Young technopreneur shares his secrets of success at innovation conference

From the classroom to the boardroom. Such was the path taken by Itemhound Corporation, a start-up company based at the DOST Open Technology Business Incubator in UP Diliman. Only a year after its incorporation in 2010, the company generated a 600% increase in revenues in 2011 and registered a net profit.

 

Itemhound Corporation provides turnkey radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions to various medium and large-scale enterprises in the country. The Itembound team specializes in RFID hardware and software applications that allow the company to develop vertically integrated RFID solutions. Itemhound can deliver custom designed hardware and software platforms for any business need. Being still a part of the academe, the team has also conducted studies and constructed RFID deployments for clients ranging from NGOs to multinational corporations.

 

The company’s services include the RFID reader hardware, tag selection, antenna configuration, as well as the IT backend to tie the products together. Its first products include the Racer Motorsports Timing System. This is a RFID race timing system that provides timing of motorcycle racers at high speeds. Another product, the Strider, generates chips and gun types as marathon runners cross the finishing line. From designing RFID solutions for a niche but a highly specialized market, the company is moving gradually towards designing solutions to not so specialized but much bigger markets.

 

Sowing the Seeds

 

The concept of Itemhound began as a graduate thesis of its co-founder and CEO, 25 years old  Deogracias “ Gary” P. Villame. His passion for the project intensified after Gary finished his MS in Electrical Engineering, Computers and Communications option in 2010 at UP Diliman, three years after graduating Magna cum laude with a degree in BS Electrical and Communications Engineering in 2007 from the same university.   

 

When the R&D for the RFID project was over, Gary became excited to go some steps further. Without having second thoughts, he developed a prototype and put it out to get feedback and to test the market. He put up the Itemhound Team with, who else, with graduate students and faculty from the University.

 

Sharing the lessons

 

To aspiring technopreneurs, Gary has these to say:  

1. Have a vision for your company; Choose between short-term survival versus long-term stability.

 

Sometimes, it is better to be a “gorilla” in a small niche market than a “monkey” in a big but very competitive market.

 

2. Know your market. Do not waste time and resources on a product that nobody will buy. Translate your product idea into a prototype and test the market; get feedback before you commercialize.

 

3. Work hard. Establish a track record. Do not fall for sweet talk; it can only get you so far.

 

4. Do not be afraid to commit mistakes. Get back on your feet immediately. Instructing people cannot create wisdom; experience will.

 

5. Manage the ‘can do’ attitude. Know your weaknesses and get the correct people to plug in those holes.

 

And to start up entrepreneurs, Gary advises them to enjoy the roller coaster ride, the ups and downs, highs and lows that normally happen to a business start up. He also emphasizes the importance of managing one’s own psychology as being in business can also be stressful. He warns future CEOs about committing these two mistakes, quoting Ben Horowitz: taking two things personally and not taking things personally enough.

 

His final advice on how one can be a good entrepreneur, “Do not quit!”

 

The plus side of entrepreneurship

 

This professor at the UP Electric and Electronics Engineering Institute admits to gaining fulfilment in being one’s own boss, creating a product or device, and contributing to nation-building. He says, ”the crucial catalyst for change is entrepreneurship. Nothing else has so much effect on the development of a country. And if one gets lucky, an entrepreneur can also be rich.” -- Ditas A. Esguerra, UP ISSI

 

Gary P. Villame was one of the guest speakers in the recently concluded National Workshop on Technology Innovation, Quality and Productivity for SMEs that was organized by the UP Institute for Small-Scale Industries and held at UP ISSI on February 1-2, 2012.  Press release from UP ISSI