Looking back at OLX’s pioneering path in PH tech

Before Uber and GrabCar became household names in the Philippines, there was only Sulit.

You could argue that Sulit, which was rebranded as OLX Philippines last year, was the first tech startup to achieve mass adoption in the country.

According to co-founder and managing director RJ David, the tech ecosystem back then was still very nascent.

“Local mentors who had experience in the Internet were very rare when we were starting,” he said. “If we had the luxury of having mentors, we could have avoided a lot of errors that almost made us give up.”

As a result, David frequently tries to be active in the startup community now, offering advice, mentoring co-founders, and even angel investing on occasions, when he feels he can contribute value to the startup beyond just capital.

The advice he usually gives them centers on building a team. David said that they must be united in fulfilling a common vision, but each person should have their own strengths and expertise.

“If you’re the smartest guy in the room on every topic or majority of the topics in your company meetings, then you’ve failed to build a capable team,” he said.

He also suggested that teams need to have the talent to not just take advantage of current technologies, but also upcoming ones, such as mobile and big data.

“The way users adapt to new technologies has been accelerating and so the adaption pace of your team must be faster,” he said.

Cultural roadblocks to growth

Despite his advocacies, David is still primarily focused on growing OLX. He wants the OLX platform to be top-of-mind for as many Filipinos as possible who are thinking of buying or selling something.

Many challenges lie ahead. “Not all Filipinos are still used to the idea of online buying and selling,” he said as an example.

One cause of this is the lack of Internet penetration and use in the Philippines. David said that he and his team at OLX are working on partnerships with other players in the market to bring free Internet to more Filipinos.

“We believe that the inexpensive Android phones plus free Internet can tremendously help bring the power of the Internet to a lot of Filipinos,” he shared.

A cultural issue that prevents people from buying and selling on OLX is that Filipinos are too often emotionally tied to our possessions. As a result, part of the marketing that the OLX team does focuses on educating Filipinos on the value that some of our secondhand items can bring.

The social impact of a classifieds site

While it is easy to see OLX as just an online marketplace, David is quick to point out the social impact that buying and selling online can have on the Philippines.

The seller gets to declutter and earn cash from secondhand items that they are not regularly using.

“Likewise, buying quality pre-loved items also saves us a lot of money and even contributes to reducing consumption of raw materials and extending an item’s value,” David said.

As an illustration, David spoke of a Filipino surfer named Manoy, who regularly competes abroad to represent the Philippines, but who unfortunately does not usually have enough money to fund his trips.

OLX presents him an alternative.

“What he does is sell his secondhand skimboards – not only does he get extra cash; he also helps budding surfers get into the sport without having to buy an expensive board – a win-win situation for him and his buyers,” David said.

That David is so focused on his users and the impact that OLX can have on them just goes to show that he practices what he preaches. When asked what Filipino entrepreneurs can do to reach a level of adoption similar to what OLX has achieved, he advises them to focus on the people using their platform.

“Always listen to your users’ feedback but find a way to strike a balance between catering to their needs and paving a unique experience for them,” he said.

He added, “don’t make it your job to please everyone because then it will be for no one.” – Rappler.com

Rappler Business columnist Ezra Ferraz brings you Philippine business leaders, their insights, and their secrets via Executive Edge. Connect with him on Twitter: @EzraFerraz