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ATENEO GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS - MBA MIDDLE MANAGER PROGRAM
MM ENTREP Final Paper

Starting up an IT Consulting/Software
Development Family Business (confidential)
Jeffrey Mendoza (M120074);Section M14;Professor: Dr. George Fong
12/1/2014

Starting up an IT Consulting/Software Development Family Business (confidential)
Overview My Genuine Interest in Technology

I had always had the interest in technology since I learned how to use the computer when
I was 6 years old. I remember my Father teaching my typing in the keyboard and doing some
drawings using a program long ago. It was very vivid for me and I have used that experience in
computers when I was studying until I became part of the workforce. And my interest in
Information Technology (IT) has grown ever since because it represents the improvements done
in the present and the potential that lies beyond in the future. The realization that everyone is
using technology to communicate and to make things more efficient shows that there is
opportunity to conceive a business in this area, and many has tried and attempted to do so. Some
succeed and have very good business (as we see so many software development companies
awarded with contracts with different government and private organizations nowadays), while
some struggle just to find potential customers.
Therefore, if I ever to a start up IT Software Development business, I need to make sure
that it has the right focus, business model, target market, and direction that it needs in order for it
to thrive and be successful. Being in the corporate setting and have worked for several BPO and
IT companies and industries, I am able to see what customers and clients look for in the process
of working and implementing software development contracts. Having clear customer
requirements are the key to success. And clear customer requirements are the basis of delivery
and expectation setting. It serves as an indicator if customer satisfaction and delight will be
achieved or not. And often times and if not always, the development of the software is done
through project management and a team that will plan and execute the deliverables. This
concretely stresses out that I would need to have a good team to make it all work. Also, another
thing to consider in the IT Software Development Business is that there is a constant need to
market your capabilities to potential customers. Seeing that there are already big companies that
would take out the rest of the opportunities present, one value add of start-up IT Companies is
that the agile and more flexible turnaround that they can use as an advantage. Lower
development cost, speed of delivery, and the accuracy of the development (Having very few or
no bugs) would also be a huge driver of renewed and continual relationship with customers.
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In this Final Paper, I am to structure and organize what needs to be in place in our startup company, and be able to apply the learning we have gained from our Entrepreneurship class.
The concept of family business will also be incorporated, as this will be a venture with one of my
cousins. I plan to share to him what I have learned and hope to professionalize our operations
from the very beginning.
Important Note: In writing this paper, I will be disclosing some information that is
sensitive and confidential to the success of our business venture. I would also humbly request
that it may be only for Dr. Fongs eyes only. This is for me to apply our learning in class into a
more realistic and viable scenarios that can further help and enhance our potential business.
Evaluating this paper in confidence would be greatly appreciated, as the nature of the IT business
is sometimes to the advantage of the one who has first worked on the project (virtue of being
first). And going forward, succeeding projects and clients would highly depend on how well we
took care of the relationship with the initial project/client. Word of mouth is powerful in
business, and same goes with the IT Business.
Opportunity Seeking
My first cousin and I have been looking into possible opportunities for the last 5 years,
and most of them have been failures. One was to put up a start-up online gaming company that
was sidetracked and put to a halt because of backing out of the investors at the last minute.
Another opportunity missed was a small call center company Operations that did not pushed
through because we did not have the enough people to run it. And so many other little projects
that did not happen because we were not ready or the resources are not there. But the good thing
about all of this is we have it charged to experience. There were many sacrifices that were
already made (Financial, Time, Effort, etc), but still moved forward. What we put to ourselves
mentally is that we did not stopped, thinking that the next opportunity is right around the corner
and we just have to keep on looking. I am also inspired by the stories of other technology
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founders like Hewlett-Packard (HP)1, who in a garage started their business of innovating and
working with technology.
And from taking our ENTREP sessions, the one thing that stands out in the topics of
opportunity seeking is the three fundamental questions whenever an individual eyes a particular
business venture. It serves as the high level litmus test in which a business opportunity is gauged.
And the following questions would come from the following:
1. Do I have the right opportunity?
2. Do I have the right team?
3. Do I have the right resources?
Do I have the right opportunity? To answer this question, I have to genuinely state what
my passion is. And as mentioned in the paper, that it has to be something in relation to IT. If not
IT, I would be denying myself of my true interests at heart. The good thing is that the
opportunity to be discussed in this paper is a good fit for both me and my cousin. Both of us are
self-learned technologists and have the passion for technology. After years of searching, an
opportunity came from a foreign contact from Denmark that my cousin met in one of his
business meetings who was looking to partner locally in the Philippines. This is to develop a
software website dashboard for their data mining/ data warehouse system (Kapow is the name of
their system2). This information is then used by government institutions to track down, criminal
and terrorist news, trends and activity over the internet. Their system extracts web metadata from
the websites, news feeds, social media sites and then creates a database that can be used to gather
information.
To make sure that the opportunity was legitimate, I have met the person myself and
learned that he has initial work which was done in Malaysia. In further interviews and dialogue
1
HP History - http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/history/overview.html
Kapow Software - www.kapowsoftware.com
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with him and my cousin over a dinner meeting, he mentioned that he has tried partnering with
other start up IT companies for his requirement but has miserably failed. This was because the
software developers whom he partnered wither either declined because they have not agreed on
the price or in some instances that the Malaysian contractors he worked with were only saying
the limitations and only talking about professional fees and price. Despite agreeing to high fees,
the deliverables were not delivered on time and some of the developers left the project during the
development phase. Therefore, I would say that we have the right opportunity due to the fit for
both us and the foreign client who is in need of software development services. It is very timely
as well in the point in our careers as we have honed the necessary skills needed to get the job
done.
Do I have the right team? In reflection to this question and to the opportunity at hand, my
cousin and I have significantly have learned from our previous mistakes. We both acknowledged
the fact that the more better people we get into our team, the more better position we will be in
landing and succeeding in the project and operations going forward.
In terms of profiling and skills, my cousin and I are complementary and can work both
professionally and personally. Since I have worked in an IT software development corporate
environment, I would have the necessary Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), Project
Management (Fortunately I am a certified Project Management Professional) skills needed to run
the IT Software Development business. And at the same time, being in different IT companies, I
am aware of how software projects are run, developed, and provided to the customer. I have also
experienced in communicating and talking to IT executives (Management) and Developers
(Technical) and able to bridge the gap in terms of communicating the right message to both
management and technical people.
My cousin also has an IT background as well and has been into IT infrastructure and
Software Development. As previously mentioned he is an IT Manager in a law firm here in
Metro Manila and has expanded his contacts due to the supplier network that he has built. Based
on his traits, he is very entrepreneur-like: He opened a computer shop, but closed it due to other
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focuses needed. And soon, he worked on other small businesses and projects to keep his earnings
up. He has built several websites with databases as projects and is very active in delivering
projects as fast as he can.
Both of us will be at the core of this start-up company that we are building. We will be
the ones founding it and will drive its success. However, the team is also expanded to other
members to expand our technical capabilities and bandwidth so that we can further get more
businesses. We have hired 2 IT Developers who are very proficient in Java and Database
Technologies. They will be tasked to be developing the programs and application through JBoss
Developer Platform3 for initial projects and will have a learning path for emerging technologies
to be used going forward.
There are also close contacts who we are speaking to right now, that will handle legal,
admin functions for the startup company. All of these resources are people we trust, and we
would need to tow them to the same direction that we all have to be in for the company to
succeed. And because of this, I would answer Yes, we have the right team in place right now
for the said right opportunity of doing a startup Software IT business.
Do I have the right resources? This question poses our capability to generate the
necessary funding for our business venture. To me the fortunate thing about the current potential
engagement is that we have an investor that would put mobilization funding to start the
development of the Software Dashboard project that was agreed with him. The investor has
currently wired $8,000 USD for the mobilization of the team (procurement of PCs, refurbishing
an office and initial salaries of the 2 developers can be accommodated for). The registrations
with local government will also be handled by our Team using the mobilization Funds.
Depending on the success of the project (and ensuring all the initial requirements of the
program/dashboard are fulfilled), an additional $10,000 USD will be awarded to the team to and
2-3 projects will be given to the team as work to be fulfilled.
http://www.jboss.org/
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For our incorporation to the company, my Cousin and I would need to fund the company
P100,000.00 PHP on our own pocket/expense to make sure that we have cash on hand for
operational purposes.
In urgent scenarios, there are opportunities to get business loans from Financial
Institutions such as banks to make sure that the funding preparations would not be an issue.
Therefore, the answer to this question is also a Yes because of the fact the resources are
coming from different mechanism (Personal Cash, Financial Investment, and Financial Loan).
To the entrepreneurial mind, we as a team should always find a way in terms of financing our
Operations. The positive side in IT is that the capital expenditure (particularly in computer and
software) is usually significant at the beginning, but the returns and depreciation of equipment is
manageable provided the revenue stream and projects are continual.
Considering Moratos Book on Opportunity Seeking4, several other factors should be
considered and to make sure the business opportunity is viable and has a market that can be
tapped into for future projects:
1. Macro-Environmental Sources: Global terrorism is now an issue in the different parts of
the Globe. Terrorist/Radical Organizations such as ISIS, ISIL, and Al-Qaeda are often
mentioned in the global news recently. Therefore, more security measures are in needed.
And information is vital for government institutions as a means of keeping pace or being
ahead of the curve in terms of gathering information. This validates that the opportunity
mentioned in this paper has potential due to the fact that creating a software dashboard
for government institutions, and having opportunities for software maintenance and
upgrade are options to get more business relationship from these government institutions.
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Preparing for
Entrepreneurship, The Many Sources of Opportunity, pp. 7-24.
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2. Industry and Market Sources in analyzing this opportunity from this perspective, it is
important to us to realize that the work is being outsourced. The investor, seeing that the
software development would be more cost-effective if done by Asians rather than
Americans or Europeans. Also the fact that he disclosed to us in our initial discussions
that Filipino IT Professionals are very hardworking and the quality of work is at par with
the rest of the top professionals in the world. This feedback from the investor was
mentioned in comparison to other Asian IT counterparts that have limited capabilities and
do not have the right attitude to work with. Also the concept of outsourcing is not new to
the country. Outsourcing also has an advantage to foreign investors. Having to partner
with small local companies, they would be able to immediately establish a local footprint
that knows the environment, the capabilities and the resources to be able to do business
and expand the operations more efficiently.
3. Consumer Preferences, Piques and Perceptions for IT programs to work well with its
users, IT developers need to fulfill the programming and coding to match the customers
requirements and expectations. Commonly, IT programs or websites must be user
friendly, it has to process data fast, and has all the information accessed with ease and
must be very intuitive. Working on these common preferences would be a plus in
marketing programs that had successes with customer requirements. On top of these user
preferences, the IT programs or websites or applications must be able to withstand
significant amounts of data and concurrent usage to make sure that the continuity and
efficiency of the application is consistent. Therefore putting up a software dashboard that
is intuitive for the user is a must, and meeting specific requirements and preference of the
customer must be one of the priorities of the software company that we will be
establishing. Flexibility and accuracy to customer preferences therefore is an important
item for our IT Company. I would definitely agree that this opportunity of ours is aligned
to Moratos Book mentioning that: Before the customer is won over, there is first a
battle for his or her mind. Next, there is a battle for the heart. Finally there is the battle
for the wallet. The battle of the mind is more on the specific requirements needed by the
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customer. The battle for the heart is the relationship building in creating the IT
application, and the battle for the wallet is making the IT Project cost effective and
delivery is done on time and within budget.
4. New Knowledge as Sources For the identified opportunity, it has further potential to
expand as new and emerging technologies come out very fast. In relation to this
opportunity. Technologies such meta name robots5, Business Intelligence, and Big Data
Analytics6 technologies are very important competencies and skills that our company
should have in order to remain competitive. Other than these technologies already
released in the market, our team should be on the lookout for the next generation
technologies that would help us be in a position for success.
Meta Name Robots - http://www.metatags.org/meta_name_robots
Big Data Analytics - http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/big-dataanalytics

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Opportunity Screening
In reference to Chapter 2 of Dr. Moratos Book (Opportunity Screening), 7I would wish
to apply the guide questions for self and opportunity matching, and other important criteria to
validate for the IT Business that I am embarking on and heavily considering:
1. Do I have the drive and tenacity to pursue this business to the end? Yes. I have seen so
many IT projects in my corporate experience (12 years of it) that I believe that I am ready
to use the same knowledge, attitude and tenacity to pursue this IT Business.
2. Will I spend all my time effort and money to make the business work? This is conditional
Yes. Since I am still currently working for a company, I would definitely make time for
this to work. However, seeing financial independence and a family business as my goal, I
have to make a plan to transition from the corporate employed life into the family
business we are trying to establish. I would need by cousin/business partner to work with
me in getting me aboard as soon as I can.
3. Will I sacrifice my existing lifestyle, endure emotional turmoils and forego my usual
creature comforts to succeed in this business? A definite Yes. I came from a family of
humble beginnings and hard work. I know what it feels to be in a position of simple
living but still enjoying life. This is not a problem for me.
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Chapter Two:
Opportunity Screening, p.25 60.

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Further screening to ensure validity and viability of the business: Using the 12 Criteria, I will
directly compare it to another opportunity I would like to pursue, which is opening a hobby shop
because it is one of my passions.
12 Opportunity Screens for the IT Consulting/Software Development Family Business vs
Opening a Hobby Shop (Also one of my interested opportunities):
Opportunity Screen
1. Relevance to
Hobby Shop
IT Business
Weight
Score (1Low-
Score(1Low
5High)
5High)
20%
Comments/Evaluation
My VMO (Drafted upon the creation of this
the Vision
Paper):
Mission and
My Vision: To be financially independent by
Objectives of
the year 2020
the
My Mission: Inspiring Innovative Solutions
Entrepreneur
through Technology
Objectives:
-
Establish IT Family Business as a

vehicle for financial independence
Obtain projects outside of the country

to establish Global Presence
Capture
Portfolio
of
Completed
Projects to showcase capability and

experience of the company
For this business opportunity, this is very
relevant and makes sense.
2. Resonance to
Values
15%
Values of utilizing my skills and talents in

pursuit of technology and a business are more
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Opportunity Screen
Hobby Shop
IT Business
Weight
Score (1Low-
Score(1Low
5High)
5High)
Comments/Evaluation
leaning towards the IT Business. However

both would definitely require hard work and
perseverance, but I would be able to practice
it more with the IT Business opportunity.
3. Reinforcement
10%
Both are equal due to the fact that my
of Existing
Entrepreneurial
Interests
Enterprise
opportunities are high.
for
both
Strategies or
Entrepreneurial
Interests
4. Revenues
10%
The IT Business would have significant

revenues as compared to the Hobby Shop
provided that the Primary Target Market is
properly identified.
5. Responsivenes
5%
Meeting and being flexible to Customer
s to Customer
requirements are more significant in the IT
Needs and
Business opportunity vs. the Hobby Shop
Wants
Business.
6. Reach
5%
IT Business would have faster Global

presence
when
managed
properly
as
compared to the Hobby Shop. The reason also

is because target customers are government
institutions of different countries (Local and
Foreign)
7. Range
5%
There is a high range of products to be offered
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Opportunity Screen
Hobby Shop
IT Business
Weight
Score (1Low-
Score(1Low
5High)
5High)
Comments/Evaluation
by a Hobby Shop and would also depend on

Seasonality and Popularity. On the other Hand
the IT business would have extensive range
due to the supposed and assumed flexibility of
the company to meet client requirements.
8. Revolutionary
5%
Impact
Compared to the Hobby Shop Business. The

IT Business would have more revolutionary
impact due to the use of Technology for
creating solutions
9. Returns
5%
Returns would be higher in the IT business

due to the defined timeline of completion of
projects. There is also a potential for
incentivizing
the
project
for
exceeding
client/customer expectations
10. Relative Ease
10%
Although not that hard, but not easy as well.
of
IT Businesses is easier to set up due to the
Implementatio
minimal Space Needed, Dependency for
Hobby Shop is for the merchandise suppliers

and location; Dependency for IT Business is
getting the right
team,
and the right
equipment.
11. Resources
Required
5%
More People are required in a Hobby Shop to

run daily operations. Whereas IT business can
run on a much leaner scale. And individuals
can have multiple functions at the same time.
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Opportunity Screen
12. Risks
Hobby Shop
IT Business
Weight
Score (1Low-
Score(1Low
5High)
5High)
5%
Comments/Evaluation
Risks are higher with IT because currently

there is investor that would help support the
financial requirement to start the company.
Which would mean that there is a stake that
needs to be fulfilled properly by the company
to make sure that business is afloat. Also, the
risk for IT business is the delays in the
fulfillment of IT projects that will result to
possible penalties and loss in revenue.
Total Score
100%
3.15
4.65
Based on the 12 Opportunity Screening

Criteria, The IT Business is more viable based
on the assessment.
Item #
Criteria
Weight % Hobby
1 Relevance to VMO
20%
3
2 Resonance with Values
15%
3
3 Reinforcement of exsiting
10%
5
4 Revenues
10%
2
5 Responsiveness to Customer
5%
3
6 Reach
5%
3
7 Range
5%
4
8 Revolutionary Impact
5%
3
9 Returns
5%
3
10 Relative Ease of Implementation
10%
3
11 Resources Required
5%
3
12 Risks
5%
3
TOTAL
100%
38.00
IT
Hobby Score
5
0.6
5
0.45
5
0.5
4
0.2
5
0.15
5
0.15
4
0.2
5
0.15
5
0.15
4
0.3
4
0.15
4
0.15
55.00
3.15
IT Score
1
0.75
0.5
0.4
0.25
0.25
0.2
0.25
0.25
0.4
0.2
0.2
4.65
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Feasibility/Viability Study for the IT Consulting/Software Development Family Business:

For the Feasibility Study, Our Team has already engaged with the investor and reached with an
agreement to create a Website/Frontend application that will be able to communicate with the
Kapow database. This Prototype will have the following requirements as defined by the
investor/client.
Initial Project Requirements:
1. The prototype website should have viewing content aggregated by Kapow Database
2. The prototype website should have alerts to new content or content that was defined to be
alerted
3. The prototype website should have the ability to perform Searching content
4. The prototype website should have the ability to perform Analytics of data (keyword
occurrences, etc)
5. The prototype website should have the ability to create reports based on user chosen content:
a.) Predominantly for analysis/ reporting, and
b.) To create evidence for the prosecutors/enforcement
6. This prototype system will be used by upwards of 8 divisions, but to begin with probably 1
maybe 2-3. If there are multiple divisions, with multiple users, then there are also different
instances of the system - or access roles.
7. The prototype system should have an underlying architecture that needs to be in place
8. The prototype system should ensure the functionality/usability in place namely:
a.) Indexing / database (Search and alert)
b.) User roles (approximate of 18 analysts and a 2-3 managers)
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c.) workflow for content / usability (presentation)

d.) Static data analytics / trend
e.) Reporting
Resources In place: 2 Senior Developers, 1 Junior Developer
Timeline: Project was provided last October 2014. Expected Delivery is December 15, 2014.
Progress as of November 30, 2014: Project is currently on track based on the agreed timeline.
Use Cases were created to properly translate and represent business requirements to technical
requirements. Functionality of Prototype system is now working based on Requirements 1-6
presented above. Integration to the IT architecture would be the next step. Also, look and feel of
the website is properly established to confirm with the client.
Value Add Created: Developers who created the project used meta name robots to fetch
information faster. Usage of Java as technology enabled web analytics, graphing and visual
aesthetics more appealing and enticing to the user.
Based on the Feasibility/Pilot Project in place for our team, it would be seen that the project is
done with minimalistic resources and effort. The key to the feasibility of the project is the
developers that built the project. We made sure in their contracts/agreements that they are
incentivized based on the output that will be provided. This would ensure that even outside the
core team of developers that we have, we would be able to attract talent within our respective
networks who can help be part of our future projects.
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Opportunity Seizing
Critical Factors for the IT Consulting/Software Development Business
The question need to be answered to further seize and act on an opportunity is: What are the
Critical Factors for the IT Business? For our team and our IT Business to thrive, the following
Critical Factors need to be in place and highly on top of our priority list.
-
Timely Delivery of IT development Projects Through proper project management

and highly tenured technology skills, the timely delivery of IT projects would be feasible.
Also the readability and repeatability of code and other software assets and templates
would also make the process faster and more efficient.
Customer/End User Satisfaction The common mistake of software development

projects is gold plating8, which refers to continuing to work on a project or task well past
the point where the extra effort is worth the value it adds. That is why well-defined
requirements are critical for the success of the project. Through this, the team would
clearly know what is already completed and fulfilled in the course of the IT project.
Use of Open Source Development Tools Software development can be implemented

using several ways: using proprietary software that needs payment for licenses (such as
Microsoft .Net, or Oracle), or using Open Source Development tools that do not need
licenses fees (Like Linux, etc). This high utilization of open source software would
enable the company to save money, without sacrificing the quality of the deliverable or
application made
Gold Plating Definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_plating_(software_engineering)

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Reusable IT and Project Management Assets Having these items in place would help
developers save significant time during the phases of a project. This can be in the form of
reusable code and code shells made by the developers in previous projects. It can also be
based on the Project Management Templates (Project Management Plans, Gantt Charts,
estimators, etc.) and other Software Engineering templates that can re-utilized for
succeeding projects.
End User Support Post Launch This is also critical as part of hand holding and turn
over with the client and customer once the application or website is completed. It also
presents new opportunities for the company because possible enhancements are identified
by the customer and this will generate additional work. IT Service Management is also
needs to be performed (Change, Incident, Problem Management) to ensure that the
deployed application is running and supported.
Research of Emerging Technologies Knowing the latest trends and available

technologies would keep the company significant and up-to-date. Ensuring knowledge,
skill and competency on the emerging technologies would be an advantage against the
competition.
Hiring and Keeping the A-Team - Skilled Technologists and Developers need to be
part of the team and taken cared of well in terms of compensation, incentives and
benefits. Knowing how to screen the right talent is also important. The potential A-Team
candidates are the ones who are aligned to your Vision Mission and Objectives, has a
great positive attitude and is a team player and are leaders in their own way. This would
not be an easy task, but if done properly will help increase the credibility of the company.
Adhering to Global Project Management and Software Engineering Standards

Through this priority, the company will be able to professionalize the work being
performed and will be up to par anywhere in the world. Standardization also positions our
company to be competitive and structured in operationally and strategically.
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Our Value Proposition (Morato)9

To ensure that the IT Business opportunity presented in this paper has identity and delivers value
to its customers, an entrepreneur must need to define the Value Proposition that would make the
business thrive and become successful. I will employ the guide questions from Morato as a
means for me to be able to extract the Value proposition for our companys product/service.
a. Who are the customers who most prefer the product or service? What is their consumer
profile? What is their buying behavior?
The customers of the system would be the police and security/safety departments from
government institutions who are in need of a software dashboard that can pull and create
business intelligence data from the Kapow server. The end users on the other hand are the
analysts who will use the data to monitor key words and topics that are priority one in the
police/security safety departments.
The consumer profile would match the government that will potentially use the
dashboard. Initially, the prototype created was intended for the Malaysian Police
Department, to whom our Investor/Foreign Contact has ties with.
Because of this, the Malaysian Police Department would have budget allocated for
Technology improvements that will be awarded to the contractors that will be able to
deliver the business requirements at a reasonable cost.
b. What are the specific attributes or features of the different competitors products?
Due to the significant number freelance developers and start up IT companies, the
attributes to be considered in this question would be the companies that are competitors
with our partner (Kapow). One of the main differentiator of our application is the access
9
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Chapter Three:
Opportunity Seizing.
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and the partnership with Kapow Software as the source of the Big Data that the software
prototype will use to extract the data that will be used by the end users. From user/crowd
source feedback over the internet10, the following competitors of Kapow are:
o Talend Data Integration - There is an open source version which allows you to
get started. It has 100s of connectors to connect to Salesforce, SAP, Oracle,
ODBC, JDBC, XML, Access, flat files. Also a whole host of other components
WebServices, FTP and Email. The transformation tools allow you to manipulate
data. The paid for version includes Data Quality tools, Management &
Monitoring of data integrations but I have to say I've only needed to upgrade once
for a client. It is incredibly powerful for what you get. What I also love is that its
built in Eclipse and I know that if if doesn't have a component I can always write
one. It has an App Store where users have contributed components. Unlike
competitors you can easily go under the covers and write simple Java code to
manipulate your data. Francis P, Consultant in Computer Software.
o Starfish ETL - Starfish ETL pre-built products maps significantly reduce data
migration effort. The product enables point-and-click configurations, while
maintaining the ability to perform complex data transformations. The product has
substantially improved our data migration offerings - what may have taken days
in the past, can now be accomplished in hours. We have used this product in
projects ranging from very large corporate data consolidation to small CRM startups where contact data is imported from Excel spreadsheets. Starfish ETL
provides the flexibility needed to do both - very cost effectively. The product has
reduced our consulting costs, while increasing client satisfaction William Z.
Business Partner in Information Technology and Services.
o TIBCO ActiveMatrix - Compared to other integration tools, there are 3 things
that I like best about Tibco ActiveMatrix tool 1. It is a Fourth Generation Tool
(4GL) with immense drag and drop features. This enables the developer to
10
https://www.g2crowd.com/products/kapow/competitors/alternatives
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visualize the bigger picture rather than worrying about environment related minor
details. 2. It is a highly stable tool and haven't seen many issues of the tool
crashing during development as I have seen with other Integration Suites 3.
Shorter learning curve - the integrated Help and examples provide self learning
Janita S. User in Management Consulting
c. How is the product or services marketed? What marketing channels are used?
The product is marketed through technical evangelists that schedule appointments to the
target customers
Online presence websites and trial software downloads are usually in place for these
products to be available and tried by potential users and customers. Additional features
for the data migration tools are further unlocked once payment are received from the end
user. For more high level large deployments, Referrals and connection/contact list
through government officials serve as their means in presenting into the Government for
doing a road show of the capabilities of the tool.
d. What is the market performance of the different products in the market place?
No information provided by Kapow to our team as of the moment, but there is a need and
potential market due to the Factors stated in this paper.
e. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the competing products and services?
Strengths observed are:
o Usability
o Varied Functionality
o Customer Support
Weaknesses observed are:
o Price need to be paid
o Complex User Interface
o Limitations in functionality
o Integration compatibility with existing systems.
Page 21 of 30

Conceptualizing the product or service offering:

To further strengthen our product and service offering in Software IT Business, we need to
consider the following areas as per Moratos book:
1. Create a concept similar to the winning products and ride with the obvious market
trends Since the applications created for clients are based on the customized
requirements. The similar approach winning/products and service IT has is adapting to
software engineering and development methodologies such as Agile Software
Development and CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration).
2. Find a market niche that has not been filled by the competitors an intuitive
dashboard for Kapow big data migration is not yet readily available in the market.
Therefore the prototype in itself is a niche, because our company will be the first to build
it and we will be able to market it.
3. Conceptualize a product in a positioning category where the participants are rather
weak. Similar to point #2
4. Conceptualize a product that would change the way customers think. Similar to
point #2
Designing, Prototyping and Testing the Product

For the companys prototype as an example in this paper, it was designed and tested using the
use cases that were created based on the customers requirements. On each functionality of that
was identified, it is then encoded through JBOSS platform and further compiled, tested, and run
to ensure the testing made rigorously before implementing the system as a whole.
Implementing, Organizing and Financing
Also according to Morato, further considerations in setting up the IT Software Development
Business should include the following items:
Page 22 of 30

1. Choose the correct technology, the one that would produce the outputs that would
meet the quality specifications of the customers Web applications using Java and
Javascript will be the approach to be taken. Integration of social media sites will also be
used as it is necessary to get all the metadata available from these sources.
2. Choose the right people who can perform the technical and the managerial
functions necessary to realize the desired end results. Our 2 IT Developers are very
skilled in Java and Javascript and has already several completed projects on their belt. On
the other hand, I can contribute using my project management professional certification,
and my cousin has the hardware and software architecture knowledge to integrate and
manage the developers. As a team, we will be able to achieve the necessary results
needed for the operational and management aspects of the project.
3. Design the operating workflows that would assure the effective, economical, and
efficient production of the outputs
4. Specify the systems and procedures that would govern the enterprise, motivate and
discipline the workforce and satisfy the customers
To aim to achieve items 3 and 4 above, the suggested high level operating
workflows/business model would be:
Page 23 of 30

Strategy and Policies
Lead Generation
Business
Development
Business Analysis
Design and
Development
Delivery and
Deployment
Support and
Maintenance
Support Management Process
Strategy and Policies would be the Management bylaws and guidelines of the policy
that will be abided in the course of the operations. This will be created initially by myself
and my cousin and will be signed off by both of us.
Lead Generation, Business Development Processes would be the backbone of our sales
team and together with our existing client and his contacts. Through these processes,
there would be eventual leads and needs from customers and having business
engagements with them would be crucial in order to commission a project.
Business Analysis process would then continue the locked in engagements and
translating client/end user requirements into functional and technical requirements that
will be captured. These requirements will be the key to ensuring customer satisfaction by
achieving every requirement that was defined.
Design and Development processes would be the actual creation of the IT application or
solution that was agreed upon in order to fulfill the client/business requirement. A project
plan with resource and duration estimates need to be in order. In addition, lead times for
procurement of necessary software and hardware need to be in place to make sure that the
project plan and the development would be on time and on budget as well.
Page 24 of 30

Delivery and Deployment Processes will ensure that the proper training, handover of all
deliverables and closure of payments will be made. Client Signoff will be obtained.
Project Closure will be done through post mortem and lessons learned.
Support and Maintenance Processes will provide the necessary post deployment
assistance to the customer/client after the IT application has been delivered. The scope of
the said support and maintenance would vary from the agreed upon work from the
inception and planning of the project.
Support Management Process will comprise of the support functions that will help in
the fulfillment of the project such as (but not limited to) Administration, Human
Resources, Training, Legal, Project Management, Finance and Accounting, and
Marketing. Since the initial identification was only for the development and core team,
these support management functions will be fulfilled already by me and my cousin, and
then further get the A Team that would help cover, take ownership, and manage these
processes.
5. Design the organizational architecture that would allow the people to function at
their best.
Depending on the hiring and the functionality of the teams, the ideal or suggested
organization structure would be more of a Matrix or Project Based Organization, with me
and my cousin as the overall accountable and management of the work being done. A
suggestion of the said idea would be the following:
Page 25 of 30

Jeffrey Mendoza
Operations/Project
Management Director
Elvin Mendoza Jr.

Chief IT Architect
Joseph Mendiola
Senior Software
Developer
Michelle Anne Cruz

Software Developer
Software Development Team
For the Support Functions, it will be developed further on and can even be shared by both me
and my cousin until we get the right people to support us.
Further Insight and elaboration of our Value Proposition on our Software Product can be further
evaluated from our learning in our Marketing Class, where Mr. Nick Lansang was our Professor:
a. Consumer Insight on the Product (Based on my 11 years of corporate experience
with software and users and clients):
- Emotional/Psychological Consumer Insight: End users want applications to be secure
and available when it is needed.
- What Disappoints? Applications disappoint when the product created does not conform
to the specifications.
- What Irritates? End-user is irritated when Software application crashes
- What Annoys? Need to input several times, and if end user is unable to find the right
information right away. Software latency may also annoy end user.
- What Bothers? End users worry if the application is secure and might be vulnerable to
hacks and malware.
Page 26 of 30

b. Value Offering/Proposition:
o Points of Parity The Application/System is created based on customer
requirements
o Points of Difference The System is intuitive, faster, and is delivered on time or
earlier than scheduled.
o Functional Value The System/Application uses latest and tested technologies
used in Software development (Java, JavaScript), much faster web browser
loading times.
o Psychological/Emotional Value: - The system is reliable, fast and secure.
Establishing the Company Foundation

By undergoing the process of Opportunity Seeking, Screening and Seizing, I am now
able to further suggest what my perspective on what our company should stand for. Thus, laying
the foundation of Mendoza Systems and Software Development, Inc. (MSSD, Inc. Name shall be
further be finalized and shall be registered in SEC and will work together with my cousin to
arrange it).
Vision/Mission Draft:
1. Vision: To be a globally competitive and innovative Filipino technology company
2. Mission:
To establish local IT presence and implement local projects by 2017
To be able to conduct business and implement projects in 5 Asian Countries by 2020
3. Objectives:
a. Registration of Company by 2015
b. Completion of Initial Project Prototype by Q1 2015
c. Register Trademark of successful prototype with IPO by Q1-Q2 2015
Page 27 of 30

Mutual Partnership Agreement:

As suggested prior to the actual business engagement with the company, I must need to be
assured of a mutual Partnership agreement. It is to make clear on the division of work,
responsibilities, benefits, that my partner and I will be working on. This partnership also should
serve as the basis of the ownership and scope of the involvement within the company. I would
also suggest putting in writing the transition plan that needs to be made to put myself out of the
corporate employment and focus into the family business going forward.
The said mutual partnership agreement
11
should contain sign off and details of (but not limited
to) the following:

1. Nature of Business
2. Name of Business
3. Day-to-Day Operation equal rights to manage and control, cap of approvals to be
established
4. Capital Contribution Needs to be confirmed how much capital infusion I would need to
put into the company (initial suggestion was P100,000.00 PHP, but this is subject to
further discussion with my partner. There was a verbal arrangement of 15% Share of the
company will be under my name, but then again it is subject to further discussion and
agreement.
5. Profits and Losses
6. Term/Termination
7. Disputes
8. Withdrawal/Death of Partner
9. Non-Compete Agreement
11
Partnership Agreement - www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/downloads/leg04.doc
Page 28 of 30

Family Constitution:
Through further discussions with my business partner and cousin, he agrees that establishing a
family constitution early on is important to establish our legacy as a family business and to
ensure its growth and sustainability. The goal is to take care and to ensure that the vision is still
in sight and that it is on the road to realization. The following Family Constitution Contents
would be further discussed and incorporated. Further review will be done with a Legal Counsel
to ensure all aspects are covered and all items are agreed upon as it was written down.
Family Constitution entries in no particular order or priority/preference:
1. Criteria on how to join the family business
2. Guidelines in ensuring harmony in the family business
3. Guidelines in business planning
4. Dividends Policy
5. Family Compensation
6. Family Issue Management
7. Business Issue Management
8. Criteria in establishing/joining Family Council
9. Family Council Meeting Agenda
10. Cash Flow Management
11. Succession Planning
Page 29 of 30

References:
Internet Website References and Articles
JBOSS - http://www.jboss.org/
HP History - http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/history/overview.html
Kapow Software - www.kapowsoftware.com
Kapow Competitors - https://www.g2crowd.com/products/kapow/competitors/alternatives
Meta Name Robots - http://www.metatags.org/meta_name_robots
Big Data Analytics - http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/big-data-analytics
Richard Branson on Crafting Your Mission Statement http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/227507
Gold Plating Definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_plating_(software_engineering)
Jay Ebben, PH. D. - Developing Effective Mission and Vision Statements http://www.inc.com/resources/startup/articles/20050201/missionstatement.html
Partnership Agreement - www.entrepreneur.com/formnet/downloads/leg04.doc
Book Chapters/Pages that were used for reference:
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Preparing for
Entrepreneurship, The Many Sources of Opportunity, pp. 7-24.
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Chapter Two:
Opportunity Screening, p.25 60.
Dr. Eduardo A. Morato Jr. A Trilogy on Entrepreneurship, Book One Chapter Three:
Opportunity Seizing.
Page 30 of 30

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ATENEO GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS - MBA MIDDLE MANAGER PROGRAM

MM ENTREP Final Paper

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Overview My Genuine Interest in Technology

MM ENTREP Final Paper

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Kapow Software - www.kapowsoftware.com

MM ENTREP Final Paper

MM ENTREP Final Paper

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Entrepreneurship, The Many Sources of Opportunity, pp. 7-24.

MM ENTREP Final Paper

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Meta Name Robots - http://www.metatags.org/meta_name_robots

Big Data Analytics - http://searchbusinessanalytics.techtarget.com/definition/big-dataanalytics

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Opportunity Screening, p.25 60.

MM ENTREP Final Paper

My VMO (Drafted upon the creation of this

My Vision: To be financially independent by

the year 2020

My Mission: Inspiring Innovative Solutions

Establish IT Family Business as a

Obtain projects outside of the country

Projects to showcase capability and

Values of utilizing my skills and talents in

MM ENTREP Final Paper

leaning towards the IT Business. However

Both are equal due to the fact that my

opportunities are high.

The IT Business would have significant

Meeting and being flexible to Customer

requirements are more significant in the IT

Business opportunity vs. the Hobby Shop

IT Business would have faster Global

compared to the Hobby Shop. The reason also

There is a high range of products to be offered

MM ENTREP Final Paper

by a Hobby Shop and would also depend on

Compared to the Hobby Shop Business. The

Returns would be higher in the IT business

Although not that hard, but not easy as well.

IT Businesses is easier to set up due to the

minimal Space Needed, Dependency for

Hobby Shop is for the merchandise suppliers

and the right

More People are required in a Hobby Shop to

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Risks are higher with IT because currently

Based on the 12 Opportunity Screening

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Feasibility/Viability Study for the IT Consulting/Software Development Family Business:

MM ENTREP Final Paper

c.) workflow for content / usability (presentation)

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Timely Delivery of IT development Projects Through proper project management

Customer/End User Satisfaction The common mistake of software development

Use of Open Source Development Tools Software development can be implemented

Gold Plating Definition - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_plating_(software_engineering)

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Research of Emerging Technologies Knowing the latest trends and available

Adhering to Global Project Management and Software Engineering Standards

MM ENTREP Final Paper

Our Value Proposition (Morato)9