Hi, I’m Hsu Ken Ooi

There’s this great quote in Frost/Nixon that goes like this: “In boxing, there’s always that first moment, and you see it in the challenger’s face. It’s that moment that he feels the impact from the champ’s first jab.  It’s kind of a sickening moment, when he realizes that all those months of pep talks and the hype, the psyching yourself up, had been delusional all along.”

It’s one thing to know how strong the champ can hit, and something quite different to feel it.

That’s kind of what it’s like to start a company: “Yeah, yeah … I know it’s going to be hard – everybody has told me it’s going to be hard – but I’m ready for it, and I can handle it.”

Trust me, you’re not, and no matter how much you think you know about what it’s going to be like, when that first jab comes, you’ll begin to truly understand for the first time.

Paul Graham says that good startup founders can be described in two words: relentlessly resourceful.   I agree, but I would add two words of my own: arrogant and naïve. Arrogant enough to get in the ring, and naïve enough that you still think you will win after you feel the first punch.

I think it's true for most of the really important lessons in life. Everyone knows how it's going to be or how it should be but actually getting there or doing it is something different entirely.

"If you're afraid to fail, then you're probably going to fail," he says, laughing. "You know what I mean? Fuck it."

I just watched "Kobe Doin' Work: A Spike Lee Joint", they put a mic on him for a entire game and then had him give commentary after the game on almost every single play. It might not sound that interesting but I was blown away by how much conscious strategy went into almost every play. Adapting to the defense, taking advantage of weaknesses, exploiting mismatches. He's constantly giving directions to the guys on his team.

I don't think it's typical of all players. You can tell by how he talks about it, he treats it like a craft. He studies it, gets genuinely excited about the smallest detail. I don't know how many times he said execution, "it's all about execution".

The thing that I've always loved about Kobe and the thing that I think sets him apart from everyone else in the league is, he doesn't just want to win, he wants bury you. Unequivocally, without mercy, just because he can bury you.

I have to give it to Google. I found it incredibly original to tell a complete love story through a search box. I especially liked the part where the user started to type 'long distance relationship advice' and instead erased it and typed 'jobs in paris'.

Amid all of the ads about beer, cars and hot women, it was simple, inventive and sweet. Things that everyone can relate with and just the kind of personality that Google wants to be associated with. Google really stood out from the rest of the noise with this ad.

It had the girls at my superbowl party googly-eyed, pun unanticipated but appreciated.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

I love this poster! It's a riff on a propaganda poster made by the British Government in 1939 when war with Germany was imminent. Meant to reassure the people, it read "Keep Calm and Carry On".

Everybody left, and the next day, I was the only one who came in the office

Blogger, a project that he had worked on for 2 years was out of money, his cofounder left, he had to lay everyone off and he broke up with his girlfriend.. jesus what a night.

He still came to the office the next day and kept working. For the next year he worked by himself keeping the service alive. A year after that Google acquired the company.

It's crazy how quickly things can change. Startups are like looking for the light switch in a dark room, you could be standing right next to it or be on the other side of the room, you just don't know.

Evan Williams is the CEO of Twitter and one of it's founders.