From  Mechanical  Engineer  to  Technopreneur    

RJ  David  

Who  is  RJ  David?  �  31  years  old  � Co-­‐founder  and  Managing  Director  of  Sulit.com.ph  � Married  to  Arianne  David  who  is  the  other  co-­‐founder  of  Sulit  

� Netrepreneur  (Internet  Entrepreneur)  

Who  was  RJ  David?  � Chairperson  of  the  Philippine  Society  of  Mechanical  Engineers  –  UP  Student  Unit  

�  Instructor  at  the  Department  of  Mechanical  Engineering  of  UP  Diliman  

�  Licensed  Mechanical  Engineer  �  Software  Test  Engineer  �  Freelance  web  developer  � Custom  T-­‐shirt  seller  (almost)  

Achievements  � Go  Negosyo  Inspiring  Young  Filipino  Entrepreneur  Award  –  September  2010  

� Business  Excellence  Award  from  BPI  Family  Savings  Bank  –  September  2010  

�  Featured  in  Go  Negosyo’s  7th  Book  –  50  Inspiring  Stories  of  Young  Entrepreneurs  –  October  2011  

� PLDT  MVP  Bossing  Award  for  2012  –  November  2011  

College  �  Started  reading  programming  books  (Turbo  Pascal)  when  I  

was  in  4th  year  high  school  but  I  did  not  take  Computer  Science  in  College  

�  Took  up  Mechanical  Engineering  (ME)  because  my  uncle  who  was  a  successful  engineer  working  abroad  promised  me  a  good  and  high-­‐paying  job  if  I  graduated  as  a  Mechanical  Engineer  

�  In  college,  I  took  up  Mechanical  Engineering  but  studied  programming  during  my  spare  time  in  the  library  

�  Since  ME  was  really  not  my  interest,  I  ended  up  joining  a  student  organization  to  which  I  focused  much  of  my  time  during  my  last  semester  

�  But  ME,  or  engineering  in  general,  taught  me  to  become  a  problem  solver  

Lessons  Learned  from  College  � Money  as  a  motivation  is  fine  but  passion  on  what  you  are  doing  can  result  to  even  greater  things  

� Things  I  learned  from  a  student  organization  in  college  are  worth  more  than  the  sum  of  everything  I  learned  inside  the  classroom  

My  Dream  Job  �  As  a  kid,  I  always  dream  of  creating  or  inventing  something  that  many  

people  will  use.  �  Became  one  of  only  few  biomechanical  engineers  here  in  Philippines  �  Research  and  development  which  involves  designing  and  creating  

prosthesis  and  instruments  used  during  orthopedic  surgeries  �  It  was  my  dream  job  and  it  was  a  privilege  to  be  part  of  a  rare-­‐breed  of  

engineers  in  the  country  �  But  my  passion  was  in  programming  which  my  boss  caught  me  doing  

at  work  �  I  resigned  from  my  dream  job  and  accepted  that  programming  was  

what  I  was  meant  to  do  

Lessons  Learned  from  My  Dream  Job  �  It  won’t  be  your  dream  job  if  your  passion  is  not  aligned  with  it  

� Accepting  that  you  are  in  the  wrong  field  is  a  tough  pill  to  swallow  because  you  are  going  to  admit  that  you  made  the  wrong  decision  all  these  years  

Changing  Career  /  Industry  �  In  2003,  I  decided  to  shift  from  Engineering  to  the  IT  industry  

�  It  was  tough  because  of  2  things:  �  I  have  to  start  at  an  entry  position  again  

�  I  cannot  even  get  an  interview  for  a  programming  job  because  I  was  a  Mechanical  Engineer  

�  I  know  how  to  program  and  relatively  good  at  it  but  I  have  nothing  to  prove  it  other  than  my  skills  

Lessons  Learned  in  Changing  Career  /  Industry  �  In  any  career  or  industry,  you  always  have  to  start  at  the  bottom  and  move  your  way  up  

�  It  is  always  easy  to  say  that  you  are  good  at  something  but  it  is  difficult  to  prove  it  especially  if  you  do  not  have  the  background  and  experience  to  show  

� The  difficulty  of  changing  industry  should  not  be  a  big  hurdle  that  you  cannot  surpass  

SoBware  Test  Engineer  �  In  2003,  I  became  a  software  test  engineer  at  Azeus  Philippines,  a  

CMMi  Level  5  company  �  Testing  involves  a  different  type  of  mind  set  from  development.  

Developers  think  how  to  create  and  accomplish  a  task  while  testers  think  how  it  can  fail.  

�  As  a  test  engineer  who  has  knowledge  in  programming,  I  have  the  uncanny  ability  to  predict  where  and  how  a  software  can  fail.  

�  After  1  year,  I  was  already  conducting  the  one-­‐month  training  for  new  hires  about  software  testing  

�  After  1  1/2  years,  I  was  already  a  lead  tester  of  a  major  project  �  I  also  became  involved  in  setting  up  development  processes  within  the  

company  

Lessons  Learned  as  a  SoBware  Test  Engineer  �  Software  testing  improved  my  development  skills  as  I  become  more  aware  on  how  my  application  can  fail.  Software  testing  made  me  a  better  developer  producing  high  quality  application  

�  I  learned  a  lot  about  development  processes  and  how  a  process  should  adjust  to  the  needs  of  your  team  and  not  the  other  way  around  

Open  Source  Developer  �  In  2003,  I  started  playing  with  phpBB,  a  popular  open  source  forum  

application.  �  Created  modifications  and  templates  and  submitted  it  to  be  used  for  

free  by  the  community  �  Created  a  portal  modification  called  IM  Portal  for  phpBB  which  is  a  

content  management  system  (CMS)  using  the  forum  engine  �  Created  IntegraMod  which  is  phpBB  with  all  the  best  modifications  

already  installed  with  IM  Portal  as  the  main  feature  �  Downloaded  and  used  thousands  of  times  until  I  gave  up  development  

to  the  community  in  2006  �  Competed  with  top  phpBB  mod  developers  for  the  best  portal  

modification  available  

Lessons  Learned  as  an  Open  Source  Developer  � One  way  to  showcase  your  skills  or  work  is  to  do  something  for  free.  In  case  of  development,  open  source  development  is  a  good  option  

�  Joining  an  open  source  community  of  developers  is  a  way  to  hone  and  improve  your  skills  

� Competition  is  healthy.  It  kept  me  outdoing  myself  a  lot  of  times  even  for  something  that  was  free  

� There  is  a  lot  of  high  quality  open  source  applications  out  there  that  you  can  literally  run  an  internet  operations  using  open  source  software  

Freelance  Web  Developer  �  In  late  2003,  I  started  receiving  simple  development  projects  for  phpBB  due  to  my  simple  mods  

� When  I  released  IM  Portal  and  IntegraMod,  I  started  to  receive  bigger  projects  

�  I  was  a  software  test  engineer  during  the  day  and  a  developer  during  the  night  

� Referrals  from  previous  projects  came  and  projects  became  full-­‐blown  websites  that  I  started  earning  up  to  more  than  three  times  of  the  salary  of  my  day  job  

Lessons  Learned  as  a  Freelance  Web  Developer  � Previous  work  is  very  important  for  freelance  gigs  to  create  your  portfolio  

� One  of  the  best  way  to  enhance  your  portfolio  is  by  releasing  or  joining  an  open  source  project  

� Referral  from  previous  projects  is  a  way  to  increase  your  client  base  

�  Freelancing  requires  marketing,  time  management,  discipline  and  negotiation  skills  

Resigning  from  my  day  job  �  In  2005,  I  came  across  this  book  titled  “Rich  Dad,  Poor  Dad”  by  Robert  Kiyosaki  which  changed  my  thinking  ever  since  

�  I  did  not  take  the  stories  and  samples  in  the  book  literally  but  it  opened  my  mind  to  new  possibilities  

�  I  resigned  from  my  job  a  few  weeks  after  reading  the  book  

�  I  was  completely  convinced  that  I  could  do  it  on  my  own  

�  My  side  projects  were  already  affecting  the  quality  of  my  work  in  my  day  job  

Lessons  Learned  from  resigning  from  my  day  job  � The  fact  that  I  had  my  freelancing  gigs  on  the  sidelines  that  were  earning  more  than  my  day  job  made  it  easier  for  me  to  resign  from  my  day  job  

�  Sometimes  the  best  decision  that  you  can  have  is  the  most  unpopular  one  

� When  your  side  projects  started  to  affect  your  performance  at  your  day  job,  be  a  professional  and  choose  one  and  drop  the  other  

Planning  to  Sell  T-­‐Shirts  �  Until  in  2006,  an  opportunity  presented  itself  in  the  form  of  selling  

custom-­‐made  T-­‐shirts  �  Target  market:  the  exponentially  growing  Friendster  member  base  in  

the  Philippines  �  After  months  of  planning  and  putting  the  pieces  together,  I  made  a  

pitch  to  the  country  manager  of  Friendster  to  become  the  official  custom  shirt  partner  

�  The  pitch  did  not  go  well  and  I  was  suddenly  faced  by  a  harsh  reality:  �  I  was  a  newbie  entrepreneur  �  Custom  T-­‐shirts  were  nowhere  near  my  core  skills  or  passion  �  I  did  not  have  the  capital  to  support  the  requirements  of  the  business  

for  my  target  market  

Lessons  Learned  from  my  T-­‐shirt  Gig  � Passion  and  skills  are  very  important  for  1st  time  entrepreneurs  

� Your  startup  capital  must  be  able  to  support  your  pre-­‐profit  market  

� You  must  do  your  homework  before  pitching  your  business  

� A  good  idea  is  nothing  without  a  capable  team  supporting  it  

Sulit.com.ph  �  Success  stories  of  Kevin  Rose  starting  Digg  and  Mark  Zuckerberg  starting  Facebook  gave  inspiration  to  Arianne  and  I  to  create  our  own  website.  

�  Since  resigning  from  Azeus,  I  began  porting  my  IM  Portal  project  to  a  stand-­‐alone  CMS  and  web  framework  without  the  requirement  of  phpBB  

�  In  May  2006,  Arianne  came  up  with  the  idea  of  a  classifieds  website  as  an  experiment  

�  I  started  working  on  the  website  while  doing  freelance  work  and  launched  Sulit.com.ph  on  September  11,  2006  

IniMal  Years  of  Sulit  � As  an  experiment,  Sulit  had  no  marketing  budget  and  no  marketing  plan  in  place  

� By  the  end  of  November  2006,  traffic  started  to  increase  across  all  categories  and  the  experiment  became  a  full-­‐blown  online  classifieds  startup  

� By  August  2007,  Sulit  was  more  than  “ramen  profitable”  so  Arianne  resigned  from  her  work  and  help  maintain  the  website  

�  In  January  2008,  we  incorporated  the  company  �  In  2008,  Sulit  became  the  top  local  website  in  Alexa  

Lessons  Learned  when  starMng  up  Sulit.com.ph  �  It  is  possible  to  create  an  internet  startup  without  requiring  too  much  capital  

�  Formula  to  a  successful  website:  release  fast,  release  often,  get  feedback  and  iterate  

�  When  requiring  human  input,  crowdsource  to  scale  �  Search  Engine  Optimization  was  (and  still  is)  the  best  source  of  free  organic  traffic  to  the  website  

�  Bootstrapping  an  internet  startup  to  profitability  is  possible  �  Technical  expertise  is  very  important  in  an  internet  startup  �  Get  a  co-­‐founder  for  newbie  entrepreneurs  

Sulit.com.ph  Investors  �  In  2008,  Sulit  started  to  appeal  to  other  companies  and  VCs  and  we  received  a  number  of  investment  offers,  partnerships  and  buyout  offers,  yet  we  were  not  actively  looking  for  any  investments  

�  Late  2008  and  early  2009,  competitors  backed  by  big  companies  started  to  show  serious  interest  in  the  local  ecommerce  market  

�  In  2009,  Sulit  received  a  Series  A  funding  from  MIH  

Lessons  Learned  in  accepMng  investments  � Know  what  you  really  need  from  investors:  funds,  knowledge,  network,  advisors,  human  resources,  etc.  

� Know  the  goal  of  the  investors  in  investing  to  your  company  and  see  to  it  that  it  is  aligned  to  your  personal  goal  

� Valuation  of  a  startup  is  an  estimation  of  the  future  performance  of  the  business  

What  characterizes  an  entrepreneur?  � Risk  taker  –  willingness  to  take  huge  risks  in  order  to  get  huge  returns  

�  Leader  –  the  ability  to  make  others  follow  your  vision  � Creates  value  –  the  ability  to  create  actual  value  from  your  idea  

� Problem  solver  –  the  ability  to  provide  solutions  to  the  problems  of  many  potential  customers  

� Tolerance  to  failure  –  entrepreneurs  are  bound  to  fail  in  order  to  succeed  

Advice  to  young  people  wanMng  to  become  technopreneurs  �  Start  now  while  you  are  young  �  It  requires  technical  expertise  to  become  a  technopreneur  so  either  you  are  a  technical  person  or  you  find  a  technical  co-­‐founder  

�  For  those  who  cannot  risk  their  9-­‐5  salary,  start  small  with  a  sideline  project  

�  Start  with  something  that  you  are  passionate  about;  something  you  love  doing  

� Do  not  be  afraid  sharing  your  idea;  the  team  executing  the  idea  makes  the  difference  

How  can  I  prepare  to  become  a  technopreneur?  �  The  internet  is  a  fast-­‐paced  industry;  you  must  be  ready  to  continuously  learn  something  new  

�  Be  ready  to  learn  how  to  filter  information  and  read  

�  Expect  sleepless  nights  �  Be  prepared  for  failures  �  Learn  to  say  no  �  Be  ready  to  come  out  of  your  comfort  zone  

�  Be  ready  to  wear  many  hats  

What  to  watch  out  for  in  running  a  start  up?  � The  tendency  to  make  quick  money  � Partnerships,  as  much  as  you  can,  avoid  it;  unless  it  is  really  necessary  to  achieve  your  vision  

� Tendency  to  raise  more  money  than  what  is  really  needed  

� Tendency  to  spend  so  much  in  marketing  before  the  product  is  ready  

� Tendency  to  copy  an  established  competitor  

Suggested  Resources  � OnStartups.com  � ReadWriteWeb.com  � TechCrunch.com  � PaulGraham.com/articles.html  � AVC.com  � GigaOM.com  � TechMeme.com  � HackerNews.com