The matters of the heart are often complex, and based on a person’s mood one might swing from a place of affection all the way to a place of distaste. Combine this with work, careers, societal standards, and parental demands, and you’d end up with a very complex blueprint for relationships.
Needless to say, this greatly affects the way people conduct themselves in relationships and the way they deal with their significant others.
Given that entrepreneurs have to constantly hop around to meet the demands of their budding startups and their personal relationships, we decided to ask them for some relevant love advice and about they would react to certain issues in their relationship.
We asked them the following questions:
- How will you make it up to your partner when you find yourself getting too caught up with running your startup?
- What would you do if you realise that your partner doesn’t share anything in common with you?
- How would you spice up things with your partner?
And here’s what they had to say.
1. Dato’ Chevy Beh, Founder of BookDoc
BookDoc is an online healthcare platform that connects patients & healthcare providers.
If you find yourself getting too caught up with work, he suggested that you address your significant other with this catchy phrase, “No money, no honey”. He also added, “Especially since I’m working to help improve access to healthcare, she would need to share my karma in building it up.”
To the second question he quipped, “You found a wrong partner! Partners are not supposed to have nothing in common but they should have good chemistry between them.”
As a way to spice up a stagnant relationship, he recommended, “Go travel jointly to new places so you’re both equally new to the place. There’s no unfair advantage and you can depend on each other for survival.”
2. Jeannette Goon, Co-founder of VapeClubMy
VapeClubMy is vape juice subscription service that serves as an avenue for vapers around the world to try new juices from brewers in Malaysia.
She said that she’d probably prepare a home-cooked meal to make up with her partner if she finds herself getting too caught up with work. And she also recommended that couples try something new together if they’d like to spice up their relationship.
Speaking on how she’d deal with a partner that doesn’t share anything in common with her, she said, “That’s tough! But if we have nothing in common and we’re still together, the chemistry (read: sex) is probably pretty great.”
3. Nash Maran, Co-founder of BeMalas
Be Malas is an on-demand personal concierge service that fulfills any legal requests a customer makes.
He suggested to better manage work and your relationship, “Allocate some of you time for the significant other, it can be half an hour or an hour which you can spare from your daily routine.”
“It’s best to look for new commonalities, there’s an infinite amount of things to be agreed upon or to share interest in out there,” he added. “Spicing things up should be prevalent throughout, so for me it’s always to keep things simple and thoughtful rather than being elaborate and wasteful.”
4. Yang Jerng, Founder of Sudo Brew
Sudo Brew is a speciality coffee shop that’s located at Damansara Jaya where you can chill and work.
He said, “I prefer partners that treat their work as their top priority. So this wouldn’t be a problem with an ideal partner but I don’t always demand ideal partners.” He also kept his advice short to anyone that’s with someone that doesn’t share anything common with them—“Fire the partner!”
When it boils down to spicing things up he said, “It depends on the partner. If they like being read poetry, read poetry. If they like having tits licked, lick tits. Eh?”
5. Warren Chan, CEO of Parkeasy
ParkEasy is a startup company that’s looking to disrupt the traditional method of parking by enabling consumers to reserve spots in car parks right through their mobile app.
If he found himself getting too occupied with work he said, “First, I’d apologise. Next, I would sit down and set expectations between us. When we know what each party wants and is able to provide, we can set realistic and achievable expectations so that neither party will be let down in future. For example, maybe it is learnt that I can only see my partner twice a week. But she is OK as long as we make those 2 events real quality dates. Then I know what I need to do so no one is disappointed moving forward.”
He added, “When I ask people to state what they expect in their partner, they usually have a list of items, e.g. likes political discussions, gadget freak, great humour, etc. The reason why I disagree with these lists is because it implies that these items are the precursor to love when obviously it isn’t. Just because you find someone who shares all your interests, does not mean they are the right person for you. Do you have a cat or dog and do you love it? If the answer is yes, don’t tell me it’s because your cat/dog likes political discussions, is a gadget freak, etc.”
And he also suggested that Google is great place to search for ideas to spice things up with your partner.
6. Eric Cheng, CEO of Carsome.my
Carsome.my is an online platform that allows users to purchase their cars online.
If you see that work consumes most of your time, he suggested that you should organise a quick getaway and surprise your partner, or you could always involve them in what you do. And if you’re looking for inspiration to spice things up with your partner, he recommended a book of ideas called 1001 Ways to be Romantic.
However, if you really don’t have anything in common with your partner, he said, “There’s not much you can do here really. Buy her flowers weekly maybe?” He recommended BloomThis as a good avenue to do so.
7. M. Kanashan, CEO of NeonRunner
Kanashan co-founded NeonRunner, an on-demand service that caters to businesses and consumers.
“Flowers usually help,” he said in regards to how he makes up to his wife. “On the serious side, you got to understand your partner’s love language. It helps you find the little things that you can do to make sure they know you care. Some people like gifts. Some just need to hear sweet words. Others need a grand gesture every so often. Understanding your partner’s needs is key.”
“Not having anything in common? If that’s the attraction then power to you. If it’s a problem then cut the cord quick. Liken it to startups. Learn to fail fast. That’s why we date right,” he also added.
In regards to spicing things up, he believes, “Sharing a new experience together usually works. Exploring a new place. Trying something together for the first time. Maybe break a few rules/laws together.”
8. Jan Wong, Founder of OpenMinds Resources
OpenMinds Resources is a team of social media strategists that work with businesses to create an optimised social media strategy for them.
He said, “This happens a lot and I make up by setting aside other time to spend together. Over the years, I’ve also set aside specific times in the week to do so, be it a simple meal together—that’s important!”
“You may not share the same passion but I’m sure there’s something you both enjoy. If you haven’t discovered that yet, you need to,” he added. “Explore each other’s passion from time to time. I’ve done the business canvas (Really!), baked, taking photos, brainstorming for the next big thing… and the list goes on. Not only it helps bridge better understanding, you’ll also be discovering something new (and new ideas for your startup) too!”
9. Syakirin, Co-founder of Thrift-On-Wheels
Thrift-On-Wheels is a social enterprise that connects consumers of fashion with those that want are looking to get rid of their clothes.
“I’ll block off time on my schedule so me and my partner could do something new together or maybe just be lazy together as long it’s quality time spent,” she said. “I’ll surprise him with something completely unexpected but I’d know he’d appreciate.”
She also mentioned that she’d do her best to resolve her differences with her partner and if need be, find common ground.
10. Kenneth Ho, Founder of Gaption
Gaption is a social network that incentivises its users to create content by sharing its revenue with them.
He said, “Bring her to watch Deadpool (Kidding!). Take a break and spend some quality time going some place nice for a couple of days (maybe over the weekend).” He also mentioned that travelling to a new place is always a great way to spice things with your partner.
He believes that there’s always something in common you could’ve with your partner even if it’s the small things. “We may not be pursuing the same careers/goals, but there’s always something we can find in common with each other if we take the time to identify them,” he added.
11. Jonathan Anthony Koshy, Co-founder of Venuescape
Venuescape is a Malaysian-based startup company backed by a team who specialises in event management, and they help people to seek the right venue for their event.
“That’s brilliant. It’s instances like these that allow me to learn about what she likes and vice versa. And of course, compromise to spend equal amount of time doing what each other likes together,” he said in regards to what he’d do if he realised that his partner doesn’t have anything in common with him. And if he begins to ignore the relationship because of work he said that he’d apologise and make it up to her by taking her out.
As for spicing things up with his partner he said, “Well, we have our ‘special treats’ that can’t be explained, let’s leave it at that.”