What is the most surprising thing about you that most people don’t know?

I spent almost every summer, from 4 years old, up through high school, working at construction sites with my dad, so I'm pretty good at building things with my hands. 

What are the most important decisions you made in your career?

I studied mechanical engineering and I realised that it wasn’t a good fit for me so I switched to computer science. Even though it ended up costing me a year, it was an impactful decision.

When I was working at IBM in New York I was pressurised to do something I didn’t really want to do. So I ended up quitting without having any other job offers at hand. And that was one of the best life decisions I made. I put myself into a corner where I didn’t have anything to fall back on. I put myself into a vulnerable position and it made me more of a fighter. Now when we invest into entrepreneurs, we invest into people who look like their back is against the wall and they are going to fight for every little chance.

A similar decision I made when my wife and I were backpacking around Asia and decided to stay in Singapore and build a company here. It was that confidence that if you believe in yourself and keep fighting, it will work out. And that comes from my dad, he would always tell us you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Quitting IBM was scary but building my company in Singapore wasn’t. When you take that jump once and you realise you can land safely, you are more willing to do it again.

What will be the most valuable skill for your profession in the next 3 years?

I think one of the most valuable skills for VCs to have is being able to empathise with the people on the other side of the table. And that comes easier when you have some former entrepreneurial experience. Once you’ve done it from the ground up, you know what the entrepreneur is going through, what they are asking for and what they need.

I used to feel like I knew everything I needed. But the reality is I know I’m going to learn a lot again next year. I’ve got no idea what that is, but the key thing is the willingness to learn. I am very lucky because I am in the job where I meet entrepreneurs every day. I learn something new all the time through the different types of businesses that are presented to me. Every meeting is like a mini-class and I am always curious and asking a lot of questions. While you can learn through reading blogs and attending classes, in my case it is through this first-hand experience meeting people.

I did a formal 2-year programme for VCs a Kauffman Fellowship. I stay active with the alumni network and try to engage with them every year. The most important thing I got out of the programme was the network.

Tell us about your worst professional mistake and how did you overcome it? 

We had to shut down the first company I co-founded with some friends. It was very scary. But the feedback I got from the people who invested in us was they knew from the start it was risky and they knew we fought hard.

So while a lesson learnt was that failing is scary, another one was the way you do it is very important. We see some people shutting down very quickly and walking away. That’s very bad and you need to be very communicative. Another lesson learnt was the importance of building strong relationships with investors. When we built our next company some of them re- invested in us.

We usually read about founders’ successes as if this is the first time they did it. But we don’t look into how many times they have failed before they succeed. It’s like looking at kids when they learn to walk and seeing how many times they fall. And now I look at the entrepreneurship the same way. It’s the only way you can learn.

What’s your biggest ambition now?

For the first time in my life, I feel I would like to do what I am doing with this brand for the rest of my life. We want to build it bigger, so the ambition is to stay on top of my game and keep growing the business.

Can you recommend any recent books that have influenced or changed the way you work?

I have a small list that I share with people. A friend of mine gave me this book and I ended up quitting IBM. It has a cheesy title, but was very influential: “What Shall I Do With My Life” by Po Bronson.

You meet a lot of people who say I want to do something different, who say they are only doing this now for money and will then break into something else. But the fact is the longer you go on that one channel, the harder it is to break from it. There’s never a good time, it’s like there’s never a good time to have kids. In the hindsight, you know you are never going to feel ready, but you are going to figure it out if you do it.

“Psychology of Persuasion” by Robert Cialdini, it is something like a cult favourite in the Valley and it helped me a lot in the communications.

“The Tipping point” by Malcolm Gladwell.

“Getting to yes” by Roger Fisher, a negotiation classic

“Your brain at work” by David Rock, which explains that our brains are at best in the morning and how we should leave that time for creativity and big picture thinking. Personally, I stopped reading emails early in the morning after this book.

“Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely, an MIT Professor who discusses how people are irrational in their behaviours.

“Guns, Germs and Steel” by Jared Diamond

What talks such as TED or podcasts do you listen to?

I find TED talks are inspirational and they help you see a bigger picture. I think they are good if you are at a point in your life when you need change. I am past that stage now, so I don’t really look for inspiration and I get inspired by what I see and do every day.

One of the most influential things in my life was when I did a 10-day silent meditation: no eye contact, no touch, no books, no writing. My wife and I did it in Indonesia, but you can find them all over the world. It’s probably not for everyone, but if it clicks with you, it’s a phenomenal experience. It is not that you consciously say I want to break a certain pattern but it ends up breaking all the patterns and it rewires your brain.

What industry columnists, blogs or influencers should we bookmark right now?

I read less about tech and more about what’s happening globally. There’s one website that has been recently on my radar by a former Wall Street journalist “The Information”. It’s paid but has quality reporting.

What are you going to learn in the year ahead?

As a company we want to learn how we can improve operationally. We want to take best practices from big companies like Google that do it really well and integrate it into our organization. I will be learning more about building corporate culture and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).

Follow Vinnie Lauria on Twitter @vlauria