WHEN tech entrepreneur Charles Anthony Yu talks about technology, he rarely starts with buzzwords. No grand speeches about “disruption.” No obsession with shiny tools.
Instead, he talks about people—business owners who barely have time to see their kids, entrepreneurs buried under paperwork, and companies struggling to scale because everything is still written on paper.
That human-first mindset has shaped Hatchit Solutions, the Cebu-based technology firm Charles founded and now leads as chief executive officer.
A decade after its humble beginnings, Hatchit has grown into a 30-plus-strong team building software solutions for businesses across retail, logistics, property management, payroll, and more. But the journey was anything but smooth.
The second-place finish
Hatchit didn’t begin with venture capital or a polished business plan. It started with five fresh computer science graduates— officemates who decided, almost on a whim, to build websites and simple business systems
for friends and family—trying to bring order to chaos.
Their first projects were small and informal. They got paid for every job—but not nearly enough to pay themselves. Still, the work was real, and it revealed something important: businesses didn’t just need software. They needed systems.
That spark took a sharper shape when the group joined a UnionBank hackathon in Cebu. They didn’t win—but the judges believed in their idea enough to create a special second-place award just for them.
Instead of celebrating, the team made a harder choice: they spent the prize money on plane tickets and an Airbnb in Manila to compete again—this time against
tougher, more polished teams. They didn’t win there either. “But that trip changed everything,” Charles recalled.
Exposure to Manila’s more competitive tech ecosystem revealed uncomfortable gaps in their work and a hard truth: ideas mattered less than execution, context, and real-world application. They didn’t pursue the original hackathon idea, but years later, Charles and his team would return as mentors, marking their quiet transition from contenders to builders.
The experience helped shape Hatchit’s founding philosophy: technology should never be the centerpiece—solving business problems should be.
The cubicle moment
Charles’ path to entrepreneurship wasn’t linear. He did what many young professionals do. He took a stable job at a Japanese firm in Cebu. The culture was disciplined and efficient, but the rigid schedules, strict controls, restricted internet access, and highly structured corporate culture felt stifling.
“I had my own cubicle. Very quiet. Very strict,” he recalled. Internet use was limited. Time was clocked to the minute. “I had a calendar beside my desk… By the third day, I knew it wasn’t for me.”
It wasn’t laziness—it was longing. Longing to build, to move, to create something that felt alive.
Walking away from that stability wasn’t easy. But it was honest. Charles returned to entrepreneurship.
Coming from a family involved in business, Charles tried his hand at manufacturing and construction. The experience gave him a groundlevel view of how hard business owners work—opening shops early, managing people all day, staying late into the night.
That grind clarified his purpose.
“I wanted to use technology to automate operations so business owners can focus on more important things—meeting clients, spending time with their kids, actually living,” he said.
Success, however, didn’t come instantly. Charles tried forming teams—twice—and failed. Only on the third attempt did Hatchit finally find its footing.
Technology should never be the centerpiece— solving business problems should be.
Technology as relief, not noise
Today, Hatchit employs more than 30 people, many of whom started as interns. Charles is deliberate about mentorship, partnering with Cebu universities and grooming young developers into senior roles.
“We believe in growth,” he said. “But we’re also strict with our process. Not everyone gets in.”
That balance—supportive yet disciplined—defines Charles’ leadership style. He doesn’t micromanage. Instead, he builds systems that allow people, and even his other businesses, to run without him.
“I spend 90 percent of my time on Hatchit,” he said. “The rest of my businesses only need 10 percent because they’re automated.”
In its first decade, Hatchit focused almost entirely on customized solutions, taking the time to deeply understand each client’s industry before building anything.
“You can’t automate what you don’t understand,” Charles said.
That approach meant longer development cycles— three to six months per project—but it also delivered impact. Hatchit’s systems replaced paper trails with data, and guesswork with visibility.
This mindset often ran counter to prevailing tech trends. Charles said while competitors chased the newest frameworks or buzzworthy features, Hatchit focused on choosing the right technology— sometimes simpler, but more sustainable and practical.
Winning trust across generations
The challenge wasn’t just technical.
Convincing business owners that technology was an investment rather than an expense proved difficult, especially in familyrun enterprises.
Charles has pitched in rooms where the son was eager to digitalize—and the father, accustomed to manual systems, was unconvinced. Many conversations ended without a deal.
“It’s a constant struggle,” he admits. “You must communicate that tech isn’t an expense. It’s an investment.”
The resistance, however, is gradually softening with technology becoming a bridge to survival, connection, and growth in today’s post pandemic environment. Reluctant adopters are starting to see that technology isn’t optional—it’s essential for sustainable growth.
Drawing on years of handson experience across industries, the company is now entering its next phase: off-the-shelf products that can be deployed in days, not months.
“We’re combining everything we learned in the past decade,” Charles explained. “The goal is scale.”
Today, Hatchit offers enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions for trading and manufacturing as well as billing and property management for real estate and human resources information system (HRIS).
Playing the long game
As Hatchit prepares for its next five to 10 years, Charles is open to investors and partners who share the company’s vision. With a decade of hard-earned experience behind them, he believes the company is now ready to scale faster—and farther.
For Charles, the dream is simple but ambitious: to build technology that genuinely improves businesses and, in turn, lives.
In an industry often obsessed with speed and spectacle, Charles is betting on something quieter— and arguably more powerful: technology that works, businesses that scale sustainably, and business owners who finally get their time back.
“That’s always been the goal,” he said. (SPONSORED CONTENT)