About Us

  My name is David “T”. I created this site as a platform to finally start a blog, share my thoughts on marketing for entrepeneurs and small businesses and learn more about how to apply existing web-related technologies. First and foremost, I believe most startups and small businesses fail because of the following reasons:

1. Don’t know customers’ “Pain Points”
2. Don’t do enough “Market Validation”
3. Don’t have a “Strategy”
4. Lack “Focus”

  First, many entrepreneurs don’t really know what problems their potential customers are trying to solve, and, thus, don’t know what they are willing to pay for. One has to realize that customers buy products/services to solve a “pain point” or “get a job done”. Second, before starting a business, too many business owners are in love with their business ideas and don’t do enough market validation. Why not interview at least 100 potential customers first and validate your customers’ “pain points” before starting your business? Third, most small business owners don’t have a clear plan and approach to starting their business. Yes, things change, but too many times, entrepreneurs take the “Ready, Fire, Aim” approach instead of the “Ready, Aim, Fire” approach. Finally, too many businesses try to be all things to all people (i.e. not focus). Small businesses have limited resources and need to clearly focus on a well thought out strategy. I have made ALL these mistakes myself starting my own businesses and I hope that I can help increase the odds for other entrepreneurs trying to start one or who have already started their business.

  For a little background, I was born in Oakland, CA. When I was six years old, my family moved back to Bangkok, Thailand where my parents helped with the family business. So, I grew up in an entrepreneurial environment, which helps explain why I’m so passionate about small businesses. Six years later, I returned to the US, attended high school in St. Louis, MO, and did my undergrad in Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I then moved to Austin, TX, where I worked as a Software Engineer at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in their Software Research & Development department for five years and as an Application Engineer in their Global Services department for almost two years.

  After many years of developing software, leading software projects, training engineers, managing large customer accounts, I thought I was ready to start my own business. I was ambitious, always had that dream and thought that it was time to give it a try. My grandfather, who barely finished 4th grade, built a successful pharmacy business in Thailand. Surely, I should have just a good of a chance or better chance to start my own business, right? Not really, as it turned out.

  I founded a software company that developed and installed a complete POS solution for small to medium-sized restaurants. Yes, that market in early 2000 was already dominated by several players, but I “thought” I did enough market research, already had some paying customers, and had the right team to grow the company. Unfortunately and fortunately, I quickly learned that we didn’t generate enough leads, didn’t really have a differentiated product, and didn’t have a well thought out marketing strategy/plan. At one time, we even hired some small business consultants to help with our planning as I realized our deficiencies in several areas. But, by that time, we had lost a lot of momentum and some people. Also, knowing my deficiencies, I thought I could gain some of the knowledge and skills by pursuing an MBA degree. Maybe I should’ve done the part-time program or just focused on my business only, but I decided to do the full-time MBA program at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. That was either one of the best or worst decisions I ever made. Thinking about it, it was probably one my better ones because I took more time to validate the market, evaluate my overall plan and strategy, and get to know more people in the Austin community. It was sad that we had to close our doors, but it was the right decision. The lessons I learned then and the experiences I’m gaining now will definitely prepare me for my next venture.

  After graduating from business school, I worked as an IT consultant for Oracle Corp. for one year. I then decided to switch gears and focus on my passion for small businesses. I now work for a small software company and report directly to the President, helping him manage his Sales & Marketing department for one of his two divisions. My job responsibility ranges from proposing a marketing strategy/plan to executing many of the tasks in that plan, which is typical for many small businesses out there.

  As a final note, although I am a Duct Tape Marketing Coach, I currently do not consult or coach any small businesses outside of my full-time job. I have given several seminars on Marketing, but no longer have the time to do so anymore. I am currently focused on honing my skills and applying all the things I’ve learned from my own startup and other business experiences to my current opportunity. The remaining time I have, I am totally focused on my family and spending as much time as I can with them. But, through this site, I will post and share as much of my current and past experiences as possible and hope to connect with a few entrepreneurs along the way.