Too good to ignore...

Airbnb Vs. Samwer Brothers - Long-term Wins

So we got to the point where we started getting successful only to have all these people basically copy us. One day, it was early 2011, so about two years in from 2009 of it working. So 2009, 2010, it kinda was working. 2011, so we had two year kinda honeymoon. I don’t know if you wanna call it honeymoon, and then suddenly, by the way, in 2010 somebody, this guy Howard Hartenbaum, he’s an investor at August Capital. He told me, he says, “Whatever you do, you gotta make sure is these two brothers don’t copy your website.”

And I said, “What two brothers?” And he goes, “They’re called the Samwer brothers and they’re notorious and usually when they copy your website, they scale it and they kill you.”

And he’s like, but he’s like, “Don’t worry though, ‘cause you’re fine.’ Cause they haven’t copied your website and if they haven’t by now, they won’t.”

I’m like, “Thank God, we’re free.” All of a sudden, we notice people, we noticed a lot off suspicious activity and people spamming our users and we’re like, “Something’s up.”

We didn’t know what was up. Turns out, we find out the Samwer Brothers have their eye on Airbnb.

Now, I’ll tell you how scary this was. In 2011, the hottest start up in the world was Groupon. They went from zero dollars to, I think, a billion dollars in revenue in like a year, or two. At the time, that was completely unheard of. Actually, it’s still kind of unheard of. And Groupon grew that fast, not because of US business, but because the European business, which was called CityDeal. That was actually the Oliver Samwer clone that Groupon had to buy.

So basically, these two brothers, not only, I was told, would kill anyone that they cloned, they’re like the attack of the clones, but they also had built what was, at least being positioned at the time, the fastest growing, most successful start up of all time. That was how Groupon was positioned. That was not somebody that we were interested in fighting, right.

Suddenly this giant dragon appears and you’re like this is not possible to beat him. And now at this point, we had raised 7 million dollars, in fact, from you [Reid Hoffman].

(laughter) - [Hoffman] Yep.

- Yeah, so, Reed had given us 7 million dollars and then suddenly, in 2010 I think, in April 2010. By January or February or March, some point 2011, they [Samwer bros] raised 90 million dollars. And we had 40 employees, and it took us two and a half years to find these 40 people.

And in 30 days, they hired 400 people. And they opened 20 offices and I had no idea how you even opened a second office. We have one office, how do I get a second office? Do I fly there? Do I get an apartment?

And they had 90 million dollars and I was like this is horrible. And they basically said, “We’re gonna do in Europe what you did in the United States.” Now the problem with that is, most companies, if they lose Europe, they’re just a smaller company. In Airbnb, if you lose Europe, there is no Airbnb. A travel website where you can’t travel to Europe is like a phone without email or a phone without signal. There’s no reason for it to exist.

So this became a bet-the-company fight. And we didn’t know what to do. We had a proposition to buy the company. It would have been very expensive, but more importantly, it would have been a huge cost, culturally. And I didn’t know what to do.

I remember, I called up Mark Zuckerberg because they cloned FaceBook, this (speaking French) So I called up Andrew Mason. Andrew Mason told me, “Yeah, they’re probably gonna kill you.” He had told me a story that Oliver Samwer was so good at copying companies that it was too easy for him. He needed to turn it into a challenge. So he decided to hire developers from North Korea.

Just 'cause, I don’t know, and Andrew described it as, 'cause he just wanted to make it more challenging, the copy companies, 'cause it was too easy.

I don’t really believe that story, but… And there was this whole mythology. Mark Zuckerberg told me, “Don’t let them sell, whoever has the best product wins.”

And he ended up being right. Paul Graham gave me even better advice though.

He said, “You’re missionaries, they’re mercenaries and often times, missionaries often win.” So he said, “You should basically just pretend like they had this baby, but they don’t wanna raise the baby.”

And so I thought, well we’re founders. We wanna grow this company. So I’m like a parent and I want this child to grow into this wonderful company. And so I said… Well, I didn’t say this to Oliver Samwer, but my view was, my biggest punishment, my biggest revenge on you is, I’m gonna make you run this company long term. So you had the baby, now you gotta raise the child. And you’re stuck with it for 18 years. 'Cause I knew he wanted to sell the company, I’m like, “No, no. You’re running this company.” And I knew he maybe could move faster than me for a year, but he wasn’t gonna keep doing it. And so that was our strategy. And we built company long term. And the ultimate way we won is, we had a better community. He couldn’t understand community. And I think we had a better product. And it was a do-or-die time. And we ended up flying to Europe, we hired bunch of country managers, we flew them all to San Francisco and we basically trained them for a month or two.

We said now go to your countries, hire your team, here’s how you open a market, here’s how you open cities and we opened, I think like eight or 10 offices in like three months. It was actually totally insane. We hired hundreds of people and the whole speed of the company picked up at that point.

And a couple years later, obviously, it was game over.

Samwer, I mean the gift he gave us was a scale fast. And he, he took a company that was kind of successful and he kind of compressed our time to becoming an international network effect within a year.

Credits to:
https://community.intelligentfanatics.com/t/airbnb-vs-samwer-brothers-long-term-wins/248

Moving on...

With the focus on the region predominantly on the situation in HKG, I want to touch on another side topic: Tech/Globalized start-ups.

With the not-so-recent predicament of Honest Bee (See: https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/honestbee-gets-4-month-extension-of-debt-moratorium-ex-employees-receive),
and another start-up WeWork had its valuation cut massively in face of its IPO launch (See: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/09/17/wework-delays-stock-market-listing-valuation-slashed/),
it makes one wonder how established and/or stable such companies are.

As I served my last day today after 7 years in my current company, I shall remain bold and confident with my decision and my future undertakings - for we only live once, and we shall live with no regrets. Some say opportunity don't knock twice, therefore I am thankful and grateful for this chance to joined the company that I had the opportunity to interview almost 4 years ago in 2015.

I shall do my best and see where it takes me to.

Peace out and I wish everyone good health and happiness.

Peter of Holland

I remembered being told of this story by a Primary School teacher of mine. Thanks to the power of Internet, am able to find this after years of trying. This strong belief isn't a hallucination after all.

This story is also known as "The Little Hero of Holland".

Now, I shall not speak more and let your eyes do the reading. Peace out.

---

Here is the true story of a brave heart, one willing to hold on as long as it takes to get the job done.

Holland is a country where much of the land lies below sea level. Only great walls called dikes keep the North Sea from rushing in and flooding  the land. For centuries the people of Holland have worked to keep the walls strong so that their country will be safe and dry. Even the little children know the dikes must be watched every moment, and that a hole no larger  than your finger can be a very dangerous thing.

Many years ago there lived in Holland a boy named Peter. Peter’s father was one of the men who tended the gates in the dikes, called sluices. He opened and closed the sluices so that ships could pass out of Holland’s canals into the great sea.

One afternoon in the early fall, when Peter was eight years old, his mother called him from his play. “Come, Peter,” she said. “I want you to go across the dike and take these cakes to your friend, the blind man. If you go quickly, and do not stop  to play, you will be home again before dark.”

The little boy was glad to go on such an errand, and started off with a light heart. He stayed with the poor blind man a little while to tell him about his walk along the dike and about the sun and the flowers and the ships far out at sea. Then he remembered  his mother’s wish that he should return before dark and, bidding his friend goodbye, he set out for home.

As he walked beside the canal, he noticed how the rains had swollen the waters, and how they beat against the side of the dike, and he thought of his father’s gates.

“I am glad they are so strong,” he said to himself. “If they gave way what would become of us? These pretty fields would be covered with water. Father always calls them the `angry waters.´

As he walked along he sometimes stopped to pick the pretty blue flowers that grew beside the road, or to listen to the rabbits´ soft tread as they rustled through the grass. But more often he smiled as he thought of his visit to the poor blind man who had so few pleasures and was always so glad to see him.

Suddenly he noticed that the sun was setting, and that it was growing dark. “Mother will be watching for me,” he thought, and he began to run toward home.

Just then he heard a noise. It was the sound of trickling water!  He stopped and looked down. There was a small hole in the dike, through which a tiny stream was flowing,

Any child in Holland is frightened at the thought of a leak in the dike.

Peter understood the danger at once. If the water ran through a little hole it would soon make a larger one, and the whole country would be flooded. In a moment he saw what he must do. Throwing away his flowers, he climbed down the side of the dike and thrust his finger into the tiny hole.

The flowing of the water was stopped!

“Oho!” he said to himself. “The angry waters must stay back now. I can keep them back with my finger. Holland shall not be drowned while I am here.”

This was all very well at first, but soon it grew dark and cold. The little fellow shouted and screamed. “Come here; come here,” he called. But no one heard him; no one came to help him.

It grew still colder, and his arm ached, and began to grow stiff and numb. He shouted again. “Will no one come? Mother! Mother!”

But his mother had looked anxiously along the dike road many times since sunset for her little boy, and now she had closed and locked the cottage door, thinking that Peter was spending the night with his blind friend.  Peter tried to whistle, but his teeth chattered with the cold. He thought of his brother and sister in their warm beds, and of his dear father and mother. “I must not let them be drowned,” he thought. “I must stay here until someone comes, if I have to stay all night.”

The moon and stars looked down on the child crouching on a stone on the side of the dike. His head was bent, and his eyes were closed, but he was not asleep, for every now and then he rubbed the hand that was holding back the angry sea.

“I’ll stand it somehow,” he thought. So he stayed there all night keeping the sea out.

Early the next morning a man going to work thought he heard a groan as he walked along the top of the dike. Looking over the edge, he saw a child clinging to the side of the great wall.

“What’s the matter?” he called. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m keeping the water back!” Peter yelled. “Tell them to come quickly!”

The alarm was spread. People came running with shovels and the hole was soon mended.

They carried Peter home to his parents, and before long the whole town knew  he had saved their lives that night. To this day, they have never forgotten the brave little hero of Holland.

Hans in luck (Hans im Glück)

Recently, revisited a German food joint near my office. Reread the story that inspired this chain restaurant, which gave me more meaning this time. Just one work: Perception.

Stay positive and look forward to your next adventure peeps. While the journey is important, the final destination or intent is more meaningful still. Alrightey, gonna leave you with a summary of this fairy tale first, and if you are interested read on for a full blown one. Peep out, folks.

---

Hans has been working hard for seven years but wishes to return to see his poor mother. His master pays him his wages which amounts to a lump of gold the size of his head. Hans puts the gold in a handkerchief and starts out on his journey jogging but soon becomes tired. He spots a rider on horseback and seeing the ease at which the horse travels he offers to exchange his lump of gold for the horse. Happy with the exchange, the man gives him the horse and Hans rides off.

The horse bolts and Hans gets bucked off, whereupon he meets a shepherd who convinces Hans to trade his horse for a cow. Telling Hans that a cow can provide milk, cheese and butter and is of more leisurely company. Hans takes up on the offer and continues his journey only to find that the cow is dry and not producing any milk as he had been told.

Disgruntled with the cow, Hans meets a butcher who gives him a pig for the cow. Thanking the butcher for the pig Hans sets off jogging again, hopeful he has now found an ideal travel companion. Alas, Hans meets a countryman who informs him that the pig's owner is the squire and he is in danger of being arrested for taking the squire's pig. Hans takes the countryman's goose in exchange for his pig, happy that it will provide a good roast and a supply of goose fat.

At his next stop in a village Hans meets a scissor-grinder and explains his story to him. The scissor-grinder offers him a grindstone for his goose arguing that a grindstone will provide a source of income. Hans happily exchanges the goose for the grindstone. He continues on his way, but is tired carrying the grindstone and is short of money for food.

Hans stops for a drink on the banks of a river, the grindstone falls into the deep water and is lost. Hans is happy to be rid of the heavy grindstone and being free of all troubles. He walks on to his mother's house and recounts his lucky tale.

---

Hans had served his master for seven years, so he said to him, "Master, my time is up; now I should be glad to go back home to my mother; give me my wages." The master answered, "You have served me faithfully and honestly; as the service was so shall the reward be;" and he gave Hans a piece of gold as big as his head. Hans pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapped up the lump in it, put it on his shoulder, and set out on the way home.
As he went on, always putting one foot before the other, he saw a horseman trotting quickly and merrily by on a lively horse. "Ah!" said Hans quite loud, "what a fine thing it is to ride! There you sit as on a chair; you stumble over no stones, you save your shoes, and get on, you don't know how."

The rider, who had heard him, stopped and called out, "Hollo! Hans, why do you go on foot, then?"

"I must," answered he, "for I have this lump to carry home; it is true that it is gold, but I cannot hold my head straight for it, and it hurts my shoulder."

"I will tell you what," said the rider, "we will exchange: I will give you my horse, and you can give me your lump."

"With all my heart," said Hans, "but I can tell you, you will have to crawl along with it."

The rider got down, took the gold, and helped Hans up; then gave him the bridle tight in his hands and said, "If you want to go at a really good pace, you must click your tongue and call out, "Jup! Jup!"

Hans was heartily delighted as he sat upon the horse and rode away so bold and free. After a little while he thought that it ought to go faster, and he began to click with his tongue and call out, "Jup! Jup!" The horse put himself into a sharp trot, and before Hans knew where he was, he was thrown off and lying in a ditch which separated the field from the highway. The horse would have gone off too if it had not been stopped by a countryman, who was coming along the road and driving a cow before him.


Hans got his limbs together and stood up on his legs again, but he was vexed, and said to the countryman, "It is a poor joke, this riding, especially when one gets hold of a mare like this, that kicks and throws one off, so that one has a chance of breaking one's neck. Never again will I mount it. Now I like your cow, for one can walk quietly behind her, and have, over and above, one's milk, butter and cheese every day without fail. What would I not give to have such a cow." - "Well," said the countryman, "if it would give you so much pleasure, I do not mind giving the cow for the horse." Hans agreed with the greatest delight; the countryman jumped upon the horse, and rode quickly away.

Hans drove his cow quietly before him, and thought over his lucky bargain. "If only I have a morsel of bread -- and that can hardly fail me -- I can eat butter and cheese with it as often as I like; if I am thirsty, I can milk my cow and drink the milk. Good heart, what more can I want?"

When he came to an inn he made a halt, and in his great content ate up what he had with him -- his dinner and supper -- and all he had, and with his last few farthings had half a glass of beer. Then he drove his cow onwards along the road to his mother's village.

As it drew nearer mid-day, the heat was more oppressive, and Hans found himself upon a moor which it took about an hour to cross. He felt it very hot and his tongue clave to the roof of his mouth with thirst. "I can find a cure for this," thought Hans; "I will milk the cow now and refresh myself with the milk." He tied her to a withered tree, and as he had no pail he put his leather cap underneath; but try as he would, not a drop of milk came. And as he set himself to work in a clumsy way, the impatient beast at last gave him such a blow on his head with its hind foot, that he fell on the ground, and for a long time could not think where he was.

By good fortune a butcher just then came along the road with a wheel-barrow, in which lay a young pig. "What sort of a trick is this?" cried he, and helped the good Hans up. Hans told him what had happened. The butcher gave him his flask and said, "Take a drink and refresh yourself. The cow will certainly give no milk, it is an old beast; at the best it is only fit for the plough, or for the butcher." - "Well, well," said Hans, as he stroked his hair down on his head, "who would have thought it? Certainly it is a fine thing when one can kill a beast like that at home; what meat one has! But I do not care much for beef, it is not juicy enough for me. A young pig like that now is the thing to have, it tastes quite different; and then there are the sausages!"

"Hark ye, Hans," said the butcher, "out of love for you I will exchange, and will let you have the pig for the cow." - "Heaven repay you for your kindness!" said Hans as he gave up the cow, whilst the pig was unbound from the barrow, and the cord by which it was tied was put in his hand.

Hans went on, and thought to himself how everything was going just as he wished; if he did meet with any vexation it was immediately set right. Presently there joined him a lad who was carrying a fine white goose under his arm. They said good morning to each other, and Hans began to tell of his good luck, and how he had always made such good bargains. The boy told him that he was taking the goose to a christening-feast. "Just lift her," added he, and laid hold of her by the wings; "how heavy she is -- she has been fattened up for the last eight weeks. Whoever has a bit of her when she is roasted will have to wipe the fat from both sides of his mouth." - "Yes," said Hans, as he weighed her in one hand, "she is a good weight, but my pig is no bad one."

Meanwhile the lad looked suspiciously from one side to the other, and shook his head. "Look here," he said at length, "it may not be all right with your pig. In the village through which I passed, the Mayor himself had just had one stolen out of its sty. I fear -- I fear that you have got hold of it there. They have sent out some people and it would be a bad business if they caught you with the pig; at the very least, you would be shut up in the dark hole."

The good Hans was terrified. "Goodness!" he said, "help me out of this fix; you know more about this place than I do, take my pig and leave me your goose." - "I shall risk something at that game," answered the lad, "but I will not be the cause of your getting into trouble." So he took the cord in his hand, and drove away the pig quickly along a by-path.

The good Hans, free from care, went homewards with the goose under his arm. "When I think over it properly," said he to himself, "I have even gained by the exchange; first there is the good roast-meat, then the quantity of fat which will drip from it, and which will give me dripping for my bread for a quarter of a year, and lastly the beautiful white feathers; I will have my pillow stuffed with them, and then indeed I shall go to sleep without rocking. How glad my mother will be!"

As he was going through the last village, there stood a scissors-grinder with his barrow; as his wheel whirred he sang -- 

"I sharpen scissors and quickly grind,
My coat blows out in the wind behind." 
Hans stood still and looked at him; at last he spoke to him and said, "All's well with you, as you are so merry with your grinding." - "Yes," answered the scissors-grinder, "the trade has a golden foundation. A real grinder is a man who as often as he puts his hand into his pocket finds gold in it. But where did you buy that fine goose?"
"I did not buy it, but exchanged my pig for it."

"And the pig?"

"That I got for a cow."

"And the cow?"

"I took that instead of a horse."

"And the horse?"

"For that I gave a lump of gold as big as my head."

"And the gold?"

"Well, that was my wages for seven years' service."

"You have known how to look after yourself each time," said the grinder. "If you can only get on so far as to hear the money jingle in your pocket whenever you stand up, you will have made your fortune."

"How shall I manage that?" said Hans. "You must be a grinder, as I am; nothing particular is wanted for it but a grindstone, the rest finds itself. I have one here; it is certainly a little worn, but you need not give me anything for it but your goose; will you do it?"

"How can you ask?" answered Hans. "I shall be the luckiest fellow on earth; if I have money whenever I put my hand in my pocket, what need I trouble about any longer?" and he handed him the goose and received the grindstone in exchange. "Now," said the grinder, as he took up an ordinary heavy stone that lay by him, "here is a strong stone for you into the bargain; you can hammer well upon it, and straighten your old nails. Take it with you and keep it carefully."

Hans loaded himself with the stones, and went on with a contented heart; his eyes shone with joy. "I must have been born with a caul," he cried; "everything I want happens to me just as if I were a Sunday-child."

Meanwhile, as he had been on his legs since daybreak, he began to feel tired. Hunger also tormented him, for in his joy at the bargain by which he got the cow he had eaten up all his store of food at once. At last he could only go on with great trouble, and was forced to stop every minute; the stones, too, weighed him down dreadfully. Then he could not help thinking how nice it would be if he had not to carry them just then.

He crept like a snail to a well in a field, and there he thought that he would rest and refresh himself with a cool draught of water, but in order that he might not injure the stones in sitting down, he laid them carefully by his side on the edge of the well. Then he sat down on it, and was to stoop and drink, when he made a slip, pushed against the stones, and both of them fell into the water. When Hans saw them with his own eyes sinking to the bottom, he jumped for joy, and then knelt down, and with tears in his eyes thanked God for having shown him this favour also, and delivered him in so good a way, and without his having any need to reproach himself, from those heavy stones which had been the only things that troubled him.

"There is no man under the sun so fortunate as I," he cried out. With a light heart and free from every burden he now ran on until he was with his mother at home.

Love me for a reason, not!

Lady : Why do you like me..? Why do you love me?
Man : I can't tell the reason.. but I really like you..
Lady : You can't even tell me the reason... how can you say you like me? How can you say you love me?
Man : I really don't know the reason, but I can prove that I love you.
Lady : Proof? No! I want you to tell me the reason. My friend's boyfriend can tell her why he loves her but not you!
Man : Ok..ok!!! Erm... because you are beautiful, because your voice is sweet, because you are caring, because you are loving, because you are thoughtful, because of your smile, because of your every movements.

The lady felt very satisfied with the man's answer. Unfortunately, a few days later, the Lady met with an accident and became comma. The Guy then placed a letter by her side, and here is the content: 

Darling, Because of your sweet voice that I love you... Now can you talk? 
No! Therefore I cannot love you. Because of your care and concern that I like you.. Now that you cannot show them, 
therefore I cannot love you. Because of your smile, because of your every movements that I love you.. Now can you smile? Now can you move? 
No, therefore I cannot love you... If love needs a reason, like now, there is no reason for me to love you anymore. Do love need a reason? NO!  
Therefore, I still love you... And love doesn't need a reason. 

Sometimes the best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, cannot be touched, but can be felt in the heart.

-

Back after a prolonged period. Oh boy, I am enjoying rereading my posts! Impressive me, I thought LOL 😂 

.

Spot the aged english error(s).

While thou's right to leave the cuppa on the table,
Thee could lend a chick to thy.

Thou told ghee to be merry,
Yet thee drench thy's party.

Ghee abhorred the same old strain (on the string),
And yes the occasional supples.
So what has evolved,
Coffee, tea or ghee?

Now you tell me, not.

Relapseable?

Reminiscing one of the song from Aqua, "if only I could turn back time".

Nope, nothing emoistic, just fond memories easing back to mind..

Time seems to pass so slowly when you are minding it, yet seemed so fast when you are recollecting...

With the passing of a being who literally gave me the opportunity to join MBS, it all remind us how fragile life is. With an old friend of mine (about 20 years) battling cancer, my current thoughts are with him.

May all of us be healthy, and be bestowed with happiness.

Rest in peace Cat, and jia you Ming!