Being really skinny, I'm used to friends who haven't seen me in a while imagining that I got thinner even as I maintained the same weight. But tonight was the third time in one week that someone told me I lost weight, so I had to take her word.
Today also happens to be the day I've been with Peatix (an online ticketing and registration service) for one year.
Don't get me wrong, I know my statistics - correlation does not imply causation. Still, I have been unintentionally skipping meals because I was at events. Somehow my body is unforgiving of debt. Once I've missed a meal, it doesn't properly acknowledge the food that comes after.
I'm working on making sure I don't skip meals. I stock snacks for me and my team. I also get as much sleep as I can. Getting a startup product somewhere is not a dash but an ultra-marathon.
Having no time to eat isn't the tough part of my startup job, much as I enjoy my food.
The tough part is when organisers tell me issues I can't yet solve for them. I love the people who speak up - they really are your best customers. They come from a great place - from the concern they have for their ticket buyers. And actually they are also concerned for you, otherwise they will just walk away to a competitor. It is frustrating for them, and for me, to not be able to fix things in the short term. I'd like to think I'm not a proud person - even then the experience is very humbling.
Yet that might be what a startup is about. A startup is flawed because it is slightly ahead of the curve. It is trying to figure out what exactly it should be. It is a work-in-progress. The polished, finished products, those giants - they dominate today, on the flip side they are expiring more quickly.
My time in my previous start-up Viki has given me great perspective - how to keep the faith and push on with a product when it is still beta, how to empathise with all the parties from users to customer support to BD to marketing to dev who are all trying hard in their own ways, how to communicate so that people know where you are coming from. It also taught me to enjoy the ride.
My year with Peatix has been crazier then I signed up for when I came onboard to launch Peatix in Singapore. I am now the General Manager in Singapore, with the privilege of working with and nurturing three teammates with incredible attitude. I have met countless organisers who inspire me with what they are doing, whether they run a bookstore, organise meals for locals and migrant workers to mingle or put up plays. Sometimes when I look at what they're doing I am so moved. Really Singapore and the world has hope. I have been blessed by the openness and kindness of people. I've met people who just refuse to budge from the status quo. But more importantly I've met those who were willing to come with us to forge a new path.
I had thought I would write an epic, exhaustive blog post when I reach my one year mark, documenting one-by-one all the highlight events of the year that passed. But I'm grateful today that I think back and it has been a blur of laughter, friendship, changing my mind about things, failing then getting up again, knowing when to let go, being more spontaneous, and being thankful.
It recently dawned on me that because I go to events of all sorts these days - from a 'post-hardcore band's gig' to 'Japanese sit-down comedy' to 'exclusive launch party', not only do I get affirmation that Singapore is really exciting, I get glimpses into how a wide range of people live and what they love. I am so lucky.