๐๐ป STIMIES,
I spent this week editing the next STIMY episode (coming out this Sunday!) with the founder of Rotten Tomatoes - and it got me thinking about the whole pursuit of turning your passion into a career.
Rotten Tomatoes has 3 co-founders.
But it really started with one guy - Senh Duong.
He fled Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon (battling pirates), lived in a refugee camp in Hong Kong before eventually arriving in the US.
It was never his 'dream' to launch a movie review website.
He just wanted to be a PIXAR animator!
But life has this funny way of equipping you with all the skills you eventually need. And for Senh, it went like this:
- While at Berkeley, his roommate was a CS major & his friends did computer science. They introduced him to the world of Photoshop, HTML & web design
- When he joined the Wushu club, he met his future co-founders Patrick Lee & Stephen who asked him to launch a web design company together (the rationale: why do friends never get to work together after they graduate? We should just do something together so we never split!)
- Senh loved Jackie Chan who was trying to break into Hollywood again with Rush Hour. He noticed that movie reviews were biased - they were always positive even when the movie was rubbish. So he thought - why don't I collect ALL the movie reviews, good and bad, and put them on one website?
You can see the threads coming together:
- He was learning the right skills (web design, graphic)
- He was making the right connections (his co-founders were brilliant at networking & raising funds, and also helped to host what became the Rotten Tomatoes website)
- He saw a gap in the market - it might better to say that he just followed his passion, saw that no one was doing what he wanted to have done, and just did it.
Was it clear that Rotten Tomatoes could be a business?
Certainly not.
Design Reactor (the startup that he was working at with his co-founders) was thriving. They had landed major clients like Disney Channel, Warner Brothers, ABC & MTV.
But he loved martial arts, movies and Jackie Chan.
So he started a side project that became... so much more.
And I think at the end of the day, that is the beauty of so many things that now exist somewhere in this world.
Some people are strategic with what they build - they've done their market research, set their objectives (make money) and focused on execution.
While others just follow their passion out of curiosity. Full stop. And sometimes, it consumes your whole life.
The same thing happened with STIMY - I launched the So This Is My Why podcast to solve a very personal need:
- I wanted to leave law, but had no idea what else I wanted to do
- I needed to learn new skills & build a portfolio
- I had to extend my network beyond the legal sphere
- I wanted to go outside my comfort zone
For many, many years, I couldn't see where STIMY was headed.
I struggled. Questioned myself all the time.
But around the 3 year mark, a breakthrough happened - a LinkedIn post went viral. Then another, and another and it was like a lightbulb went off.
Here was a gap in the market, people willing to pay, a demand for my skills & something that I actually enjoyed.
So I took the leap and here I am.
Writing this newsletter to you at 12.35am because I am an unrepentant night owl who is thankfully in control of her own schedule (most times). ๐
TL;DR
Don't ask whether you should 'follow your passion'.
Instead, focus on pursuing your curiosity.
Even if it never goes beyond being a fulfilling side project for yourself. ๐
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P/S: The next STIMY Hangout is happening on 9 August 2025 in KL! If you'd like more details, hit REPLY. I'll send you the signup sheet.
P/S: If you want to be part of the STIMY Community Directory (you can find out about what other STIMY members are doing / connect with each other), submit this form.
I'll add you to the Directory & give you access too!
STIMY Ep 152.2: Ken Perenyi's Double Life: Master Art Forger, FBI/Mafia Evasion & A Rescue Mission
Ken might be one of the world's most successful art forgers.
He made millions off the back off forging art sold by the likes of Sotheyby's & Christie's, with the FBI and the Mafia chasing after for decades.
In Part 2, we dive deep into HOW he managed to elude both the FBI & Mafia, his close relationship with notorious lawyer/fixer Roy Cohen (famously known for helping Donald Trump break into the New York market), and how a CNN 60 minute documentary by Christiane Amanpour led to the adoption of his daughter.
Definitely NOT a story you want to miss out!
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