Part 2: A 19-Year-Old CEO talks about creating disruptive technologies for Philippine education and his advice for aspiring young Filipino startup founders

So what exactly does it take to be a 19-Year-Old Filipino Startup founder?

(This is a two-part interview series of Orange Apps Co-founder Gian Scottie Javelona.)

Let’s talk more about you. What course are you taking at PUP?

Computer Engineering Management from the PUP College of Technology.

Have there been any changes in your life when you decided to create Mobile Portal? 

PUP Mobile Portal For Students, Faculty and Alumni of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines

I became more focused in my goals and spent less time with friends. I miss being a regular college student. But my passion in what I do drives me to keep on going. I also want to take the entrepreneurial path with the birth of Orange Apps.

What do you do during your free time?

I like playing NBA games and partying with friends. But, when I started to make the app, I devote most of my time for coding and development.

Do you have any Tech Hero whom you aspire to be?

Photo Credit: B.K. Marcus, Ludwig von Mises Institute

Photo Credit:  John Haydon                

I want to be the next Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg. I also want my startup, Orange Apps, to surpass what Apple has achieved in the field of Software development.

Startup founders are getting younger with ages under 20. Do you think your age is more of an advantage?

When I attend developer events, people usually tell me how lucky I am since I have more time to spend creating apps. As for them, they have to stick to a day job and work with their startup ideas after work.

 I believe that my age is an advantage allowing me to focus in what I do. Aside from having great ideas, Young Filipino startup founders should also focus on execution to make their vision a reality.

What’s the Roadmap of Orange Apps?

Gian doing a demo of PUP Mobile Portal

I plan to register Orange Apps as a business. I also want to hire developers and start creating customized portals for other universities. My vision is for all schools to have their own mobile portal.

For the next 6 to 12 months, I will be graduating (hopefully with honors) at PUP. I see my startup as a success providing opportunities for developers and extending mobile services to different institutions. All is possible with perfect execution.

What advice can you give to aspiring young Filipino startup founders?

Stop making excuses as reasons not to pursue and to achieve your goals. Instead, see these as opportunities to be seized. I never had an android phone when I started to make Mobile Portal. But, I used my resources to bring my app into completion. I believe that things happen for a reason.

We also need a change of mindset. Apart from being an employee, students and graduates should also consider being an entrepreneur.  Working in a big company is an achievement. But, owning the company is something more.

Lastly, people should see competition as an avenue to collaborate. Not everyone is a competitor. It’s possible to join forces and be part of one team.

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PART 1: A 19-Year-Old CEO talks about creating disruptive technologies for Philippine education and his advice for aspiring young startup founders

Father: Just like what my father said, study hard, do well in school and get a great job after you graduate. I’ll give you the same advice. Study hard and maybe, someday you will be a good employee like me.

You may have had this conversation at one point in your life. Most people may have taken it by heart and lived by it. But, for Gian Scottie Javelona, the path of entrepreneurship has a lot to offer than an 8 to 5 lone job. This under 20 visionary is starting to make ripples in the silent waters of the Philippine startup scene.

So what exactly does it take to be a 19-Year-Old CEO?

(This is a two-part interview series of Orange Apps Co-founder Gian Scottie Javelona.)

How did you start with Orange Apps? What do you want to achieve with your startup?

I started to work with Mobile Portal, an Android application for the PUP community, June of this year. I got curious about how mobile applications work. Using my background in Java, I immersed myself with online tutorials for Android.

Learning is a step-by-step process. I observed different functions of apps which led me to ask how these are made. When I have questions, I make sure to consult tutorials and forums. Then, I applied my new discoveries when I started to work with the app.   

I admire Apple as a company along with the technological breakthroughs they made. That’s why Orange Apps was born. It’s about time to have a Philippine Startup version of Apple. My aim is to surpass what Apple has achieved as a company.

With Efficiency and Speed as your core operating principles, what exactly does Orange App offer?

Even though my background is related to hardware, Orange Apps deals with creating software application programs. My goal is to make everything instant through mobile and systems software applications.

Philippine startups encounter different challenges in their entrepreneurial journey. Can you share any during the initial phase of your startup?

The primary challenge was Financial in nature.  We had little capital during the development phase. I also did not own an android phone. Thus, I had to call my classmate who owns an Android and we had to debug over the phone.

Back then, together with my co-founder Paulo Benologa, we were working on a freelance payroll system project. After we got paid, I bought an Android phone which I am currently using today.

What compelled you to focus on education for Mobile Portal?

I wanted to focus on apps for education because it’s one of the least explored areas requiring solutions. PUP Mobile Portal aims to help students, faculty and even alumni to have a fast access to a list of services using a single tool anytime and anywhere.

From enrollment applications to news, events, personal records and many more, university-related and scholastic information is made accessible. The Portal gives them one space to multi-task and to be informed about the latest updates within the university. The App is a great tool to know almost everything about the school.

PUP Mobile Portal is now available for Free download.

Do you know of any competitors?

At present, I believe we are the only one to offer this type of educational app.

How do you plan to leverage your startup with competitors (if any)?

I plan to form partnerships with them rather than seeing them as competition.

What support do you need for PUP Mobile Portal to take off?

We made an interesting discovery regarding the market of the App. Initially, apart from being open source, we chose Android because it’s cheaper and accessible for everyone. However, recent user feedbacks show a market for iOS.

We need handsets and hardware to support cross platform development. For marketing purposes, we aim to partner with PUP to promote the app.

We also need a web developer who will be in charge of web updates.

PART 2: A 19-Year-Old CEO talks about creating disruptive technologies for Philippine education and his advice for aspiring young startup founders

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