I Am My Own VC!

The past 2 weeks or so (since the day I arrived in Singapore, for good this time round) has been a 24/7 soul-searching ride for me. Every second I'm bombarded by the excitement of getting married (Mar 17 for those who don't know yet :)) while I ponder on my career options. To be fair, I have no reasonable ground to complain since I am extremely fortunate to be given this wide spectrum of career choices (from infocomm to telco to real estate to private equity) based on a decision to opt for a scholarship that makes this possible; a decision which frankly speaking wasn't much of a calculated choice on my part at the time (they just happened to be the first one to offer me one!). In any case, I reckon I really have a fantastic opportunity to have a solid start, provided I make the right move now (with Jobs' words still ringing in my head).

While the prospects of a fulfilling corporate career look promising now, I am left with my ideas (a pretty long list too) sort of hanging in mid-air. Well, I think of myself as the "Idea Guy"; have always been one and I intend to keep it that way. So it saddens me that so many of my ideas remain what they are now; just ideas or potentials. I've worked on a couple of them in the past, 1 or 2 has flourished while more than a few have failed (at least in the traditional sense of the word). But there are still so many of them left undone, untested and unfinished; and I feel as if I'm "orphaning" them if I were to go the other path.

Then a thought slowly develop in mind in the past week:

I can be my own VC!

Back when I was a student I have lots of time so I could pull off projects that require lots of time commitment but not necessarily the capital side of things. Now that I'm gonna start working, judging from all my interviews and chats with friends who are already going through it, time will be a luxury I can barely afford, especially when I'm married. But what I'd have, hopefully, is $$$. So while others might invest their savings in stock or real estate, why can't I invest in my own ideas? I don't necessarily have to execute them, but if I could find others who are also passionate about the possibilities, there might be an opening for me to contribute, at least from a financing standpoint.

Anyway, this idea of investing my money into my ideas is pretty new to me (considering I never really have much money to begin with). But it does sound promising, and certainly a fairly attractive compromise at this point in my life. I think I owe these ideas my commitment, if I can't give it my time, I should at least throw some $$ at it.