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eB4T Features -
Interviews
Exclusive eB4T Interview with Albert Lu Thanx Albert for the great interview! You can check his website at http://kickthecan.iwarp.com/. If you would like to talk to Albert personally, you can email him at acidboy@kickthecan.iwarp.com 1. When [how] did you get interested in Business? It must've been 1995, when Bill Gates got really rich off Windows, and the Net expanded incredibly. I was using OS/2 primarily and full of it, lots of idealism and hot-headedness and, I have to admit, elitism... Yes, he took advantage of ignorance, but how else would the Net be popularized? 2. When [how] did you get interested in computers & the internet? During the summer of '91 I took a course at my elementary school. I can't quite remember anything except Macintoshes and flowcharts and T-shirts that I lost somewhere. But I enjoyed it. In 1993 I was in Austin, Texas. Computers, computers, everywhere ;) I played with DOS and OS/2 and Unix, though as I was new there were a few, ah, unfortunate incidents (accidental, I swear!) Back then, a 486 dx2 50mhz, and a dinosaur 386/20mhz PS/2 upgraded with a whopping 16mb of RAM to extend its unfortunate life. 3. How did you come up with the idea for an eCommerce business? Well.. a business even. Whew. That's what I'd sure like. I'd maintained a website during 1994-1995 but after that I was, ah, a bit negligent. Perhaps I'm just being overly nostalgic (it must come with getting old) but I missed the 'old' days when everything was exciting and we were trailblazers, spreading the word.. and yet there were many before me. More recently with so many people on, and so many with pages it was not so bad, just different, and these people had gone through their time of experimenting and there were some really cool ideas. Also lots were getting heavy traffic and with that the potential for money and that really got me motivated ;) I have yet to hit upon an exact purpose. Feel free to help chat, brainstorm, meditate on the wonders of the universe, rest and enjoy life. But wait a minute. I'll need a message board for that. 4. What problems did you encounter along the way? How did you solve them? Discouragement, weakness of body. I've moved a lot, and not every place I've lived has been enthusiastic to computers. It's hard being new where everyone knows each other and most people have lived in one place, liking computers in when they're quite apathetic. Also the sleep schedule is not very compatible with my body ;) I've learned it doesn't matter what others say or think if they don't really know or care, I've learned to stay in touch with friends all across the world. Here of course I'm giving up something; I'm not entirely normal in the sense of having lots of friends right where I live, and perhaps I'm not as open as I could be. I've learned to follow a more regular sleep schedule, go to bed at the same time every night, leaving enough time for me to sleep (for me about 9 hours), forcing lights out. Otherwise I'll stay up all night. 5. [How do you measure success?] Who or what helped you most to become successful? This will be a hard question. However I answer, there will be dissenters, and even I'm not sure. However if I did my best, if I tried to help, if I made a sale ;) I have no sound bites here, I have few outward signs of success. But I know who I am, I know what I like to do, I know who my friends are, I know God. In the future, when I'm rich and famous ;) I'll come back and paste a quote in. Define your goals, do your best. Do what's right, ask God. As for the people who contributed to my being successful, I'm not successful yet. But as for the people who contributed to who I am, then absolutely my parents and my friends. Techheads and musicians and Christians. Life is not really rigid, you're winging it. You don't know what will happen tomorrow, keep people nearby who will care. 6. How many people are involved in your company now? [What kind of people do you look for to work for/ with your company?] In my 'company', I'm the only employee. Supposedly this is the wave of the future though I can hardly see myself comfortably making billions off a site in a sea of millions of others with no one to work and share ideas and experiences with. I'd like someone who will work hard, who cares for the people, who's idealistic but also in touch with reality. 7. What the best thing that has come from being a teen entrepreneur? I'm not quite an entrepeneur--yet. I'm working on it. What I would like: knowing people like myself, making money doing something that I like. Working to build something (hopefully) worthwhile. 8. What do you consider to be your biggest [most personally satisfying] accomplishment? Whoops. Watch this space in the future. 9. What is your advice to aspiring teen entrepreneurs? Make sure what you're doing is right. Consider how it affects other people. Don't give up. 10. What are your plans for the future? Be a trillionaire! Falling short of that, do my best, make good music, go to college, learn, make money, create a cool site, own a nice car, marry, live! Finish what I was put on Earth for. Thanx Albert for the great interview! You can check his website at http://kickthecan.iwarp.com/. If you would like to talk to Albert personally, you can email him at acidboy@kickthecan.iwarp.com . about us . thanx . contact . awards . guestbook . site map . Copyright (C) 1999 (email link outdated) |