Pek Pongpaet

On Thursday evening, my pals Sachin and Brad alerted me to a new section on Reddit. It’s called IamA as in “I am a…”. Basically you submit a post telling your special story and people just ask you anything. They strongly recommended that I go on there and post. They were sure I was going to be a big hit there.

I tried to come up with a pretty eye catching sensational title that was true. I posted “I am Raiden from the Mortal Kombat video games. – AMAA”. AMAA stands for Ask me almost anything.

Since creating that post a bit over 24 hours ago, it was front paged on the IamA section, upvoted over 280 times, downvoted over 120 times, and received over 390 comments. People have even blogged about it. It’s been pretty amazing.

It’s been very interesting to see the kinds of questions that come up. People were excited to find out that Raiden is a web developer. The Reddit crowd I’m sure probably skews towards that. The reception’s been great. People ask really funny questions. There were some really hardcore MK fans. Or maybe I just really don’t know much about MK.

I’ve actually had an account on Reddit and have submitted articles and upvoted posts. However I’ve long since forgotten my login and password so I created a new account and named it more appropriately for this one post.

I think my takeaway from this is that there really is no overnight success. My instant hit on Reddit was a confluence of many variables. Most importantly it was due to the fact that I did martial arts for 10 freaking years and did the moves for a very popular video game franchise. That is all.

Another reason is that it was the right social network. I’ve been on Twitter for over a year and I can’t say that I’ve found the engagement on there that I’ve found in 15 minutes on Reddit. I think on Twitter there’s more marketers and other types of people – not as many video game geeks.

If you’re interested in reading the full transcript, here it is:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9x5dh/i_am_raiden_from_the_mortal_kombat_video_games/

Popularity: 3% [?]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gleentea/sets/72157605844577560/

For those of you following my blog, I’ll explain in a different post

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9x5dh/i_am_raiden_from_the_mortal_kombat_video_games/

Popularity: 2% [?]

I love quotes. They have move people. They can affect change in people. They can inspire. Every so often I feel beaten and defeated and sometimes find comfort in some of these peoples’ words.

If you follow my tweets or my Facebook updates, these shouldn’t be new.

“If you want to win, you have to pay the price – it’s not that complicated.” -Michael Jordan

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan

“Outhustle everyone that you know that’s doing the same thing you are.” – Ramon DeLeon http://bit.ly/r5qE

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”-Thomas Edison http://bit.ly/J7olv

“The way to succeed is to double your error rate.” – Thomas J. Watson

“Don’t worry, be crappy. Revolutionary means you ship and then test… Lots of things made the first Mac in 1984 a piece of crap – but it was a revolutionary piece of crap.” – Guy Kawasaki

“We don’t ask consumers what they want. They don’t know. Instead we apply our brain power to what they need, and will want, and make sure we’re there, ready” – Akio Morita CEO of Sony on the Walkman and other innovations.

“As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think big.” – Donald Trump

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates

“The successful person makes a habit of doing what the failing person doesn’t like to do.” – Thomas Edison

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.” – Benjamin Franklin

“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

“You must taste the bitter before you taste the sweet” – old wushu saying

“The wise man sees in the misfortune of others what he should avoid.” – Marcus Aurelius 121-80 AD, Roman Emperor, Philosopher

“The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” – Michaelangelo

“There is nothing impossible to him who will try.” – Alexander the Great

Popularity: 6% [?]

I’ve been on a Kindle kick lately. It’s uber-convenient and I get to save money and be a bit green. I’m on my fourth book already and I thought I better jot down my thoughts and notes before I forget. This particular book is in the vein of more recent business where the title is usually a word followed by an explanatory phrase. The books are almost always paperback all in white with a simple graphic and text in black. Here are some of the passages I liked.

Trade-Off: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don’t

by Kevin Maney and Jim Collins

Adding a social dimension can change the prospect of a product or service. That’s why teens will buy a cell-phone ring tone for three dollars but balk at paying ninety-nine cents for a full song on iTunes.

The ability to say “I went to Harvard” is, for many, probably worth more than the actual experience of going to Harvard. This is part of the reason why attending Harvard is a higher fidelity education experience than attending say Penn State: the identity aspect of Harvard is worth more.

Cost is a key part of convenience for the simple reason that if something costs less, it is easier for most people to buy – which means the product or service is easier to obtain.

Never evaluate a product or service based on the enthusiasm of early adopters.

Popularity: unranked [?]