journal features

advice from pros

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-eight years and a million words

Tokyo, 2010.02.17

Our new website is getting a lot of great feedback. Today I had a chat with a pro in the business that really helped.

We've gotten where we are with the advice of many people with a lot more knowledge than we've got (admittedly, we have next to none). But wherever we've gone we've found people to be very supportive and to offer excellent advice that at times like today's that can in a moment clear up a big area where we simply didn't know where to start.

Launching a business in a country that's still new to you is mind-bendingly difficult at time, and I very much appreciate the support we've received.

rand()m quote

One day you will take a fork in the road, and you're going to have to make a decision about which direction you want to go. If you go one way, you can be somebody. You will have to make compromises and you will have to turn your back on your friends. But you will be a member of the club and you will get promoted and get good assignments. Or you can go the other way and you can do something [...] for yourself. If you decide to do something, you may not get promoted and get good assignments and you certainly will not be a favorite of your superiors. But you won't have to compromise yourself. To be somebody or to do something. In life there is often a roll call. That's when you have to make a decision. To be or to do.

—John Boyd, US Air Force