Photo: Closing round 2 of investment in a technology startup; enjoying “organized money-burning.”
This year, I am a little ‘lazy.’ This ‘laziness’ needs to be understood correctly: positively, I have naturally become… lazy about managing. Although I can delve into systems and the smallest details when necessary (anyone who has worked closely with me long enough understands this). But this year I am still… lazy (startup founders absolutely must not follow this example).
Looking back over the years, the styles I have experienced include:
1. I raised capital and ran a company while still a student, developing the style of a “professional founder and executive”: skills and conduct aimed at perfection, because I had to work with and persuade both the board of directors and shareholders. This style brought tremendous pressure and overwhelming stress; my hair fell out so much it clogged the bathroom (fortunately, I still have hair now), but it helped me mature quite quickly.
2. Later, I also developed a “behind-the-scenes” style: no longer “commanding the troops” on the front line, but mentoring, coaching, and supporting the CEO in developing their capabilities. This style generally requires “going with conditions,” because when I do not decide everything or hold my own “destiny” in my hands, many situations can be quite “ridiculous.” It also requires patience with the CEOs (Chief everything officers), because they need time to grow — so their businesses can grow too. I was the same once. “Managing expectations well” is the key to this style.
3. Over the past year, the “free entrepreneur” style came naturally: work when I want, and when I do not, go… play, while remaining full of enthusiasm and dedication. Yet my wandering around does not harm the work; it helps all its values spread further. I find the greatest happiness in always having a choice and not sacrificing my core values merely for business (for example, many people dislike heavy drinking but cannot… close contracts without it, so they have “no other choice”). Though I have not attained complete fulfillment, I “know when enough is enough”.
I prefer to call this style the “happy entrepreneur.” “Happiness” here is not the sort of “preconceived happiness” that binds people to society's standards and moral patterns, which can themselves sometimes cause suffering. You “display” an ideal family, following a formula that never grows old: you are successful in business, your family life is wonderful and sparkling, and you become a model for society to follow. Gradually, your happiness is measured by the judgments of an “audience.” Over time, you may also create a “misconception” for many others: trying to maintain those “preconceived standards” so that “the audience will judge you to be happy,” you end up without real happiness.
The happiness I mean in “happy entrepreneur” is closer to “happiness from within.” You move beyond love and hate, praise and criticism, and radiate the energy of happiness within you. In other words, though it may sound very theoretical, you are happiness (you’re happiness).
4. I also tried being a “professional employee,” and some of Vietnam's largest companies and corporations in their fields invited me to senior executive roles, including the top General Director position. These “cases” are rarely revealed because this is a “hidden” style, with no need to appear on Google. Ultimately, I see myself as only an “amateur employee,” even though my consciousness, thinking, skills, relationships, and tricks have been honed; I am not very accustomed to working for others. Despite openly admitting this, I remain “in demand.” Not to mention friends and acquaintances “asking” me to run things for them. All I can do is run away; I cannot handle it all.
5. Since I have already become… lazy this year, I have decided to move toward investing only. No one should “make” me run things anymore. I still have passion, but I want to “restructure” my life. This year, I will only be an “investor.” So I will delegate authority for every business I am running. Any business where I cannot delegate, I will sell. That's the deal!
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