Between The Aftermath and The Rabbit Hole

Its been thirteen days since the Judging Session, where the Top 12 teams would battle it out to just only 6 Teams.

It was not only conflicts between teams but also among teammates as those in the frontlines are definitely feeling the stress, with assignments and tests getting closer than ever.

Interpersonal relationships around me seems to be turning for the worse, affecting everyone's state of mind, including myself as well.

I realized being overseas and communicating ideas and suggestions with my teammates back at home is not easy.

Doing last minute preparation, it was a race with time, we could only support our two front teammates with what we can, amazingly Le Wayne completed some of her demo designs for the Skinz (despite many re-dos), I finished a new Prototype Illustration and also an animation slide that was to be shown at the end of the presentation.

Our work and Nigel, Elaine's work+presentation must have somehow caused a chemical reaction :

Because, WE MADE IT TO THE TOP 6 !


So, if one team could make fireworks work, what happens if you have twelve teams in Taylors Lakeside Campus ?

They probably caused a mini nuclear reaction in the auditorium.

The Aftermath

Haha, all jokes aside, no, the lakeside campus did not get reduced into rubble, but it must be great to see so many teams present their ideas passionately in front of the audience and plus they really mean it as its the final elimination round.

Funny how we got the news in Adelaide from through a friend, then we got all noisy congratulating each other in the middle of King William Street.

Would love to be present but I just can't, would love to present as well ! since its been years since I presented, the fear of standing in front of so many people is definitely back again.

Here are some pics !

Before the presentation

Judge line-up !

Our loyal supporters ! Zahra, Angelyn and Shannon !

Elaine in action

Announcement of the results (ala American Idol?)

We got in !

Excuse the awkward handshake pose

Our Front-man and Front-Woman !
(Elaine looks smashing I must add, Nigel looks really suave)

Group picture

I'll take this opportunity to congratulate the other teams who got through, Team SyCo, Crimson Concepts, Greenergy, Voila!, Dreamzland.

The other teams, No Worries, you guys took the step to join this challenge, its already a very brave thing to do and I'm sure Mike, UV and Brandon would not leave you hanging ! Best of luck ! Keep Fighting !

And to the gurus at MoneyTree and also Maybank, Thank you once more for supporting us and giving us this amazing chance.

And also Taylors University College for providing the venue !


Now, to the next level (The Pitching Stage) we get to pitch for up to RM 25,000 of funds from private investors to kickstart our projects !

Personally and Honestly, its not about competition among teams anymore, but to compete with oneself to improve our ideas to get it up and running.

So now, the question is, would the investors be convinced and willing to follow us Down into The Rabbit Hole ?

Would YOU follow us so that we can show you more about what we imagined it to be ?

Will you be our Alice ?

Don't be late to the Tea Party.

(click to see the whole picture)

No, I did not do this so that I can be Johnny Depp.

P.S : We got a great write up of the Judging session by Malaysian Today ! Thank you Pauline! , read it at, Pauline Wong describes our product accurately, couldn't put it better myself.
(http://www.malaysiantoday.com.my/node/1401) (Don't know why hyperlink seems to be not working o_O)

Making our way through - YES Challenge Shortlisting Session!!

Since my dear teammate has so kindly posted up a couple of pictures from this event, I shall not post anymore. Honestly, I don't have anymore to post hahaha!!! I guess I shall relate to you the feelings and thoughts that I experienced during this event.

Couple of days before attending this session, I was full of confident that I would be able to wow the judges with my elevator pitch. I practiced it in privacy with full enthusiasm. However, as the hours drew closer to the appointed date and time, a spark of nervousness kicked in. I started to worry about the weight that was on my shoulders, the weight representing the responsibility of performing my speech to the best.

Anyways, elaine and I, along with two other supportive friends, arrived at the Menara Star and awaited patiently....and nervously. As we were moments away from the actual presentation, there was such a chill creeping down my spine which almost made me lose my confidence. But at least I had my business partner Elaine to keep me going. Well, the crowd in the rooms began to decrease gradually as I went over and over my lines....before i knew it, it was already our turn.

Elaine and I entered the hall and my heart beat sped like a bullet train. But I was still holding on to the dream of winning the judges attention with my cool speech...hahaha. Once we both got on stage and began my presentation, the slides being shown met with a malfunction. Gosh it definitely gt the judges attention as well as put me off my focus in delivering the speech.

But "the show must go on" and I continued till the timer went off.

The dreaded Q&A session arrived and boy it was not fun. But we both answered as best as we could, especially Elaine's approach to the final ques...hahaha...its something I will not forget. It finally came to an end, a relief came over us, and we could finally relax and enjoy the rest of the day. There was a warm thank you provided to us by Michael Reyes and Wong UV which really helped everyone feel better in regards to their efforts meeting with appreciation. So overall it was not too bad of a day and the event was a good experience for all of us. Now we have to see what the next step holds for us and what the results will be. :S

YES Challenge 2 shortlisting session

I am so proud of my group members, Elaine Lai and Nigel Lim!
Thank you so much for presenting on the 13th of March 2010 for the YES challenge Top 10 shortlisting session held at the The STAR Cybertorium.
It was unfortunate that both Jeffrey and I are currently in Adelaide, that we were not able to join Elaine and Nigel to present on that day.
Jeffrey and I wish that we are able to join, to witness and experience the presentation and shortlisting session. It would have been a great eye opener.

Elaine and Nigel

and also a big thank you to everyone for their support especially Shannon and Zahra.

Thank you!

As for the shortlisting result, we received a very good news on this Tuesday morning

In no particular order, the Top 12 teams that will move on to the next stage of the YES Challenge are:

Team 1: Dexter Lim (Team Leader)

Team 4: Leong Ji Kin (Team Leader)

Team 5: Izzul Hakim (Team Leader)

Team 6: Nuraini Yacob (Team Leader)

Team 7: Wong Jian Zhi (Team Leader)

Team 8: Lai Pooi Mun (Team Leader)

Team 9: Tan Chin Teck (Team Leader)

Team 10: Joshua Ooi (Team Leader)

Team 12: Koo Yen Woon (Team Leader)

Team 13: Jonathan Mak Chun (Team Leader)

Team 20: Jeffrey Lai (Team Leader)

Team 23: Zharif Sarif (Team Leader)

We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate other teams for their achievement and all the best in the upcoming stages of the YES Challenge.

War is Coming !

Tomorrow, the 13th of March is the big day

War is upon us

Up till now, we've been preparing for this day as much as we can eventhough we have many university commitments.

Sometimes we're on target

Sometimes we fall

But, We are ready

To give it our best shot

This is what we are aiming for

On the 13th of March 2010, the YES challenge Top 10 shortlisting session will be held at the The STAR Cybertorium, 31 teams will be presenting their elevator pitches to a panel of judges and a crowd of supporters. This will determine which of the 31 teams will be eligible to be on the top 10.

Will our Project "WRIST" get into the top 10 ? Will WRIST hold up against the other 30 teams? What does WRIST stands for ? What IS project WRIST ? DO YOU wanna find out ? I can tell you if it takes off, it will be a new trend among students in major educational institutions. Not only is it fashionable, it is also practical.

We will be sending only two of our teammates to the frontlines as Le Wayne and I won't be able to be present at the pitching session as we are currently furthering our studies in Adelaide Australia.

Therefore, the ones we would be sending are,

Elaine Lai Ee-Ling

Nigel Lim Kar Leong

Oops....wrong choice of picture ! Heres a more appropriate one.

Not really...but it'll do !

These two will be our pitchers, the two teammates that will tell you what Project "WRIST" is. What we can tell you is, it is our sweat, blood and tears. We intend to get that across to the judges and the audiences tomorrow, as it will be the big reveal of our project tomorrow.

Eventhough Le Wayne an I couldn't be there, our moral support will be with them always. And plus ! we have two of our loyal supporters, Shannon and Zahra in the audience tomorrow ! you will probably identify then easily as they will be wearing silicon wristbands in support of us.

Are you interested to come and see us pitch ? come and see what brilliant ideas that the 30+ teams have in their minds ! if you are interested, send an email to Yu Vee. I know its abit late now, but if you don't try, you'll never know.

The Maybank MoneyTree YES 2 Challenge Shortlisting session. Only 10 teams will survive this round, the rest will be Eliminated. If you are interested to witness the teams battle it out against each other, write to @Wong Yu Vee at uvwong@moneytree.my. ONLY 15 seats allocated to each Uni / College on a First come first serve basis. Register Now!

Details are here.

Date: 13th March 2010 (Saturday)
Time: 10:00am - 4:30pm
Venue: The STAR Cybertorium, Level 2, Menara The Star, 15, Jalan 16/11, PJ

See ya there ! .... I mean, my teammates will see you there.

Training Session on Jan 17th!!

17th January has passed quite awhile back but it would be good to keep this in record. Jeffrey, Elaine, Lewayne, and myself attended our 1st training session for the Maybank Money Tree Yes Challenge. Mr. Brandon Liew and Mr. Yu Vee Wong provided us a very informative presentation regarding the important requirements necessary for the Yes Challenge. Most importantly they helped us in forming a better picture on how to write an elevator pitch and an executive summary. The whole session lasted from 10am to 5pm with the necessary lunch and tea break.

Lunch break was good as we trainees were all treated to a western lunch at a restaurant a couple of doors down from Money Tree Headquarters in Petaling Jaya. My team members and I entered into a very casual yet good discussion with Mr. Wong acquiring further about the challenge and also about how he came to join Money Tree.

After the whole session, though a little worn out, we felt ready to push ourselves to begin this challenging journey. Ever since then we have met up twice and further discussed via Msn and Skype. Our last meet up was mentioned by Jeffrey in the previous post and, as he described, it was a 'heated' discussion but a good fruitful one too. We will be meeting up again this week to finalise our executive summary which is due latest on the 6th of February by 12pm. I will thus sign off here for now until our next post.

Humble Beginnings

A heated discussion over Mocha Chiller and Caramelatte took place at Gloria Jean’s on the 30th January 2010, occasional confusion and misunderstandings occurred, holes were punched in each other’s statements, frustration of not understanding each other’s visions cropped up as four twenty year old business students were trying to narrow down their top 3 business ideas (the ones which we have poured our sweat and blood into creating) to the only one that they find is the most viable option and to go for it.

Left to right : Jeffrey, Nigel, Elaine

Photographer : Le Wayne

No surprises there, business students trying to start a business, it’s only logical. Well, only if your point of view is from the sidelines.

What most people don’t know is that only a small portion of students from business courses would actually take the step to try and start their own business this early, eventhough the red carpet had already arrived at their doorstep. Most people would just do nothing and finish up their courses and then look for that stable income job that everyone is vying for.

Instead of climbing someone else’s money tree, why not plant your own?

Rewind back to a few days before the new year starts, I was actually running up the stairs, panting, took the lift up to the first floor of Taylor’s Business School to hand over a registration form for a Business challenge, to my horror, the person in charge of the collection of forms was not there ! I panicked; as I wasn’t sure if it was too late for registration.

So I slipped it under her door, also leaving a note. Few days later, I had an email from Ms.Geraldine stating our team was in, only because another team decided to pull out the last minute. Lucky us!

So, business students joining a business challenge, boo, no big revelation there either. Ordinary Business Competitions is a common resource nowadays anyway.

However, this isn’t a normal business competition that we’re joining, or else it wouldn’t prompt us to have such a hot-blooded discussion. It’s a challenge unlike other business challenges due to its authentic experience you’ll get, its support by Maybank, its partnering organizations, and whether you bag the first place or not is for once, not important, as teams actually get a chance to get your business up and running, for real.

Fast forward to the 30th again, an hour has passed, even with us going off-topic once in a while and joking around, ideas and procedures were agreed upon , visions were aligned, we have decided on the idea we decided to champion (push forward), Codenamed “W.R.I.S.T” to be entered into

Maybank-MoneyTree Young Entrepreneur Startup Challenge.

We then proceeded to attend our farewell party that was organized by our friends, as two of our members, including me are leaving to Australia to further our studies this February 7th. We were about to hop on a train that travels on an unpredictable route.