AdBabble
Name: Alejandro Esquivel. CEO, CTO
UBC major: Physics
Year in E101 Class: 2014
Name of Current Business: AdBabble
Ad Babble
What we do in our business
We offer redeemable deals coupled with loyalty programs for business owners looking to increase their student customer base.
Why this particular business?
The idea behind AdBabble from day one has been to use technology for the betterment of society. After doing some research we determined that small business owners can at times lose a substantial amount of money doing coupon campaigning, as current methods do not allow for a more strategic and controlled dissemination of coupons. Moreover, we felt the process of just redeeming coupons was just one piece of a larger cycle of interactions with a customer. We decided to tackle this problem while helping the student community, by offering practical deals and rewards.
Biggest day-to-day challenges as an entrepreneur:
At times in our personal life, we are confronted with life-altering decisions that will alter the course of your life. Will I go to school? Will I get married? Being an entrepreneur, you can be confronted with a recurrent set of life-altering decisions, ones that will change the magnitude, feasibility, and existence of the success of your venture; if you’re a serious entrepreneur then it will affect the course of your life as well. With so many things to anticipate from timing, execution, risk mitigation, competition and resources, it can at times be overwhelming.
Greatest delights in being an entrepreneur:
In my opinion, a clear vision of being able to make a positive impact in society and the world is enough of a reward to overcome any doubts and obstacles that can arise. Having a great founding team can help make the experience even better, especially when things go bad, which are almost guaranteed to occur.
Four Key pieces of advice you would give to future entrepreneurs
1. Find a wise mentor, one that shares insight which you intrinsically understand and that you can connect with. Don’t blindly follow advice which may prove to be vague generalizations. (Hint: Mentors might even turn into your first investors under some circumstances, as they might see you from goal setting to successful executions.)
2. Pick co-founders that are passionate about your idea (most important), that have diverse skill sets and opinions, but that match the company culture; as you will have to go through rough times together.
3. Do not let people easily influence the vision you have for your company in its early stages, make sure to adequately test your hypothesis (large sample sizes of feedback your potential customers ). If all factors indicate change is necessary, pivots are part of the evolutionary process that lead to thriving businesses.
4. Reach “The Mindset”. Picture moving to another part of the room where you currently are, you know that you WILL move over there, one way or another. This is the mindset you need to achieve when starting your business, delegating tasks, and creating goals; a complete certainty and even a vision of you accomplishing that task along with the things you do to get there. It is this reason we need to at times deviate from tasks that seem logical but that not very feasible; pragmatism and theory must be balanced.
Where do you see yourself going as an entrepreneur in the future?
My dream has always been to use theoretical physics to further extend the scope of technology and positively influence society. As an entrepreneur, I see myself starting more companies that have the potential to help humanity and if I’m lucky, that they also help shape technologies that we use in our daily lives.