Happy new year everyone!
A late one because I took some time off the virtual world for the birth of my daughter!
And now, our little angel is back at home! She is very much sleeping all day, peaceful and calm, just like her parents.
So what I want to talk about in this newsletter:
- Thoughts about the last 5 days welcoming a new life
- I’m starting a new project! What it is about and how I’m doing it
- A man I look up to and the secrets he showed me to a successful life
Welcome our Avery. Thoughts on:
> C-section
My wife, Lydia, decided to do it through cesarean delivery (C-section) because she didn’t want the pain from labor contractions. A lot of people around us, including the doctor, were encouraging for natural birth, but my wife was determined.
I didn’t have a preference myself, as it is a mother’s choice. But doing things naturally seems to have its little charm.
But, after experiencing the entire process, including the part where blood splashed onto the cloth in front of me, I was content about my wife’s choice.
Before the operation, she had no pain at all and was just “chilling” like usual.
During the operation, it was extremely quick and calm. There was no screaming, sweating, or biting on my arm.
After the operation, she got out of bed the next morning and you couldn’t tell she just delivered.
I know there are pros and cons to natural birth and c-section, but seeing how she didn’t have to suffer through the process, it was worth it for us.
I’m perfectly aware that we could be the lucky ones, as there could be other mums who did c-section but suffered a lot.
> Tough wife made things easy
“Woh! You made it look so easy.” That’s what most of our friends said to Lydia when I sent out pictures of our little family.
Then Lydia would start replying to messages about an hour after the operation.
Lydia has always been a very independent, tough, logical person. She has the “get things done” mindset and always stays positive.
I really thought I hit the jackpot, because I know all of this looked easy because she was holding it together. She did make it look so easy.
> No visitors allowed in the hospital because of COVID
At first, when we heard about this, we were a little frustrated. This meant we wouldn’t get any love from families and friends who wanted to send blessing to our family.
But soon enough, we found out this was the best thing ever.
When visitors are allowed, there are so many people who visit, chit-chat with the mom and dad, and play with the newborn. The mom is exhausted because of all the socializing. Funny enough, families and friends would say “Mom, get more rest!” but they wouldn’t leave her alone.
In the last 5 days, only 3 people were allowed to visit Lydia. A policy set by the private hospital. So it was me and Lydia’s parents.
Lydia and I spent so much time during the 5 days taking care of our baby, feeding her, learning how to do breastfeeding, holding her, taking photos of her etc. It was the best family bonding time.
If there were visitors, not only would we lose our bonding time, we would also be 300% exhausted. But now, we are super recharged!
I think they should make this a permanent policy. Do new moms and dads a favor.
New project: writing a free guide on Building in Public
I was honest about how I built my last startup, admitting our struggles to potential users and listening to their feedback patiently. But I didn’t know there was so much more to it, and it was called “Building in Public”.
“Building in Public” means sharing the journey of building a company, a product, or a project publicly with others. It includes stories, learnings, struggles, or even business numbers. It is a mindset of being transparent to build authenticity and trust between you and your audience.
Ever since I came across this term, I’ve been so fascinated about it! Mainly because it resonates with my personal value a lot.
When I was learning about it, I found a few blog posts that were helpful. But I struggled to find a detailed guidebook that not only explains to me, but also shows me the best examples out there so I can adopt the “Building in Public” mindset immediately.
And I thought to myself, maybe I should be the one putting together this guide.
So I spent a few days before Avery’s birth to do some initial research, and I’m excited to share with everyone how I’m going ahead with it.
Check out my tweet-thread: building “building in public” in public
This Man Showed Me His Secrets to A Successful Life & Career
Two months ago during Thanksgiving, I ordered two bottles of my favorite Château Léoville-Poyferré and wrote a card to send to a friend of mine. I don’t actually enjoy gifting that much; I prefer catching up over coffee in-person. But I wanted to do it this time.
This man is someone I look up to. Not because he is very successful or appears on Bloomberg all the time, more so because of how he handles relationships and applies principles in his life.
I’ve met many top-level executives in my career, and I was wondering why I look up to him.
Why him? What about him that makes me feel this way?
And I wrote down 3 things that he shows me to living a successful life and career.
If you’re interested in this story, click here.
Inspirations
Justin Kan sharing his biggest lessons from a failed venture.
Damon Chen sharing how he fought through 4 failures to have some success for his 5th product (a pretty amazing video testimonial platform - get 15% off).
Now that I have an active project on hand, I'll share more about my thought process, learnings, struggles in the future newsletter. The goal is to make the "Building in Public" guide the go-to for people who are getting started. Follow my journey!