I saw that circumstances played an even larger role for my friends and peers who:

  • are going through tough times in this pandemic and economic downturn,
  • (whose) parents came from a lower income bracket,
  • are POC (people of color),
  • are female,
  • are/were open about their different sexual orientations,
  • didn’t graduate from a 4-year college,
  • lost limbs or appendages due to accidents or conflict,
  • are/were in debt,
  • and much more.

Half a decade back when I set out to meet one new person that drew my insatiable curiosity a week, I realized I’m a goddamn privileged person living in the 21st century. I’m a perfectly healthy, heterosexual Asian male who graduated from a 4-year university. If all hell breaks loose and my net worth goes to absolute zero, I have my parents’ home to go back to and a room and bed to call my own. And as a full disclaimer, the fact I’m contemplating this question in the first place means I’m privileged enough to do so.

And because I’ve had the liberty to do so, I realized that my greatest personal achievements came from when I didn’t give myself the option of a Plan B. For the people I reached out to and am in touch with above my weight class, I either have given it my all or was prepared to do so. For swimming, I treated each competition as my last, meaning I either gave it my all or nothing. And during more nights than I can count, I beat myself up over my inability to reach a milestone.

Yet, now in the land of venture, we learn to hedge our bets and come up with contingency plans. We learn once again to diversify our portfolio, and not put all eggs in one basket. Does that lead to why many investors fundamentally don’t have the conviction to lead deals?

On the founding side, you have it almost flipped. When you are trying to make ends meet, there will be times you have to take that one option and go all in. And you can’t let go until you do everything you can to make it a reality. When you sit in a position of privilege, you can have several contingency plans to hedge your bets. Ben Horowitz, author, founder, and investor, illustrated the dichotomy in his piece (and one of my favorites) about peacetime and wartime CEOs. There’s a part of me that strives to find that sense of urgency, like a wartime CEO. And go all in. Maybe this pandemic is the test where I can find where my values really lie.

To be frank, I haven’t come up with a conclusion to the dilemma. For now, I can only hypothesis-test and keep good track of the data that comes my way. But, so far, I can say that one’s tolerance for risk is positively correlated with one’s free cash flow.

#unfiltered is a series where I share my raw thoughts and unfiltered commentary about anything and everything. It’s not designed to go down smoothly like the best cup of cappuccino you’ve ever had (although here‘s where I found mine), more like the lonely coffee bean still struggling to find its identity (which also may one day find its way into a more thesis-driven blogpost). Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

Stay up to date with the weekly cup of cognitive adventures inside venture capital and startups!

Posted on

#unfiltered #2 Culinary Tips – Cook vs. Chef vs. Flavor Mad Scientist- The Carbs, the Proteins, and the Whole Spectrum

unfiltered vc, cooking tips
Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash

As a result of my love for food, and eating out, honestly, a bit too much, what started as engaging conversations with chefs at some of my restaurants, and eventually chefs from across the country turned into a passion for cooking. Uhh, well, although I can’t call myself a cook or chef, I have categorized myself as a flavor mad scientist.

  • Cook – someone who can prepare food
  • Chef – someone who can create recipes appreciated by a wider audience (personally, don’t care if they’re a professional or not)
  • Flavor mad scientist – someone who attempts to be innovative and likes experimenting with permutations of flavors and textures (80-90% ‘failure’ rate), aka me

So, I chatted/learned from chefs/cooks, ranging from some of the most prestigious kitchens to my favorite home kitchens. Here are some tips and hacks I got from some of the best:

For the carbs:

  • You can tell if a risotto (or rice in general) is cooked by smearing a rice grain on a flat surface. If it smears without noticeable lumps, you’re good.
  • Add a teaspoon of olive oil in the pasta dough to give it a bit of shine.
  • Flour matters. Don’t just use all-purpose. 00 (double zero) for silkier flour and pasta chewiness. Durum for coarser grinds, longer cook times, and for making flatbreads; some use it for pasta too, depending on the chef. And so on.

For the proteins:

  • Score the fat of a (ribeye) steak before searing, so it’s easier to render the fat. Score is a cross-hatch pattern. More surface area to render.
  • Use tongs to cook steak and a spoon to butter-baste (I swear I used to think it was spelled “butter-basing”)
  • Don’t cook cold proteins (meats/seafood). Let it rest till room temperature before cooking.
  • Allow for meats to rest for as long as you’ve had it in the pan to better absorb the flavors.
  • Before searing proteins, dry with a paper towel or season generously with salt to reduce moisture and splatter once you put it into the pan.
  • Hot pan/hot oil, quick sear and won’t stick to the pan.
  • Brush fish with mayonnaise to prevent them from sticking to the grill. And a great browning too.
  • Use cuts of meat that are rich in marrow and collagen (cartilage) to make stock, like wings, chicken feet, chicken carcass, pork knuckle, etc.
  • If you don’t have a meat thermometer, stick a metal rod (or a cake tester) into the center of the meat. Then place the rod on your lower lip. If it’s cold, more time. Hot, it’s done. If you’ve burnt your lips, well… in gamer terms, GG.

For everything else:

  • If your meats or onions ain’t sizzling in the oil, the oil in your pan isn’t hot enough.
  • To not bruise your herbs when chopping (or chiffonading if you want to be fancy), you need a sharp knife and cut once per cross-section. You can tell if you bruised your herbs by the residue they leave on the chopping block.
  • Lemon juice, ideally fresh, helps fruits from oxidizing (after being cut), so it retains its fresh color.
  • Flavor extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with herbs (i.e. bay leaves, basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.) for the “secret” zing to your recipes. You can do the same with white wine that’s used for deglazing the pot/pan.
  • Zest citrus in once in one fluid motion with a zester to prevent mixing in the bitter rind.
  • Use fine grinds for salt and pepper to season pre-cook, and coarse grinds for post-cook/presentation.
  • Buy whole spices and a spice grinder (or pestle and mortar), instead of ground spices. You’ll get fresher and richer flavor that way.
  • Toast spices for more flavor.
  • Under-seasoning is a rookie mistake. (Admittedly, after this tip, I fell under the category of over-seasoning.)
  • Keep your work station clean. Mise en place.
  • Wear short sleeves while cooking, or roll up your sleeves.
  • If you’re a 4-eyes, like me, invest in contacts. Glasses can fog up from the steam, and possibly blur your vision in critical moments.
  • Don’t skimp on costs. Quality cookware and ingredients lead to quality food. (Not saying you can’t otherwise get a good meal, but you’ll notice the difference.)

This post was inspired by a friend’s comment on my Instagram post on February 5, 2020.

culinary tips, unfiltered, plating
You may notice that I just transcribed what I wrote on paper to this blog, with some extra sprinkles on top.

#unfiltered is a series where I share my raw thoughts and unfiltered commentary about anything and everything. It’s not designed to go down smoothly like the best cup of cappuccino you’ve ever had (although here‘s where I found mine), more like the lonely coffee bean still struggling to find its identity (which also may one day find its way into a more thesis-driven blogpost). Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

Posted on

#unfiltered #1 Urgency – Thoughts on Coronavirus, Innovation, Space Travel, and Love

unfiltered vc urgency

Coronavirus. Candidate primaries. Market crashes. And what motivates us to get shit done. During a bite with one of my buddies from college, we ended up chatting about a myriad of topics. From crying when we scared as a baby to eating when we’re hungry, humans inherently act reactively than proactively.

Let’s put it into perspective:

  • Wildfires in Australia and previously in California brought nature preservation front and center.
  • Because of the coronavirus, China set up a hospital in 10 days. Whereas in SF, it takes years to extend our public metro, BART, to just one more station.
  • In startup land, look how much innovation is being done on the SaaS front. Competition drives progress. A need to be better than your competitors, or perish. On the flip side, innovation at the frontiers of technology are happening at a much slower pace. You’re right in thinking part of it is due to an element of technological risk and mystery. But a large part is also due to funding, awareness, and urgency. I was catching up with another friend, not too long ago, who’s working on the frontiers of AI research. He told me that he’s just not motivated to meet any deadlines. If he misses it, “Oh well.” And if he does reach any milestone, there’s barely a pat on the back.
  • Neil deGrasse Tyson, and I’m paraphrasing here, once said (in one of his StarTalk Radio episodes): we think if we reach commercial viability of space travel or tourism in 50 years, that it’ll be really impressive. But it’s really not. Why? If, hypothetically, aliens from another galaxy contacted us today and said, “We’re going to invade your planet in 50 years”, we will have a different sense of progress. And if in 50 years, we can only just start to commercialize space travel, we’d be sitting ducks.
  • If you have a final in the morning tomorrow and you happen to be a procrastinator (or not), you’re going to be burning the midnight oil. Otherwise, realistically, would you be studying day and night every day?
  • Tim Ferriss asks himself this one question: If in 2 years, you’re set to die. In perfect health, and a perfectly natural death. What do you have to do before you die? What will you regret no having done? So, what really matters? (I lied; it’s not really one question.)

So, how do I induce a sense of urgency? How do I motivate myself when I don’t have any impending time horizons?

One, accountability partners. Friends who keep me (and me them) accountable to my goals, like my birthday resolution. Where in 6 months, upon failure, I lose $100. Or upon success, I get treated to a really nice meal.

Two, something I took from my good friend. I once asked him about how he continues to push himself towards new experiences every month. After all, he’s the kind of person who lives a life that makes me feel as if I’ve done nothing. In response, he said:

“Fall in love.”

“I don’t get it,” I replied perplexed.

“Because it’ll make you want to impress your crush. And when you go on that date every week or every two weeks, you’ll want to show off. And the only way you can show off is if you have something to show off. So, I don’t let my dreams sit. I get shit done.”

#unfiltered is a series where I share my raw thoughts and unfiltered commentary about anything and everything. It’s not designed to go down smoothly like the best cup of cappuccino you’ve ever had (although here‘s where I found mine), more like the lonely coffee bean still struggling to find its identity (which also may one day find its way into a more thesis-driven blogpost). Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

Posted on

#unfiltered #0 The Intro

Today, I read a 2017 piece on Nylon about advice from black writers to black writers. And there was one particular quote that caught my eye.

“Don’t edit while writing a draft or else you never finish.” – Terry McMillan

I can’t speak for the writing industry as a whole; I can’t even speak for my friends who are writers. Didn’t ask. But I can speak for myself. For this blog. Admittedly, 70% of all pieces I start writing, I don’t finish. And quite honestly, I almost hate that about myself. Writing for eyes that are more than my own has turned me into a perfectionist. The very thing I once swore to not become.

So, I’m going to try an experiment. More so for myself, in hopes of reducing the friction for me to write more. Every so often, I will post something I will title as “#unfiltered”. It’ll be less of a well-constructed thesis or methodical breakdown, but more of a writing to help me think. In sum, it’ll be a brain barf. It’s not designed to go down smoothly like the best cup of cappuccino you’ve ever had (although here‘s where I found mine), more like the lonely coffee bean still struggling to find its identity. Don’t feel obligated to read it. In fact, if you don’t like brain barfs, don’t click on any of them, prefaced by its own #spoileralert. But if you do like unfiltered commentary and my rough thoughts, stay tuned. 😀

#unfiltered. A series about unfiltered thoughts.

Proudly powered by WordPress