It was not too long ago when we were first tasked to prepare and generate an idea that would possibly revolutionize not just the Philippines, but the world. I could still remember the nerve-wracking experience in our first week for the most petrifying subject, Technopreneurship.
A lot of hearsays filled the dimly lit hallways; an eerie atmosphere filled the rooms. Don’t exert too much effort. You’ll never pass on your first take anyways. Words of discouragement poisoned the students’ minds and most of their strengths were quickly thieved from them. I, for one, was a victim. But, I can only blame myself if I let those words sink into my thoughts.
We all had a seed. However, we were still too clueless about the ways to properly plant, care, and harvest the possible fruits of our labor. To have an innovative mind is not like studying an algorithm for programming. It was hard to think of an idea that would evade rejection given that there are a lot of successful and world-revolutionizing innovations that are currently existing.
***
From our first meeting, we were given two weeks to think of an idea. We were all of sudden in a panic from a calm state of minds. I can still remember how I prepared for my ideas. I had five propositions and all of them were mobile applications. I did not know what to really propose yet. All I knew back then was the application should be simple and easy to grasp.
It was then the time for our third meeting. We were asked if there would be someone who would want to present their ideas, given the long period of time. No one volunteered. No one raised their hands. Everyone was pinpointing and pushing each other to present but no one stood up in front of the class.
Wrath and rage filled the room because of the disappointments our facilitator felt. We were thrown out of the room. The panic we have been feeling for weeks simply rose higher than ever before. It felt like I was on the brink of giving up. I knew in myself that I had prepared for that day yet I doubted myself. I was even disappointed with myself more.
As a result of our neglect, we did a total of 27,000-word reflection in just a week. During those times, I said to myself, “This won’t happen again.” I knew I had to be prepared and ready for the upcoming meeting because I was so sure that I would present my idea to the class. Out of the five ideas that I had generated, I ended up feeling confident to two ideas. One of it was called, Veggienity.
Words in oral and written were prepared. My pitch and presentation were done and I made myself ready for any criticism and question that would be thrown at me. It was then the time I planted my seed.
I was the first presenter for our class. A feeling of discomfort filled the room. I was shaking inside but I knew I had to do it. It was a now-or-never experience. My first pitch started.
***
The idea of Veggienity is to help control and reduce the victims of food poisoning. The root causes of food poisoning are unlabeled products in palengkes, mass and continuous production of fake and toxic vegetables, as well as unclean and double-dead meat. These ongoing problems have caused a lot of damages, especially in the Philippines. Thousands have been victimized by this problem yet there is a little to no solution that is existing to solve the issue. Consumers are not only deprived of their health but their money as well.
This is why I knew I had to at least do something about it as a part of the society. Veggienity is a mobile application that analyses products such as vegetable and meat using digital image processing and deep learning to determine its toxicity and freshness. What if every consumer who is fond of buying products in wet-markets have a mobile application that could save their families’ lives and their lives as well? It would really be of great help to the community.
Even vendors that intend to cause harm just to gain income would even be greatly reduced in numbers. With the help of deep learning, the physical characteristics of the products would be analyzed. Its colors, structure, and other determining factors will be accurately analyzed. Additionally, pairing it with the digital image processing simply makes it quick and efficient.
***
I ended my first pitch and I was told to ask questions to my classmate. Most of them were intrigued by the idea of deep learning. However, I was able to answer that the technology of artificial intelligence will be fed with samples so that it will grow intelligently as time passes by. Aside from that, questions such as gaining income were even asked.
I plan to have an annual subscription and in-app purchases to gain income. The consumers will greatly benefit from these purchases because this will give them access to features such as a double-dead meat detection and more access to products, not only limited to a few numbers of vegetables.
I thought I was able to suffice the words the class wanted to hear but no. Our facilitator knew it lacked with a lot of features. He then raised a question about a possible breach of data privacy in relation to the Data Privacy Act of 2012 or the RA 10173 since there was a necessity to capture images of products. I was dumbfounded and I thought of an impromptu answer to the question. I tried but I was clueless. I did not even know that the republic act was existing back then.
Fortunately, I was given another chance to fix my application and I was left hanging. It was not the best decision but I knew I had to deal with it. I thought the application was going to be rejected but maybe, our facilitator knew there was a potential greatness from the application that was kept within.
***
I planted the seed. I watered with the right amount of water and gave it the right amount of sunlight. However, I was not seeing the results. The seed was still not visible from the surface but I did not stop taking care of it. Two to three weeks have passed and the panic came back again.
We heard that our facilitator would not be available soon and I knew for myself, I had to prepare and pitch my idea for the second time. The night before the pitching day, I prepared my powerpoint and made an unorganized outline of my pitch. I practiced a few lines but I was not able to master it during that night. Again, the now-or-never experience came back. It was then the time for pitching and there were 5 presenters for that day. I was the fourth one.
On a side note, before I presented, Daniella, a member of the team Centsilyo pitched their idea. The team Centsilyo was a part of the finalists for the Philippine Start-up Challenge. All of the sudden, my hopes were pulled down. I was not discouraged but it was honestly an awful feeling to have someone better present their ideas first.
My idea was rather hilarious. I made sure that I would kill the negativities in the room so I used some of the words of the previous presenter to make fun of myself. Fortunately, it was effective. I used terms that have a double meaning for my presentation. I changed my application like it was a new one.
New technologies were integrated and the soul of idea evolved. It was still Veggienity but I decided to focus only on vegetables to emphasize the branding. Aside from that, I also emphasized its relation to virginity, making more connection to the freshness of vegetables. Geotagging, crowdsourcing, and augmented reality were added to the application. From the sole scanner, I gave the application more technologies that enhance its value proposition. But, what made it better than the last idea for me is that its capability to take advantage of the RA 10173. The problem of possible privacy breach could now be solved using the feature of detecting and preventing unauthorized capture while keeping the product scanning.
***
The other four fingers were folded, and the thumb was raised. The idea was approved. The seed that I had planted and taken care every day finally showed a speck to the surface. The seed evidently grew and it made me unexplainably happy. The plant still could not bear fruit yet but hopefully, I will be able to harvest the fruits of my labor and let other people taste it. This was the idea of Technopreneurship and I am happy to say that I am currently on the right path. Now, new challenges will be taken care of. Pests and weeds will try to stop the seed from growing but I will surely take care of it. Hopefully, this first seed will flourish and signify success in the future.
Null and Void 