LLC

Limited Liability Company

Last I checked, Yellow people are not well represented at the top.

In the industry I work in, Asians are well represented in the technical fields but not at upper management levels. I feel the reason is largely cultural where Asians don't tend to dominate in managing workloads, preferring to work behind the scenes and therefore don't garner the level of note or respect that their western counterparts might.

I've discovered that I'm something of a loudmouthed Asian and when I speak English to a room of people that are supposedly my superiors, I do it with a deliberate southern twang. I ask hard questions. I ask nearly rude questions. I point out shortcomings. I lose my temper (albeit in a controlled manner) in mixed professional company. I don't think I'm a very "typical" Asian.

That being said, I'm starting my own company.

This isn't about Asians' rights or to make some social experiment but rather a statement to myself that if I want to do what I want to professionally I'll probably have to do it myself.

How do I know that I can follow through?

Let's enumerate the reasons:

1. I've been up until 1 or 2 in the A.M. most work nights in the past few weeks researching my field and what the customers say they want. Also looking around to see what is available and anticipating what the customer will want next.

2. I've been checking out the competition.

3. It consumes a lot (if not most) of my waking thought.

4. I've been in the industry for 3+ years and have picked up on how things work for the most part.

5. I've seen what works at the top and what kind of attitude gets results (thank you Harvard Grads that think they can do no wrong and that there is no such thing as failure, but rather an explanation of how things happened (i.e. failure is an opinion). . . apparently that is the secret to success . . . I'll be careful to not let this govern my non-business interactions)

6. Asking people for money doesn't scare me or make me feel as though I should be ashamed

7. I'm not afraid to fail at starting or having a company (especially now that I know LLC means I'm only on the hook for the monetary amount I contribute to the company).

So I'm thinking of a company name, logo, the process for becoming an LLC and how patents are filed, etc., etc., etc., etc.

Do it while you're young. Do it while you can absorb the impact of these decisions (i.e. can bounce back from a failure while not risking the security of those you will love in the future).