Our very own Chief Technology Officer Karen Matala met virtually with Amezmo Founder, Ryan McCullagh.
Last December 20, 1Export's CTO Karen Matala and Amezmo's Founder Ryan McCullagh discussed 1Export’s transition into an online platform and how the start-up coped with the COVID-19 pandemic, along with her experience of deploying Laravel applications using Amezmo.
You can read an excerpt of the article below, or read the entire interview by clicking on this link.
RYAN: How did you come up with the idea for 1Export?
KAREN: Hi Ryan, thank you for having me! 1Export as we position it, is an export e-commerce. The main co-founder is Mel Nava, who is coming from a decade of Exporting experience and is one of the co-authors of the Exporting Guidebook of the Philippines 2018 came up with this idea: Level the playing field of the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and of the MSME (Micro, Small, and Medium enterprises).
RYAN: During the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, did 1Export face any new challenges?
KAREN: At the peak of the COVID-19 here in the Philippines, which was around March 2020, the shipping ports closed because porters got sick and there is a mandatory closure if there are more than 3 employees contracting the virus. Main roads where our trucking and logistics would pass were also closed because of the community quarantines. Suppliers are scared, sick and we even had a supplier casualty because of the virus. Suppliers not being able to fulfill meant buyers getting disappointed. We had 2 months runway given if we do not get any buyer, and the future is as clear as a mud, especially our government leadership was unstable at the time.
Aside from that, the remote culture of the company itself is not ready for everyone. The product engineering team adapted well but the other teams needed a lot more hand holding. Without the other teams being able to adapt to technology, we would not be able to collaborate across-teams and build an actual product. We had onboarding meetings just how to use Google Meet, how to use Trello boards, make and keep digital notes. It was a complete acceleration of Technology adaptation and as the processes became clearer, cracks and loopholes were vividly seen and as we revamped our processes so as the team members we had to let go, replace, and hire anew.
Karen Matala continues to share her experiences on how she grew as a leader, how Amezmo has helped with 1Export’s development needs, and how 1Export continues and plans to develop their business and technology beyond 2020. Click on this link to read the full article written by Ryan McCullagh of Amezmo.
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