Saturday, August 23, 2008

About Me

A friend of mine just pointed out that my blog doesn't have an "About Me" page like most other blogs do.

So I'm going to do an "About Me" entry now so anyone new to my blog could learn a bit more about me.

Okay so here goes.

My name is Timothy Tiah and I am 24 this year (2008).Although I now spend most of my time in KL, I grew up in Penang getting my secondary school education in a boy school there called St. Xavier's Institution. I lived a very typical student life back then, spending most of my free time in cybercafes playing games like Half-Life, Counter-strike and Starcraft.

Whatever time I had left was spent playing table tennis, a sport that I used to be really good in representing my school, and eventually even representing my university when I studied in London.I used to be pretty fit...

but now I am fat.

I'm not sure why but it must've been all the excessive ice-cream.
After I finished college, I pursued a BSc in Economics at University College London, apparently the 25th Top University in the World according to a NewsWeek survey. Up till today I still wonder why they accepted me as a student.

The plan was that I was going to be an investment banker after I graduated with an Economics degree. Why? No reason in particular... I just didn't have a better idea and everyone tells me that investment bankers make a lot of money.

So during my summer holidays I did internships at both JP Morgan and Deutsche Bank, hoping that I would learn a thing or two about investment banking there.

In my final year of university however, I started a joke blog with a friend of mine which marked the beginning of my blogging career.

I got to know a lot of bloggers and began to feel a sense of passion for the blogging community.

It was then where I saw an opportunity for bloggers to get together in one big network and collectively sell their ad space to advertisers and so right after I graduated from university in June 2006, I turned down a job offer from an investment bank and took the biggest gamble of my life.

With with my partner Ming, we started Nuffnang.After spending months preparing the business plan, doing feasibility studies and building the website, Nuffnang officially launched on 27th of February 2007.About one and a half years later, the small team we had grew from a small office in Penang to having offices now in Penang, KL and Singapore. Our Community has also grown and as of August 2008, the Nuffnang Community had over 50,000 bloggers from Malaysia and Singapore alone.Our clients have also grown from the smaller companies that supported us when we were small today to big multinational brands like Nike, Nokia, MAS, HUGO and the likes.

Nuffnang today is pretty well-known as one of the fastest growing dotcoms in the region and we've had the fortunate blessings of being in an out of the media quite a bit. We've been covered in most major newspapers in Malaysia and Singapore, been on National TV 3 times and in 2007 both Ming and I were nominated by BusinessWeek Magazine as one of the Top 25 Young Entrepreneurs in Asia.


Young is what Nuffnang is... not just by the number of years we have been around but even by the age of the team at Nuffnang and I take pride that such young people are doing such remarkable things.

Of all of us at Nuffnang today, the oldest is 32 years of age and the average age is 24.


Today I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world and it's not only because I love what I do and the poeple I work with.

It's because I've had the good fortune of meeting the right people that believed in Nuffnang from day one who brought us to where we are today, be it the bloggers that always supported us to the clients that taught us all about the advertising industry and all we needed to know about how to run a company.

Where Nuffnang is today is something that I can't and won't take for granted.

I have learned that for any entrepreneur, life is full of its ups and downs even for some of the most successful billionaires in the world that I have read about like Richard Branson or Steve Jobs.

This blog will document my very own ups and downs.

Share with me my joys when I am up... and my tears when I am down.

Thank you for being with me on this journey.

48 comments:

Peter said...

True to your standard be doing and daring,

as faithul-xaverian in Heaven your trust

Zzzyun said...

oh u are from penang too! i didnt know tat haha..

Boss Stewie said...

wenzi: hahahaha!!! you're sxi too?

zzzyun: yeah i am!!

clement said...

although both of you have the prefix Boss in front, who is the real boss exactly?

the little fat blob said...

timothy, i am very impressed that you've worked at two top-tiered ibanks and still decided to take the road less traveled!

my bro has been an ibanker for 7 yeras and i, like you, did not know what to do so for a while i contemplated (and attempted) to secure an ibank internship. i gave up in the end cuz it wasn't the right fit (they dont want me boohoo) plus i knew i could never do 100hour work weeks =S

Jason Lioh said...

Eh, write your about me with more interesting facts can ah?

Like how you whacked 4 ducks in one meal? Those kind of things?

KY said...

oOO nipple shot nipple shot!!!!

Genova said...

yes boss.... 1.25 ducks per person. u didnt write that. haha

Boss Stewie said...

clement; hahaha no lar.. "boss" is because we all just simply call each other that during uni days

baby: hahaha yes i am 24

elise: hahaha well I guess... I have no regrets so far :P

jason: hahahaa... those were good times.. haha

ky: oi!! look somewhere else !!!

genova: hahaha lol.. aww u've been around for the longest time huh dude

Anonymous said...

aww...and im sure there's more good things to come! keep it up!

Justin Koh said...

Hey Timothy,

That second picture, the guy on the right most, his surname is Lee right? Very good volleyball player. I think he studies at UCL too.

Unknown said...

wah...so sexay picture...finally admitting ur fat eh and not big bone? hahaha!!!

anyway, stay grounded and u will go far...all d best!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kay said...

go go stewie!!

Eri Peng said...

keep it up the good work, tim.

hugs!

Jeffro said...

Ah yesh.. I likey the "about me" post.. ^_^

It's even better knowing that now..

and Wow, I wish I had a opportunity like you did.. Venturing in something you like.. Oh well, all in due+good time..

Hope I'll have the chance to work along/together with you guys in the future.. ^_^

and oh ya, I SUPPORT Nuffnang all da way.. =) Keep up the good work!

Boss Stewie said...

cbb: hahaha thank u for the vote man

justin: his name is hong uei but yeah i think his surname is lee

vincent: hahaha! hmph! fine fine i am fat

kay: :P thank u

eri: *hugz* back!

jeffro: sure sure.. all in good time my friend! all in good time!

yuhhui said...

Pretty inspirational post. =) You're young and managed to succeed in this business ! You're a great example for the younger generation to follow!

Cristel said...

hey i am truly impress eh.

unfortunately, i am still stuck in deutsche bank. haha

Unknown said...

May you have more ups than downs.
Up up and away..........

FC said...

Hey again :) wahh.. So you worked for Deutsche Bank too :) Well, even if you didn't continue working for them I believed you share the same value with DB even for now, that is, "A Passion to Perform." I believe you have created Nuffnang with a dream and passion. That's all it takes, and you stand to be an inspiration for all of us. I am so glad Nuffnang will launch in Phil soon.:$ I knew Nuffnang before it arrived here from my Malaysian friends in shoutoutlounge.com (before it's penangpenang.com) :$ I always wondered what's that blue thingy on all of their blogs :P tried to sign up but only for Mysia and Sing.. All the best! Cheers!;)

Suet Li said...

i want to know timothy tiah minus nuffnang. who really is timothy? coming to your cinema soon wtf. EH like this.

this summer.
one man.
one destiny.
creating history like never before.
who really is timothy tiah?
did he really finish a whole tub of green tea ice cream?
check it out. coming to the cinema near you wtf

Boss Stewie said...

yuhhui: haha thanks but I really wouldn't consider Nuffnang a success yet... a long way to go before that

cris: well you're probably making more money than me!! Haha

elsie: thank u :P i hope so too

hannah: hahahaha thanks Hannah... hope to do great things everywhere we go

suet li: hahaha where did u get that from !

Justin Koh said...

yeah...that's lee hong wei....was my classmate in form 1....

saw him at the annual malaysian students sports day thing in nottingham in 2003, which i think where your picture was taken...hehe...

but i cant remember if i said hi to him on that day or not...old already...hehe

bryanlyt said...

awwww wat a life journey... xD

kellster said...

hahaha that 'fit' pics of u always get me laughing with laughter

i still remember that msn convo we had.

lol.

-kellster

- m i c h e l l e - said...

I think you look much better now than you did when you were "fit" lor. Haha! And I love this About Me post. It's so inspirational. Giving up your job to venture into something that you liked. I want to do that too in the future.

And I'll always support you and Nuffnang! Yay! =)

Unknown said...

how come half of your about me is of nuffnang? how bout other parts of your life?

anomaly said...

you definitely made the right choice. i ended up in the ibanking path with one of the bulge bracket ibanks and the rest was history. 100 hours a week and loss of social life...my record so far, working 52 hours straight

Zoe Yve said...

It's amazing how humble and meek you still remain to be.

Hope you won't change even when you become a millionaire!

:D

ahlost said...

So young (for guys lar) and you're so successful *envy*

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your present achievement! Hopefully more to come then!

immi said...

omg, i never thought i'd c a pic of u topless. haha. :P

reenz said...

heys u went to FGA for a while rite?

reenz said...

and you know sam wang..?? =D

aLviN said...

hi boss stewie! now only i know you are the co-founder for Nuffnang!!! really cool! anyway, you also XAverian?? high five! wow.. u play table tennis too?? represented school?? omg... i'm also 1 of the school team member in SXI! never see u before.. :P
anyway, keep in touch ya...

*if got the chance maybe we can challenge in table tennis ^^

aLviN said...

hi boss stewie! now only i know you are the co-founder for Nuffnang!!! really cool! anyway, you also XAverian?? high five! wow.. u play table tennis too?? represented school?? omg... i'm also 1 of the school team member in SXI! never see u before.. :P
anyway, keep in touch ya...

*if got the chance maybe we can challenge in table tennis ^^

I AM A BLOGGER said...

ooo,u look very different , totally evolving from a bright youngster, to a very fit sportsman, to a promising banker, finally to an amazing entrepreneur. Hahaha, now, you really got the big boss look already!Good for u, but, remember to keep fit.

Yours sincerely,
Xjion89(^^)

Mel Zhang said...

hi timothy,

i don't know that you r that young!
i tot u older.. maybe near 30 or what :p

Anonymous said...

Respect you alot boss, because of your bravery, and ventured to this business and i now can earn money too xD

Mt. said...

Read Nicole at The Star and led me here indirectly, its nice to know u ... wonder if I can blog like u one day :D

Charles said...

Google reader brought me some recommendation. And I found you, the co-founder of Nuffnang. I have not really heard about Nuffnang except through the agencies telling me about it.

Nice to see you online. :)

sxy_shandy said...

Hi Timothy!

I'd love to interview you for PinoyWebStartup. You're an inspiration. We can do it via email or Skype.

Let me know if this could be arranged.

Thanks!

Sheng Wang said...

Congratulation & Keep up the good work.

Drunk On Books And Adventure said...

nice blog you have there, timothy! and a very impressive achievement.

not too surprised, though. all the fine brains come from penang...
haha, yup, i'm from penang, too, and studied in LSA at Waterloo.

nice "meeting" you in your blog! :)

Mt. said...

ya lah u penang folks rule the world lah, cheh ....

Andrew said...

Hi Timothy. Since you are the Nuffnang's Co-Founder, I am pretty sure that you'd like to know how some of your Nuffnagers think about Nuffnang.

http://www.tekkaus.com/2009/09/last-glittering-day-in-innit.html

Melz said...

nice story ! love ur words bro :)

salute hihi