Interview with the team from Supplement Tracker

Here's an interview with Bryan and Dal, the team behind a new Singapore web startup, SupplementTracker.com

Like most active sports and fitness enthusiasts, they have found that they face the problems of finding the right supplements to take as well as the right places to buy reasonably priced supplements. Unlike the rest though, they decided to band together to create a one stop website to help ease this problem for like minded folks and create a community that is able to help itself out and share fitness and supplement related tips and tricks.

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W: To start off, tell me a little about your team and this website?

ST: We started this website initially to allow consumers like both you and I be able to find cheap supplements in Singapore easily. Now, Supplement Tracker is aimed at becoming a one stop supplement resource. We have a small team of dedicated individuals who are really committed. Without them, this website would not have been possible to kick off. We are expanding our team, but like every other website, we need the right people


W: What drove you both to set up such a website?

ST:We were actually sitting down and chatting over lunch when we suddenly started discussing about expensive supplements. We were complaining about how much extra money we had wasted because we didn’t know where to find cheaper supplements. It then came to our mind that we could start a website that will index all the prices of supplements in Singapore and let users find the cheapest. Supplement Tracker was thus born.


W: So, what is the value add that you feel you are providing through the website?

ST: Supplements have always been expensive, especially in Singapore. Yet, it is essential for the athlete, whether he is competing or not, because the body is in high demand of nutrients and proper supplementation satisfies this demand. What we have done is to provide an easy way of sourcing for cheaper supplements for these people. Many of our members used to get their supplements from retail stores, and through us, they got to know a whole new world of online retailers, where prices can be 40-50% cheaper than retail stores due to the reduced overheads online retailing brings! Our members are also now consolidating orders together and ordering their sports supplements from overseas online retailers, further cutting down costs, enjoying the economies of scale bulk ordering brings.


W: How do you plan to sustain this website?

ST: We plan to sustain this website through revenue earned from advertising. We hope to keep things free for our users, and we believe this is something that many other webmasters are doing these days.


W: Do you guys feel that this is going to become a full-time job for you both?

ST: Yes! We see a huge potential in the online scene in Singapore. It has not really kicked in yet, but we believe that it is slowly gaining momentum. Supplement Tracker is something Bryan and I started, it is our flesh and blood. Nothing beats working for something that belongs to you


W: How do you envision the development of the website in say, 5 years' time?

ST: Both of us have one goal in mind, which is see Supplement Tracker turn into a community of individuals, who are there to contribute and learn from each other. We also want Supplement Tracker to be an international name.


W: Any lessons you may want to share with entrepreneurs who are also looking to start up something online?

ST: Know your target audience and make sure you know what they need and want!


W: Any final words you may like to share ?

ST: I wish all budding entrepreneurs the best. Never give up!


W: Let me also take this opportunity to congratulate the team for following their ideals in coming up with SupplementTracker and wish them all the best for the future!

The Marine Corps Way - Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization

Just managed to get my hands on this book and it sure is a good read whether your run an organisation or are just a part of a organisation. this book covers lessons that apply to both leaders as well as frontline staff in all types of organisations.

I didn't even know that there was a book linking maneuver warfare and business when I did this previous post of mine. But this book is great in that it offers case studies that substaintiate the seven guiding principles of maneuver warfare, which are :

1. Boldness - The daring to move majority or resources behind a caculated opportunity to achieve maximum results.
   
   
2. Surprise - To make use of ambiguity and/or stealth to strike where the opponent least expects and hence, is least ready to counteract.
   
   
3. Focus - In line with the first principle of boldness, there needs to be a focal point where all efforts are targetted at to avoid spreading out forces too thinly, resulting in a short-lived breakthrough which the opponent can react to and catch up given time.
   
   
4. Decentralized Decision Making - To build up initiative and leadership from the lowest ranks who are empowered to make split-second decisions that can affect the organisation as a whole. The key here is to applaude well-meaning attempts that failed honesty while punishing opportunities lost to indecision and inactivity.
   
   
5. Tempo - Keeping up the momentum of efforts to force the opposition into a reactionary position constantly. This allows for you to manage and choose the scenario of confrontation to your advantage. Push the opponent up against the wall to succeed.
   
   
6. Combined Arms - The tight integration of complementary assets and resources to increase synergies as well as to create a lose-lose scenario for the opponent. This calls for the different departments of an organisation to work closely with one another to capitalise on combined strength while mitigating individual weaknesses
   
   
7. Reconnaissance Pull - Making decisions based on information from the frontlines and not from upper management who may not havea glimpse of the actual situation. This is takeaway from the military where recon scouts are used to gather battlefield intelligence and spot the enemy's weak points then communicate with the followup forces to "pull' them forward through the most advantageous routes.
   

[Official Book Site : The Marine Corps Way ]

Guy Kawasaki's Interview with Steve Wozniak

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