Musings

A blog from 2013–2016, kept here for archive purposes. Unedited from when it was first posted.

Conferences, Tech
News Impact Summit London

Yesterday I had the chance to attend News Impact Summit at the London School of Economics. The theme this year was Trolls, Corruption,…

May 13, 2016
Personal
Say YES

I've always loved watching commencement speeches. Schmidt's talk inspired me when I saw it a few years ago. In his speech, he talks about…

February 18, 2015
Personal, Startups
On Failure

I watched this great TEDx video a couple of days ago. I've always enjoyed James Altucher's blog but never saw him speak until now. He had…

February 15, 2015
Personal
2015

I haven't written anything on this blog for more than a year. Lack of time? Lack of inspiration? Yes. Maybe. Probably excuses too. Fear not…

February 12, 2015
Conferences, Tech
(Re)educating A Generation Of Entrepreneurs, Portrait of Mohsen Malayeri, Vice President of Iran Entrepreneurship Association

Mohsen is a startup enthusiast. He loves community and entrepreneurship. Founded a startup himself while ago, he is now helping the youth…

November 21, 2013
Startups, Tech
Behind The Veil - How Iranians Hack The System And Show An Entrepreneurial Mindset

Before coming to Iran, we weren’t sure of what to expect apart from what we had read online and in the Lonely Planet. Because of the name…

November 14, 2013
Startups, Tech
Iran, Just As Israel, Should Take Advantage Of Its Diaspora To Become A Startup Nation

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, millions of Iranians have migrated to other parts of the Middle East, to the US, Europe, and other…

November 13, 2013
Startups, Tech
How To Turn A "Lost Generation" Of Engineers In Iran Into An Innovation Asset

During the trip to Iran, one thing we noticed is the great number of engineers and scientists in the country. This can be explained by a…

November 12, 2013
Startups, Tech
A local innovation case study: In Iran, a tech startup helps get rid of fake doctors

During our trip to Iran, we met the founders of Shafajoo.com, a local startup based in Tehran. Shafajoo means “health/cure finder” in…

November 11, 2013
Conferences, Startups, Tech
Startup Weekend Shiraz

At the end of October, we attended Startup Weekend Shiraz. Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered…

November 10, 2013
Conferences, Creativity, Marketing
Reflection on User Experience Lab & How To Apply It

Last week, I attended the Hyper Island User Experience Lab in Singapore. You can read my summary here . I really liked the holistic…

August 26, 2013
Conferences, Creativity, Marketing
Summary of Hyper Island User Experience Lab

The Business of UX Design is not only the look and feel of an object, it is also the process of originating and developing a new object.…

August 23, 2013
Conferences, Social Media
In Conversation With... Chris Harris

This post was first published on Hyper Island . Yesterday was the start of the User Experience Lab at Hyper Island Singapore, which looks…

August 20, 2013
Social Media
Creative Data Lab - A Week in Reflection

This article was first published on Hyper Island . I am really glad that I had the opportunity to work with such creative and smart people…

July 29, 2013
Conferences, Social Media
Open Your Mind to Open Data

This post was first published on Hyper Island . Today was the start of the Creative Data Lab at Hyper Island in Singapore, which looks at…

July 24, 2013
Conferences
Summary of ID Byte 2013: Building The New World Class Company

ID Byte is the biggest digital event in Indonesia. The series of events was under the big umbrella theme of “Building the Next World Class…

June 14, 2013
Conferences
Summary of Echelon 2013, Asia’s Leading Tech Event #echelon2013

Echelon took place on June 4-5, 2013. Industry leaders, influential investors and business mentors came together to discuss trends in…

June 10, 2013
Conferences, Creativity
Summary of TEDxSingapore 2013: Our Future We Will Make #tedxsingapore

Yesterday was TEDxSingapore and the theme was: "Our Future We Will Make". The questions the event aimed to answer were: What shall we…

April 20, 2013
Conferences
Summary of Startup Asia 2013 #startupasia2013

Startup Asia 2013 took place in Singapore on April 4-5. It was a 2-day conference bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, media, and…

April 12, 2013
Conferences, Startups
Summary of Lean Startup Machine in Singapore #leansgp

Lean Startup Machine came back to Singapore at the end of March. Lean Startup Machine is an intensive educational workshop where…

April 3, 2013
Personal
Avoid The Comparison Trap

I read this great Harvard Business Review article today called Avoid The Envy Trap Whether it is profession, school performance, love life,…

February 6, 2013
Conferences, Tech
Lean UX Week Singapore #leanuxsg

This weekend, I attended Lean UX Week . The workshop covered the following topics: Customer Development, Value Proposition, Actionable…

January 29, 2013
Marketing, Tech
The New Foursquare Is Awesome and Here's Why

Everyone knows I live by gamification, whether it is Foursquare badges or Nike Fuel Band points. I use Foursquare to discover new places to…

October 16, 2012
Marketing, Social Media
Revealed: The Exact Number of Retweets

Good news! Twitter now gives the exact number of times you've been retweeted for a particular tweet. You no longer get the frustrating…

June 19, 2012
Social Media
On Mindfulness and Innovation

I was reading an article today and I came across this quote by Justin Rosenstein: “Companies who are not mindful lose their way, lose their…

April 18, 2012
Conferences, Creativity, Marketing
CreativeMornings Singapore with Fredrik Härén

On Friday, I attended CreativeMornings, a monthly breakfast lecture series for creative types. Each event is free of charge, and includes a…

April 16, 2012
Social Media
Pizza Hut Singapore Facebook Page Looks Too Good To Be True...

Social Bakers just released their quarterly social media report on Singapore Facebook pages. One interesting metric they introduced is…

April 12, 2012
Conferences, Creativity
TEDxSingapore: Ideas To The Max

It was another very successful event put together by the TEDx team. Here are a few take aways. Jason Pomeroy Jason had 3 ideas to save our…

April 3, 2012
Blog, Conferences
TEDxNTU: The Pursuit of Happiness

Today's theme was the pursuit of happiness. Just what I needed to hear! Here are a few take aways from the conference. Dr Nattavudh…

March 17, 2012
Blog, Conferences, Marketing, Social Media, Tech
Girls in Tech at Social Media Week #smwsg

Today was so inspiring, I felt that I was being at TEDx all over again. A great panel of young entrepreneurial women. Here are the take…

February 15, 2012
Conferences, Marketing, Social Media
Social Media Week Singapore: Yahoo! and Trendwatching Keynotes

Yesterday was the start of Social Media Week in Singapore. The keynotes were presented by Henry Mason from Trendwatching and Alan Soon from…

February 14, 2012
Marketing, Social Media
From social media to social CRM (IBM Report)

I just finished reading "From Social Media to Social CRM" report by IBM. Here is a summary and some thoughts. After reading the report, the…

January 16, 2012
Conferences, Social Media
Amazing TEDxWomen event in Singapore

I just went to an amazing event in Singapore. Two TEDx events in two weeks, I feel so lucky. Today was TEDxWomen called "Perspectives…

December 3, 2011
Conferences, Social Media
TEDxYouth@Singapore was brilliant!

Today was TEDxYouth@Singapore. And it was AWESOME!!!! Kudos to the organizer, Sadali Mawi, for making this day happen! If you couldn't…

November 19, 2011
Marketing, Social Media
Why the new Facebook is creepymazing

You did it again Facebook. Everyone hates Facebook changes - every time, people spend days discussing about the potential benefits and the…

September 28, 2011
Marketing, Social Media
Meet the best ad placement ever!

If you have been one of Google’s 33 million unique visitors today*, then you must have noticed the best ad placement ever: meet Google ad…

September 21, 2011
Creativity
A creative battle: Post-it Note War #postitwar

As I write this post, there is a war going on between Ubisoft and BNP Paribas in Paris. Their weapons? Post-it notes. According to BFM TV ,…

August 6, 2011
Quotes
Quote of the day (August, 1st)

Here is an inspiring quote for today - click to enlarge!

August 1, 2011
Conferences
5 Inspiring TED talks to watch on your way to work

Here are 5 TED talks I watched recently. They are all under 6mn so you can watch them on your way to work and get your daily dose of…

July 4, 2011
Conferences
Power and Media - POLIS Conference at LSE #polis11

Yesterday, LSE (in partnership with BBC College of Journalism) hosted "The value of Journalism", a day-long conference about the future of…

June 11, 2011
Conferences, Social Media
Lecture: Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg #lsesandberg

Today, Facebook Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, came to give a lecture at the LSE, entitled "It's all about people". Here is a…

May 26, 2011
Marketing, Social Media
Twitter email notifications on the iPhone: FAIL

Twitter unveiled new email notifications. The good news? On a computer, it looks great. The bad news? On the iPhone, it looks like crap. As…

May 23, 2011
Social Media
How to win back unhappy customers with social media

You can't have a Facebook page, put yourself out there in the world of social media, and only expect positive comments. Negative comments…

May 15, 2011
Social Media
Bin Laden is dead. Long live social media!

It is official: Osama bin Laden in dead and the USA is in possession of his body. But what is even more interesting is the role that social…

May 2, 2011
Marketing, Social Media
5 TED talks you should watch this week (April 22nd)

TED talks are a real gem. They make you think, cry, laugh and you already feel smarter after watching a couple (yes, yes!). Here is my top…

April 22, 2011
Marketing, Social Media
O2 UK targets students during exam period

Today, I received an email from o2. O2 is a mobile carrier in the UK and from time to time they send me a newsletter. Last week, surprise,…

April 19, 2011
Marketing
Theory vs. Practice #1 - Marketing Warfare

I hate revising for exams. This year, I thought I should make my revisions more fun. To revise for my marketing course, I will go through…

April 14, 2011
Personal, Social Media
Should I use Twitter lists?

I don't know about you, but I live in the wrong timezone. A lot of the people I follow on Twitter live in Asia or in the US and I feel I'm…

April 6, 2011
Social Media
How NOT to deal with negative comments

Not everyone will like you. And even if some leave negative comments, whether it is on your Facebook page, your blog, or a forum, there are…

March 30, 2011
Asian tech, Social Media
Is RenRen right for your brand? Four Points to Consider

RenRen is the China’s equivalent to Facebook . Ranked number 16 in the Alexa top 100 Chinese websites , it’s a key platform for any social…

March 28, 2011
Social Media
Handling Social Media Requires Tact and Common Sense

Whether you are a marketer dealing with social media for brands or doing social media for your own business, it is important that you…

March 23, 2011
Social Media
How are you using Twitter?

This week, I had a conversation with a friend, about how people use Twitter in very different ways: as a source of information, as a…

March 20, 2011
Social Media
8 ways to help Japanese victims from home

Since Friday, the Internet community has been trying to help Japanese victims in any way they can after the tragic earthquake and tsunami.…

March 14, 2011
Conferences, Social Media
Lecture: Twenty-First Century Statecraft

Tonight, I went to a public lecture given by Alec Ross, the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Senior Advisor for Innovation. His lecture…

March 10, 2011
Asian tech, Social Media
Flip your Facebook Page Pic to Video

Can you really flip your Facebook page pic to video ? Yes! It has been almost a month since Flip partnered with DDB Singapore and Text 100…

March 9, 2011
Asian tech, Social Media
Dentsu to represent Facebook in Japan

As announced this week , the Japanese advertising giant Dentsu Inc will become Facebook’s official sales and marketing support…

March 6, 2011
Asian tech, Social Media
Panguso: Chinese’s new state-run search engine

Xinhua and China Mobile are proud to announce the birth of Panguso , their new search engine 100% controlled by the government. With China…

February 28, 2011
Social Media
New Facebook pages and what this means for your business

Facebook has unveiled last week in a note a new design for Facebook pages. Their look will be very similar to that of individual pages, but…

February 24, 2011
Asian tech, Social Media
Facebook vs. Renren

Unless you are using a VPN, you will not be able to access Facebook in China. With over 160 million users (Analysys International,…

February 21, 2011
Social Media
Top 5 social media tips for small businesses

Following last week’s article about the importance of social media for small businesses, here are some tips to get you started with your…

February 11, 2011
Social Media
Social media for small businesses: is it worth it?

You’re hearing everywhere that businesses should have a social media strategy, that every week a new social media tool comes out (“what,…

January 28, 2011
Social Media
Why you should jump on the Quora bandwagon now (before it’s too late)

Unless you have been avoiding your RSS or Twitter feed in the past week, by now you must have heard of Quora, a website where people ask…

January 12, 2011
Social Media
How to promote your business with Linkedin

Because “relationships matter”, using a business-focused networking site can be an interesting option to promote your brand. If you are not…

January 5, 2011
Social Media
Should I create a microsite or Facebook fanpage for my campaign?

With more than 500 million users on Facebook, some are saying that the death of microsites is looming. However, not every campaign is…

December 21, 2010
Social Media
New Facebook profiles: love it or hate it?

When it comes to new features being introduced by Facebook, we all tend to be risk-adverse. Questions start pouring in our heads: why have…

December 15, 2010
Personal
My first post!

I have finally decided to register my own domain name. It was about time. Here, I will be sharing tips and news about social media and…

December 10, 2010