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 Dr. Sandejas graduated summa cum laude from UP Diliman, with a degree in Applied Physics. He was also honored as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Students of the Philippines in the field of science.
Paco went to Stanford University in 1989 and acquired his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical Engineering. During his tenure in the university, he co-invented the Grating Light Valves with Professor David Bloom and Professor Olav Solagaard, which is now being used in developing advanced display systems by Sony.
He ventured into greener pastures when he became part of the Product Marketing and Management team for Applied Komatsu Technology’s Etch Product Division. His biggest achievement came when he became Vice President of H&Q Asia Pacific, responsible for deals and transactions between Silicon Valley and Asia.
Drawing from the experience he amassed during his stay in the US, he now seeks to put up our country’s own Silicon Valley. He tries to do this by investing in promising technological start-ups in the Philippines and by championing technopreneurship. During LSEC’s interview with him, Mr. Sandejas emphasized how important technopreneurship is in the country’s development and the role he and us can adopt to support this thrust.
LSEC:After working/studying abroad, how do you see the state of science and technology in the Philippines?
Mr. Sandejas: Honestly, I feel like the state of science and technology has not kept pace with the developments around the world. While we may have grown as an economy, our equally poor neighbors grew faster and invested much more into their science and engineering education and the companies that relate to these fields. In a large way, this challenge to improve science and engineering and related industries is one of the main reasons I came back to the Philippines. I’d want the Philippines to be more sufficient in creating at least some basic technology products and at least give more reason for our best and brightest to stay in the Philippines and contribute to the world from here.
LSEC:What is the definition of technopreneurship for you?
Mr. Sandejas: Entrepreneurship is that habit of seeing challenges in our daily work and personal lives and taking action to solve these in innovative ways that not only solve the problems efficiently but also provide a financial or social return on investment. Technopreneurship is when you apply science and engineering technologies or approaches to entrepreneurship. This is ideal as innovations that use science and engineering approaches are harder to replicate.
LSEC:What made you put up Narra Ventures here in the Philippines ? How did you accomplish its establishment?
Mr. Sandejas: Narra Venture Capital, like many good start-ups, is the result of one or a few professionals’ many years of working in a specific industry and their one day waking up to the realization that they can innovate in a related area of that industry but in a different corporate entity. This happened to me after years working as researcher, marketing manager, and venture capitalist for multinationals. That valuable training and experience taught me so many valuable lessons and also showed me that with the right partners and backers, I might be able to pursue my dream of helping create more successful cross-border technology companies in the Philippines. I was fortunate to partner with the right groups, Dado Banatao of Tallwood Venture Capital and the Ayala Group, in 2002.
LSEC:In what way does Narra Ventures promote technopreneurship?
Mr. Sandejas: Of course, many people know me for promoting the business networking community, the Brain Gain Network, and for talking and writing a lot about the subject matter. But to put our money where our mouth is, at Narra Venture Capital, we work very hard to locate experienced technopreneurs and the promising young engineers and business people who can or are running truly innovative companies. We partner with them not just by investing with them but by sharing the Narra team’s own wealth of experience. We believe that the best way to encourage more scientists, engineers and business people to take this entrepreneurial path, Narra and others will have to demonstrate that success can be had in a big way from the Philippines. Narra plans to do that.
LSEC:How do you envision the future of technopreneurship. and science and technology in general here in the country?
Mr. Sandejas: We are obviously behind the more industrialized countries in terms of science and technology. However, we should not give up. The recent boom in the Business Outsourcing Business presents an opportunity for the scientific community in the Philippines. Many of the scientific research, laboratory work, analytical work, pilot plant testing, etc., can actually be done in our country at a faster pace and lower cost. To make this happen, we should strengthen our university programs, and develop more engineers, scientists and PhD's. Once we have achieved a certain critical mass, the big global companies will see the opportunity to do some of their scientific work over here. And this will dramatically improve the state of science and technology in the Philippines.
LSEC:What would you advice to those aspiring to become technopreneurs or business-minded science majors?
Mr. Sandejas: Study hard and truly understand profoundly how technology really works. Don’t just master acing the tests by memorizing and solving equations and problems. Go to graduate school abroad if you can and take a technical masters or doctoral degree. Then when you get out of school, continue to study – you will always be catching up on new technologies – and work really hard in a company from which you can learn many things. I emphasize always keeping a solid understanding of your chosen technical areas because that’s the foundation upon which one can innovate. Regarding your first jobs, I suggest that if no TRULY compelling start-up is available a large well –reputed company so you can see how corporate systems work. This model will be a standard of what your future start-ups might have to adopt. All this time, observe business and markets. Learn some basic accounting and business so you can understand what you are told by the accountants, lawyers and general managers who work for you.
Sources:
http://www.philippinebusiness.com.ph/archives/magazine/vol9-2002/9-2/cover_p4.htm
http://www.narravc.com/company/Management.html
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