PH ‘harsh place’ for start-ups

Sunday, March 6, 2011

UNLIKE in Silicon Valley or in countries where startups have succeeded, the Philippines is a “harsh environment” for startups, a Davao-based software developer said.

Eric Clark Su, co-founder of photo blogging site PicLyf, said there were few investors who were willing to gamble their funds with locally-developed start-ups and that there was a lack of business incubators to help struggling developers kick off their new businesses.

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Su was in Cebu last month to talk in a gathering of local start-ups and developers.
He noted that Singapore, which ranks third in the globally competitive economies, provides funds for startups.

Su said the country needed an “explosion” for startups, but admitted he did not expect the government to take the initiative.

Challenging

He believes all the country needs is a “single home run” and startups will begin to take off.

Despite a more challenging environment for startups, Su is still encouraging
developers to push on with their products.

He said that once they come up with a viable product, investors will come in. He added that if a startup succeeds, more will be inspired and more investors will be willing to fund the project.

Su added that success stories will get press attention and this will help make the
public understand the nature of startups.

While he encouraged startups, Su reminded them of a few mistakes that developers are prone to make while developing startups.

He said they should always be passionate about their product and should have a goal that is quantifiable in number and time. Without this, he said it is easy to get lost and would be difficult to prioritize what should be done. He added that this helps one focus on what to do.

Su also reminded those who want to start a company to remember the people behind the product, not the office or equipment.

Constraints

“The number one killer of startups is fighting among creators,” he said.

He added that constraints should not discourage. He said difficulties help shape ideas and will force the developer to improvise and adapt to the “harsh” environment.

Su also urged those planning to built a start-up to reduce dependencies because this can only kill the product if other people can easily take advantage of them.

To encourage investors, Su said ideas are “worthless” if they cannot see how revenue can be generated.

He said it was better to build the product and have it tested before investors are invited to participate.