The Journey
My Story
Self-taught builder from the Philippines.
From the Slums
I grew up in the slums in the Philippines. We didn't have much, and I didn't have a computer at home. But I already knew what I was working toward — building something people actually want, and one day starting my own company. So after school, I'd go straight to the local library, use their computers and free internet, and teach myself to code, often staying until they closed for the night.
Experiment, Fail, Repeat
My classmate Leian felt the same way — we both just wanted to build something. For two years we tried idea after idea. Most of them didn't work out. In 2018 we found out about the Young Founder's Summit through TechInAsia and flew to Singapore to compete with CaterX, our startup. We didn't win, but it gave us the push we needed to keep going.
CaterX Takes Off
I decided not to go to college and took the risk of going full-time with CaterX. It paid off — CaterX passed $1 million in GMV, and our event vendor marketplace was finally taking off.
Pandemic Hit, Kept Building
Then the pandemic hit. No events meant no business — we had to stop CaterX operations entirely. It was another hard chapter. But instead of sitting on the sidelines, I kept pushing forward and kept building things on the side. Twitter Memories took off — over 50,000 people used it, and it got picked up by Forbes, ESPN, and ClutchPoints, especially in the NBA community.
Sandbox Philippines
I wasn't done with startups just because CaterX had shut down. I co-founded Sandbox Philippines to give aspiring entrepreneurs the mentors and resources I wished I'd had starting out in 2016 — with 500 Global and PayMongo helping them move forward.
Day Job & Side Projects
I worked full-time as an engineer — first at Lab@Home, then at Bridge — building products for both teams. But I never stopped working on my own stuff at night and on weekends.
Still Shipping
The story's not over. macro went viral and had 50k+ downloads in 2 months. I'm still building — still trying to make software that helps everyday people, one project at a time.