Perception

The July 2010 batch bound for the NUS Overseas College programme in Silicon Valley left last Saturday morning, and although I was originally destined to be on that flight, I did not. I made the decision to delay my participation in this programme by a semester a few months back, and I’ve been meaning to jot it down for quite a while, so it might as well be now.

It’s been just under a year since I applied for the programme, and between then and now, none of the perceived benefits that I have of the programme have changed. It’s definitely a valuable opportunity to have, but an important consideration in making this year-long commitment is the price of the opportunity cost. A lot of students have returned from the programme to work on their ideas which turn into startups, but I somehow have the order reversed, putting a little more at stake.

Regardless of whether sgBEAT is a side project or potential startup, it’s easily the thing I’ve poured the most heart into. Not just the emotional investment, but in terms of time and to some extent, financially too. Over the months, as the service grew as did its potential, I decided that July was going to be too soon for me to fly off. Considering that I’m the only co-founder based in Singapore, I’m felt that quite a fair bit of opportunity might have been left behind.

I applied for the deferment earlier this year, and was granted the rollover until January. There are still a number of ideas that I hope to try with sgBEAT, and I’ll have this coming semester to work on some of them. sgBEAT has been a fantastic learning journey for me, and I think the experience I’ve gained will come in useful when I’m working in a Silicon Valley startup.