This is the very first deep conversation recorded for the Nerd on Tour Podcast. I couldn’t ask for a better guest than Fajar Siddiq. A known influencer in the Maker Community, who is always there for you to support, provide feedback, and help to get customers for your bootstrapped project. Fajar lives in culturally dense and diverse Singapore, and whenever possible he’s visiting nearby countries with his laptop and yo-yo. Let’s dig into the digital nomad topics with Fajar Siddiq!
Listen to the Nerd on Tour Podcast with Fajar Siddiq
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The first episode of the Nerd on Tour Podcast
The oral tradition of storytelling is timeless and deeply engraved in every culture. I absolutely adore focusing on voices that create complex worlds directly in my mind. Podcasts are a natural evolution of radio shows (which I already liked as a teenager). I listen to them to learn from thoughtful mentors, laugh at the surrounding absurdity, and escape to imaginary worlds.
In 2011-2012 I was working in the university radio station “Egida” in Poland and I realized how satisfying the voice work was. In the following years, I’ve been honing my web dev skills and storytelling methods as a tour leader. Listening to various shows and paying attention to the podcast industry is part of my daily schedule. It’s time to combine the experience and passion into my own channel.
On 30th January 2020, I started experimenting with the format and content. Initially, I was drawn into the idea of short four-minute episodes about anything peculiar. While researching and creating them was fun, the model wasn’t sustainable. Moreover, my favorite podcast genre is “conversation”. That doesn’t really fall into thematic categories you may know from your podcast app. Yet, I learn the most from thoughtful discussions. Some examples are:
After much preparations, I’m happy to present to you the first episode of Nerd on Tour Podcast. It’s around two hours of thought-provoking dialogue with an incredible digital nomad – Fajar Siddiq. Around 2017 I met him on Twitter and in November 2019 we met IRL in Singapore. In the podcast we talk about his entrepreneurial beginnings, spreading positive vibes in Makers’ Community and his Muslim faith.
Who is Fajar Siddiq?
Fajar Siddiq is a Singaporean digital nomad and serial entrepreneur. He started his journey as a teenager by designing and selling t-shirts for the punk music scene in Malaysia. At the same time, he started performing with a yo-yo and became a signed member of Duncan Crew Worldwide in 2002-2014. Later on, as for many of us, his computer graphic skills steadily shifted to web development.
Being based in Singapore means that Fajar has been visiting nearby countries, like India, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand while working on his laptop. Global connectivity and self-discipline allowed him to stay prolonged periods in popular digital nomad hotspots like Bali and focus on web design for his customers.
Fajar describes himself as Malay Muslim and in 2018 he made his Umrah – the pilgrimage to Mecca. After the death of his mother, father and brother in 2012-2013, the Islam community became the support he needed. Living in Singapore makes him appreciate cultural, religious and ethnic diversity and as he emphasizes in our conversation, openness to others is one of the essential lessons taught by local Muslim leaders.
If you dive deep into bootstrapping communities at Product Hunt, Twitter or Makerlog you’ll see how active and helpful Fajar is. Whenever possible he offers his constructive feedback, beta testing or video producing skills to support fellow Makers – folks that create web/mobile/physical projects. That’s the reason why he’s often described as an Influencer, who keeps high spirits in our online global village.
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Selected links from the conversation with Fajar Siddiq
Connect with Fajar Siddiq
Twitter | Telegram | Personal Website | Company Page
- Ilm Productions
- Dement Clothing
- 5 prayers of Islam
- Ramadan
- Mecca
- Masjid Al-Falah mosque behind Apple Store in Singapore
- Quran.com
- Sunnah.com
- Fajar in Duncan Crew Worldwide
- Myspace
- Microsoft Paint
- Adobe Photoshop
- Compaq Presario
- Emo music
- FileZilla – free and open-source FTP manager
- SQL injection – a type of cyberattack
- Halal food
- Eastern Block
- Fajar’s digital nomad gear at kit.co
- Fajar’s YourStack – apps he’s using
- Stripe
- PayPal
- TransferWise
- Revolut
- Rework Podcast: Extreme Edition – about remote work in Antarctica
- Zebra vs Unicorn startups
- Jamstack
- Buymeacoffee.com – the easiest way to support Internet creators
- Patreon
- SaaS companies
- Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless Digital Camera
- Fajar broke his camera lens by accident and Twitter community came to help
- Osome – register a company in Singapore
- Piotrek’s Instagram account
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