Osmond Wu

Dear shareholders,

In our lives, we’ll experience a handful of moments and decisions that dramatically alter our trajectory. Inflection points that dictate the years to come — 2025 was one of them.

Last year, my European expedition unlocked a weightless curiosity. Those mere six months had an absurdly outsized impact on my identity and worldview. The word Copenhagen somehow crept itself into every other sentence I said… oops sorry

But behind the explorations, I’ve always yearned to focus, build, and do exceptional things. While I’ve said, and believed, I could, I’ve never actually done it. I’ve never proven to myself, through action, the things I’ve advertised as my ambitions.

Cue 2025:

Another year marked by a hefty 77,216 km of travel, just about equalling the year prior. But this time, not to Tromsø, Marrakesh, or Milos — rather, 23 of the 33 flights were all between good old LAX and SFO. 48 weeks of back and fourth between LA and SF, living a dual life — on an air mattress (i love you calix).

These trips were dedicated to a mission. An entity so captivatingly omnipresent that it took the limelight from our dinner and podcast conversations, cocktails at the Edition, and even my very own college graduation.

Cybernetic Labs Inc.

Rocketship startup. Exceptional team. Founding member. World-class investors. My freshman self dreamed, and life answered right as I started the last semester of my senior year. I dreamed of exceptionalism; now I had the chance to be a part of it.

Quickly I realized the cost and sacrifices of pursuing such dream. Not everything is rosy and perfect. For the first time in my professional life, I had to scale a seemingly endless mountain. I pushed myself to places I never knew were possible. Worked the hardest I’ve ever worked.

To be frank, I almost ran out of gas. Pushed to the brim. But right then, I graduated. The double life I was living was over. We launched publicly. Shoulders felt lighter. I finally caught a glimpse of satisfaction, if only for a brief interlude.

But as I settled into this new life, I was met with confusion. I sprinted so hard—for what? I wasn’t even able to register the end of my last chapter; now I was already knee-deep in my next. My existential confusion eroded my mental fortitude, and I surrendered my ability to respond. I let the speed, intensity, and volatility (all normal to a startup) get to me. I grew frustrated as I began to see life as something I couldn’t control. Out of sync with my mind, exhausted, but still having to keep pushing.

Very honestly, I had many moments where I thought this life wasn’t for me. To cope with the pain, I started fabricating a mirage: a “calling” that deviated from my current path. An escape hatch I could take without guilt. But deep down, I knew it was born from exhaustion, confusion, and fear — not rational ambition.

To the credit of my mum, who was the only person telling me to keep pushing, I did.

As we continued to grind, the company grew — and I grew with it.

I can vividly remember the day a conversation with Nolan made me realize I needed to take control of life again: to stop letting life dictate my reactions, and instead exercise the free will to choose them. I get to choose how to live, and shape how I perceive reality. As long as I do my best — controlling everything I can — that is all I can do, and it’s what I choose to do.

There isn’t much speak about reflections on graduating college so far... but I honestly just don’t have much more to say. I’ve lived a supremely full college life. Made life long friends. Tried just about everything. Made terrible mistakes. And grew exponentially as a young adult. College was a gift, a chapter, that was fully lived. No regrets. I look back and smile at the memories, but that’s all. The urge to relive it is not there.

Realisations:

Moments

In rivers, the water that you touch is the last of what has passed and the first of that which comes. - Da Vinci

We cant grasp the past or the future. Life literally changes in a blink of an eye, atoms and molecules are rearranged. Focus on the presence, trust in the process. Listen to the gut. Feel life rather than its logic, granted we’ve put yourself in a true, stable, and sound state.

Power of the subconscious

Our conscious mind is only able to process 40-50 bits/sec. Our subconscious: 11 million bits/sec. Our conscious focus programs our unconscious perception. It steers how we see the world. This means 1) we have to be incredibly careful of what we take in — even though we forget consciously, what we consume subconsciously dictates us. 2) our conscious mindset dictates our reality — we choose to see positive, we see the positive.

A new friend made me realize how much the word “hate” is unintentionally used. If we don’t mean it, we shouldn’t say it. Let’s try: strongly dislike…

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. - Carl Jung

Exceptionalism: wring the towel

Truly giving 100% within our control, even if it means the most absurd solutions, so we don’t regret on what could’ve been. Do every single thing in a world-class way: making my bed or building out a new product. Pay attention to the most minute details. Exercise true empathy by seeing a solution, conversation, or problem from the POV of the audience — forecast the feeling of your decision imposed onto them. Important decisions should be rooted in first principles.

Setting up the Customs for our mind

A lot of crazy shit happens in the world. We must train our mind to selectively allow information into our minds like customs and border control managing the safety of its country. To do this, we must understand our values. What determines something as deserving to be entering the mind? What does not?

The dream life

When we reach the dream that our younger selves set, we mustn’t complain, dread, despise — because we chose to walk this path. The best thing we can do is give 100% and then we earn the right to make a decision on continuing this path or not.

Treat life as projects or chapters

Every stage of life is a chapter or a project. We must intensely and vividly paint our chapter such that when we inevitably move on, we don’t look back. Or else one ends up as the creepy middle aged guy at a club trying to relive his “glory days”…

Gratefulness:

I am incredibly grateful for the relationships I’ve formed, especially with my team and (really) family, at Netic. I’m eternally grateful for the relationships that I’ve strengthened; the intelligence and depth of my friends; the degeneracy; and the generosity to let me stay at their homes; drive me to airports; be a pillar to lean on when times were tough. I’m grateful to have met new, inspiring, smart and some even previously fictional characters. Grateful for life granting me an opportunity to prove myself. Eternally grateful for the health of my family, friends, and myself. Grateful for my courage to: confess my feelings, speak to new people, endure the uncertainty, speak my mind, back my opinions, and to continuously strive to be myself (very WIP).

What was beautiful:

Solo in Kyoto; Nara w/ George; heinous night out in Tokyo; Skiing down Niseko, shitting my pants; CNY Living Room; crashing out about our overflowing trashbin; 4AM podcast → LAX…; first day at 3661 Buchanan st; fake “farewell” KBBQ w/ gang; MEETING SAM; Bar Seco 8pm; The fucking Paramount; walks alone along the marina green; Edition lobby bar + FYSK slide deck; Andrew’s Emulsion 1&2; walking into FF for the first time; Davey Waynes & Andy’s; HOLE IN ONE w/ Kevin; late nights @cathaus; driving 8 hrs for dinner in JT; White…(nvm I don’t remember); unspeakable things to Andrew & George when drunk… sorry; 4AM 90; senior crawl; graduation; birthday in SF; the WSJ; weekly crashouts; surprising grandma; Draftland & junkboat w/ the boys in hk; a lot of salt & straw; spontaneous LA trips; last minute Spera leasing; Verjus, Absinthe, Chez Maman; meeting a beautiful Aussie; weekends w/ Calix & Andrew n our trips down to Paly; Sausalito & Mill Valley; cooking w/ friends; moving into new office; out in SF w/ USC friends; realizing Pinecrest sucked…; The Lazy Bear; Fernat shot w/ Casey Sullivan; Lola’s new home; Cafe Tondo; trip to ER, The Linden Room; revitalizing at Harbourview; sunset walks along the ferry building; surprising mum in yyz; Calix lost in the sauce; serenity in sea cliff; amazing ANA food; surprising grandma v2; HK feast; rosewood pool; rare time w/ all family.

What I’ll continue to wonder and work on:

What are routines and practices that can significantly reduce the wave of thoughts rushing as I wake up?
Does the uniqueness of an opportunity inherently make it more enjoyable?
How does our gut microbiome impacts neurology and performance?
Now that we can get answers at an instant, does curiosity take on a new abstraction? Before we had to actively convert curiosity into knowledge by answering our questions. Now chat answers most questions in an instant, what’s the new form of curiosity such that we have to work to find out? Could experiences rather than knowledge be an answer?
How do principles of architecture apply into software design?
How AI will shape the design process?
What is my definition of design? surely it can’t just be software products…
What are the qualities of my dream wife? How can I be the man of her calibre?
Humor: my humor sucks. It’s stuck in middle school (albeit there’s a time and place). I believe great witty humour is a good indication of intelligence. So how can I evolve my humour? My hunch is something on word-play. It’s very cultural embedded in cantonese culture, how can I bridge this into my life?
Do not refer someone to him and her. Refer every single person by name.
After not standing up and shaking our investors hand: I promise next time I will stand up and shake the hand of whoever I meet with warmth. Never shy. Exude my energy.
Being me: “show the inside of your head in public, so people can see if they would like to live in there.”
How to continuously love myself, be confident in myself, despite the gnawing feeling that I’m not enough. I’m running out of time. I’m not where I want to be, or need to be for my future family, etc…

—

It’s the second year of this tradition. I genuinely thought 2024 was impossible to top. While 2025 wasn’t rosey expeditions, it is a year I labeled as “The Foundry.” Where I’ve only began to forge the pillars of my character and life. It’s shown me the importance to not fight against life but to flow with it. Develop with it. As hein as the challenges were, they were all opportunities to make me more emotionally resilient and intelligent. Refining the infinity stones for my eventual empire.

With maximum love,

Ozzy

Written at 1 po tai street, HK

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2025.