Kelvin Ong
@kelvinong.bsky.social
Non-techie doing Ops in tech 🙋🏽
Fully remote, hanging in 🇵🇹🇪🇸🇸🇬🇳🇱
❤️ Surfing, urbanism, Bali esthetic, futurism, culture, tech (🐍🤖)
❌Paralysis analysis, armchair criticism (often guilty!)
Fully remote, hanging in 🇵🇹🇪🇸🇸🇬🇳🇱
❤️ Surfing, urbanism, Bali esthetic, futurism, culture, tech (🐍🤖)
❌Paralysis analysis, armchair criticism (often guilty!)
Pinned
Kelvin Ong
@kelvinong.bsky.social
· Nov 17
Supppp new followers, Kelvin here 👋🏽
Doing Ops at a small YC startup (Chief of Staff, it's a bit of everything)
Love tech and follow and think about its impact on the world
Wantrepreneur, starting to indie-hack
📍in Singapore, normally between Spain and Portugal
Say hi!
#promosky
Doing Ops at a small YC startup (Chief of Staff, it's a bit of everything)
Love tech and follow and think about its impact on the world
Wantrepreneur, starting to indie-hack
📍in Singapore, normally between Spain and Portugal
Say hi!
#promosky
SaaS is still alive despite AI coding because teams need to get it right first-time
They don’t have time to vibe-iterate
Seen that in several buy vs build decisions for operations
Stuff like procurement, time entry, etc, stuff that seems perfect to use AI to build something
They don’t have time to vibe-iterate
Seen that in several buy vs build decisions for operations
Stuff like procurement, time entry, etc, stuff that seems perfect to use AI to build something
November 8, 2025 at 12:33 PM
SaaS is still alive despite AI coding because teams need to get it right first-time
They don’t have time to vibe-iterate
Seen that in several buy vs build decisions for operations
Stuff like procurement, time entry, etc, stuff that seems perfect to use AI to build something
They don’t have time to vibe-iterate
Seen that in several buy vs build decisions for operations
Stuff like procurement, time entry, etc, stuff that seems perfect to use AI to build something
Founder just told me he believes in me to fix everything he needs done
I appreciate the love but would love it even more if I could build my own dreams
I appreciate the love but would love it even more if I could build my own dreams
November 1, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Founder just told me he believes in me to fix everything he needs done
I appreciate the love but would love it even more if I could build my own dreams
I appreciate the love but would love it even more if I could build my own dreams
Ppl complain about cookie banners all the time but nobody about 2FA, TOTP, passkeys etc
October 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Ppl complain about cookie banners all the time but nobody about 2FA, TOTP, passkeys etc
Changing MFA device is such a painful experience
The more Authenticator items the more pain
The more Authenticator items the more pain
October 28, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Changing MFA device is such a painful experience
The more Authenticator items the more pain
The more Authenticator items the more pain
Remotely managing an office move-in in Philadelphia 🥲
Pretty sure not many people do this
Learning so many things I honestly don’t care about
Certificates of insurance requirements, freight elevator, etc
Pretty sure not many people do this
Learning so many things I honestly don’t care about
Certificates of insurance requirements, freight elevator, etc
October 27, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Remotely managing an office move-in in Philadelphia 🥲
Pretty sure not many people do this
Learning so many things I honestly don’t care about
Certificates of insurance requirements, freight elevator, etc
Pretty sure not many people do this
Learning so many things I honestly don’t care about
Certificates of insurance requirements, freight elevator, etc
Just granted a 50% raise to a true A-player
Doing data visualization, fully remote
Nailing the stakeholder management of difficult lawyers
All while delivering the product
I don't care how many years of experience, take my money!
Doing data visualization, fully remote
Nailing the stakeholder management of difficult lawyers
All while delivering the product
I don't care how many years of experience, take my money!
October 23, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Just granted a 50% raise to a true A-player
Doing data visualization, fully remote
Nailing the stakeholder management of difficult lawyers
All while delivering the product
I don't care how many years of experience, take my money!
Doing data visualization, fully remote
Nailing the stakeholder management of difficult lawyers
All while delivering the product
I don't care how many years of experience, take my money!
YC says to do the non-scalable while maximizing learning
I'm seeing that it's too easy to stay stuck at the first part
Pushing for the second at my clientsr but it ain't easy🤞🏽
I'm seeing that it's too easy to stay stuck at the first part
Pushing for the second at my clientsr but it ain't easy🤞🏽
October 22, 2025 at 5:52 PM
YC says to do the non-scalable while maximizing learning
I'm seeing that it's too easy to stay stuck at the first part
Pushing for the second at my clientsr but it ain't easy🤞🏽
I'm seeing that it's too easy to stay stuck at the first part
Pushing for the second at my clientsr but it ain't easy🤞🏽
I spend my days getting stuff done
I get paid well but know viscerally that the value accrues elsewhere 😭
I get paid well but know viscerally that the value accrues elsewhere 😭
October 21, 2025 at 4:50 PM
I spend my days getting stuff done
I get paid well but know viscerally that the value accrues elsewhere 😭
I get paid well but know viscerally that the value accrues elsewhere 😭
Interviewing for a remote Procurement manager position
It's a whole area of work with different specializations
I feel the skills are broadly cross-applicable but man how do I reject candidates
It's a whole area of work with different specializations
I feel the skills are broadly cross-applicable but man how do I reject candidates
October 20, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Interviewing for a remote Procurement manager position
It's a whole area of work with different specializations
I feel the skills are broadly cross-applicable but man how do I reject candidates
It's a whole area of work with different specializations
I feel the skills are broadly cross-applicable but man how do I reject candidates
As an Ops lead modernizing a tech firm, we're at Day 1
Upgrading software for accounting, procurement, time entry, the basics
Barely got General Counsel to write a half-page AI policy allowing Copilot and one more niche tool 😂
Suspect many companies are still so far behind
Upgrading software for accounting, procurement, time entry, the basics
Barely got General Counsel to write a half-page AI policy allowing Copilot and one more niche tool 😂
Suspect many companies are still so far behind
October 18, 2025 at 11:23 PM
As an Ops lead modernizing a tech firm, we're at Day 1
Upgrading software for accounting, procurement, time entry, the basics
Barely got General Counsel to write a half-page AI policy allowing Copilot and one more niche tool 😂
Suspect many companies are still so far behind
Upgrading software for accounting, procurement, time entry, the basics
Barely got General Counsel to write a half-page AI policy allowing Copilot and one more niche tool 😂
Suspect many companies are still so far behind
$25 for 8h of airplane WiFi is 🔥
It's good enough fir emails and docs with some latency but this is the worst it will be
Locked in af, nowhere to go
Hammered out 3 contract reviews, 1 termination, and a million emails 💪🏽
It's good enough fir emails and docs with some latency but this is the worst it will be
Locked in af, nowhere to go
Hammered out 3 contract reviews, 1 termination, and a million emails 💪🏽
October 14, 2025 at 9:18 PM
$25 for 8h of airplane WiFi is 🔥
It's good enough fir emails and docs with some latency but this is the worst it will be
Locked in af, nowhere to go
Hammered out 3 contract reviews, 1 termination, and a million emails 💪🏽
It's good enough fir emails and docs with some latency but this is the worst it will be
Locked in af, nowhere to go
Hammered out 3 contract reviews, 1 termination, and a million emails 💪🏽
Woke up today and my first thought was to do some stakeholder management for the client
I'm too deep in 😭
I'm too deep in 😭
October 12, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Woke up today and my first thought was to do some stakeholder management for the client
I'm too deep in 😭
I'm too deep in 😭
I found an example of a million dollar opportunity in automating something boring
Laurel AI uses AI to automate timesheets
Everyone hates timesheets
They closed a $100M round 😱
Laurel AI uses AI to automate timesheets
Everyone hates timesheets
They closed a $100M round 😱
October 9, 2025 at 10:54 PM
I found an example of a million dollar opportunity in automating something boring
Laurel AI uses AI to automate timesheets
Everyone hates timesheets
They closed a $100M round 😱
Laurel AI uses AI to automate timesheets
Everyone hates timesheets
They closed a $100M round 😱
Been sending updates for years as a Chief of Staff at a YC startup
I think I've gotten a TOTAL of maybe 10 replies max
"keep up the good work" "thx, good luck" "💪🏽🚀"
Variations thereof
Not saying not to do updates but it really tests one's faith
I think I've gotten a TOTAL of maybe 10 replies max
"keep up the good work" "thx, good luck" "💪🏽🚀"
Variations thereof
Not saying not to do updates but it really tests one's faith
October 8, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Been sending updates for years as a Chief of Staff at a YC startup
I think I've gotten a TOTAL of maybe 10 replies max
"keep up the good work" "thx, good luck" "💪🏽🚀"
Variations thereof
Not saying not to do updates but it really tests one's faith
I think I've gotten a TOTAL of maybe 10 replies max
"keep up the good work" "thx, good luck" "💪🏽🚀"
Variations thereof
Not saying not to do updates but it really tests one's faith
I'm just always thinking of YC's motto of "do the non-scalable"
Lots of niggly tasks these days
Arrange the printer, the scanner broke, fix the mail
Lots of niggly tasks these days
Arrange the printer, the scanner broke, fix the mail
October 8, 2025 at 10:43 PM
I'm just always thinking of YC's motto of "do the non-scalable"
Lots of niggly tasks these days
Arrange the printer, the scanner broke, fix the mail
Lots of niggly tasks these days
Arrange the printer, the scanner broke, fix the mail
On B2B opportunities:
There's opportunity in boring businesses because nobody has time to build solutions for themselves
I lead Ops at a law firm
Am overwhelmed 99% of the time
There are better ways to do it but can't do it myself!
It requires too much experimentation and playing around
There's opportunity in boring businesses because nobody has time to build solutions for themselves
I lead Ops at a law firm
Am overwhelmed 99% of the time
There are better ways to do it but can't do it myself!
It requires too much experimentation and playing around
October 7, 2025 at 9:47 PM
On B2B opportunities:
There's opportunity in boring businesses because nobody has time to build solutions for themselves
I lead Ops at a law firm
Am overwhelmed 99% of the time
There are better ways to do it but can't do it myself!
It requires too much experimentation and playing around
There's opportunity in boring businesses because nobody has time to build solutions for themselves
I lead Ops at a law firm
Am overwhelmed 99% of the time
There are better ways to do it but can't do it myself!
It requires too much experimentation and playing around
Investors: "hire those who've done it before and get them to do it again, saves time"
Also investors: "Go Founder mode and First Principles, experience is overrated"
Also investors: "Go Founder mode and First Principles, experience is overrated"
October 6, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Investors: "hire those who've done it before and get them to do it again, saves time"
Also investors: "Go Founder mode and First Principles, experience is overrated"
Also investors: "Go Founder mode and First Principles, experience is overrated"
I took first baby steps into owning my own time
Now working with two companies
Busier than ever now but feel sidelined and fomo from actual developments in tech
Hoping that honing my craft is worth it at the moment of crossover
Now working with two companies
Busier than ever now but feel sidelined and fomo from actual developments in tech
Hoping that honing my craft is worth it at the moment of crossover
October 6, 2025 at 11:13 PM
I took first baby steps into owning my own time
Now working with two companies
Busier than ever now but feel sidelined and fomo from actual developments in tech
Hoping that honing my craft is worth it at the moment of crossover
Now working with two companies
Busier than ever now but feel sidelined and fomo from actual developments in tech
Hoping that honing my craft is worth it at the moment of crossover
I would learn about and build AI agents on my own time
But since the ultimate goal is to apply it to company ops, I wonder if I should bill my time learning about and building AI agents
But since the ultimate goal is to apply it to company ops, I wonder if I should bill my time learning about and building AI agents
October 4, 2025 at 5:17 PM
I would learn about and build AI agents on my own time
But since the ultimate goal is to apply it to company ops, I wonder if I should bill my time learning about and building AI agents
But since the ultimate goal is to apply it to company ops, I wonder if I should bill my time learning about and building AI agents
We're looking to build an internal knowledge base
With all the options in the world, we're leaning to Microsoft Sharepoint
Well and truly vendor locked in 😭😭
With all the options in the world, we're leaning to Microsoft Sharepoint
Well and truly vendor locked in 😭😭
October 3, 2025 at 10:20 PM
We're looking to build an internal knowledge base
With all the options in the world, we're leaning to Microsoft Sharepoint
Well and truly vendor locked in 😭😭
With all the options in the world, we're leaning to Microsoft Sharepoint
Well and truly vendor locked in 😭😭
Forced to launch ugly MVPs (unhappily)
And also forced folks to do so
Depending on the audience, it can take off or bomb
Early adopters or those with a huge pain will take ugly UX
The mainstream though won't
So segment and identify the pain well!
And also forced folks to do so
Depending on the audience, it can take off or bomb
Early adopters or those with a huge pain will take ugly UX
The mainstream though won't
So segment and identify the pain well!
October 3, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Forced to launch ugly MVPs (unhappily)
And also forced folks to do so
Depending on the audience, it can take off or bomb
Early adopters or those with a huge pain will take ugly UX
The mainstream though won't
So segment and identify the pain well!
And also forced folks to do so
Depending on the audience, it can take off or bomb
Early adopters or those with a huge pain will take ugly UX
The mainstream though won't
So segment and identify the pain well!
Generated some code to copy text from Word into Excel
It took me 20% of the time
The only surprising thing is that so few people know how to do this
It took me 20% of the time
The only surprising thing is that so few people know how to do this
October 1, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Generated some code to copy text from Word into Excel
It took me 20% of the time
The only surprising thing is that so few people know how to do this
It took me 20% of the time
The only surprising thing is that so few people know how to do this
Listened to a podcast on Haruki Murakami on the Founders podcast
I was surprised to see Murakami there!
He's a surrealist author so I was pleasantly surprised that he was an entrepreneur too
Big fan of his writing and great life lessons in a short and sweet episode ❤️
I was surprised to see Murakami there!
He's a surrealist author so I was pleasantly surprised that he was an entrepreneur too
Big fan of his writing and great life lessons in a short and sweet episode ❤️
September 30, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Listened to a podcast on Haruki Murakami on the Founders podcast
I was surprised to see Murakami there!
He's a surrealist author so I was pleasantly surprised that he was an entrepreneur too
Big fan of his writing and great life lessons in a short and sweet episode ❤️
I was surprised to see Murakami there!
He's a surrealist author so I was pleasantly surprised that he was an entrepreneur too
Big fan of his writing and great life lessons in a short and sweet episode ❤️
One of my clients is a law firm
They keep asking yes/no questions to the Ops teams
"Will we get XYZ by date X?" "Does nobody have access to ABC?"
I feel like it's a trick to get us to commit
But we're on the same side
Why??
They keep asking yes/no questions to the Ops teams
"Will we get XYZ by date X?" "Does nobody have access to ABC?"
I feel like it's a trick to get us to commit
But we're on the same side
Why??
September 29, 2025 at 10:16 PM
One of my clients is a law firm
They keep asking yes/no questions to the Ops teams
"Will we get XYZ by date X?" "Does nobody have access to ABC?"
I feel like it's a trick to get us to commit
But we're on the same side
Why??
They keep asking yes/no questions to the Ops teams
"Will we get XYZ by date X?" "Does nobody have access to ABC?"
I feel like it's a trick to get us to commit
But we're on the same side
Why??
I feel like Gmail's tagging system feels quite close to how we categorize things naturally
With multiple links and associations
Wonder why not more systems allow for this way of tagging and archiving things
With multiple links and associations
Wonder why not more systems allow for this way of tagging and archiving things
September 28, 2025 at 8:47 AM
I feel like Gmail's tagging system feels quite close to how we categorize things naturally
With multiple links and associations
Wonder why not more systems allow for this way of tagging and archiving things
With multiple links and associations
Wonder why not more systems allow for this way of tagging and archiving things