Design Innovation MA graduate and entrepreneur Jay Marcano has been named Alumnus of the Month for September for his work in developing two start-up companies, including his new business, the project and workflow management software: 'Wippli'.
As Jay prepares for the full launch of Wippli, he took this opportunity to discuss his experience as an entrepreneur, his new project and remote working in the era of Covid-19.
He said: "I started my first business, Brannium, after 3 years working at Revlon, completing my MBA Studies, and learning how to surf. What I'd sought to explore was the ability to work and deliver outstanding creative services to corporate clients from home or anywhere in the world, without the physical space constraints. If I could move near the beach and be truly free while producing great work for thoroughly impressed and satisfied clients without sacrificing my income, I'd know I had succeeded.
"To date, my business has serviced more than 10 top global organisations including Dell Technologies, Aware Super, and LATAM Airlines. All of which were achieved from various locations around the world, a bus in London, beaches at Siargao Island and even stranded at Moscow airport in the middle of a snowstorm!
"As the business got bigger, more sophisticated and genuinely global to the point of working with contractors in Europe, Asia, the US, and clients worldwide, I decided to bring a lot of management functions together by creating a workflow that combined different apps and scripts in a central location. This was where the foundation of my latest venture took root, the project management system we call Wippli.
"After three years of hard work I'm proud to have made my dream for the business a reality. Wippli solves the problem of combining multiple apps to initiate, produce and deliver digital requests from start to end, considering client-supplier dynamics and enabling the "remote work" principles I value so highly, which have become ever more relevant in the era of Covid-19.
"With Wippli, I wanted to create an environment that's user friendly and provides a service that allows freelancers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SME's) to be able to benefit without being prohibitively costly. As a business, we want to be able to provide tailored access for users from across a variety of career paths and industries to allow people to effectively manage their projects from anywhere in the world.
"Part of this worldwide outlook stems from the fact that a couple of years ago I unfortunately lost a contract with a major client with my business Brannium because I made the decision to manage the business from Europe. At the time it was seen as taboo to work remotely, but now people are more accepting of this global way of working and this experience fuelled my conviction that enterprises need a virtual project management system that’s fit for purpose.
“Today, I can proudly say that say that Wippli is finally, truly taking shape and is about to venture into the market. Very soon, the Wippli Beta is going to go live after which we’ll be ready to source funding. I can’t wait for the world to see what we have in store for all of you.
"I've had the good fortune to study across the world, from Harvard University and Wharton Business School in the U.S. to Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Australia. However I loved my time at DMU, from first becoming interested in studying there as I walked through the beautiful campus during my time in Leicester to the memories of my graduation in 2011.
"My advice to current students, graduates and aspiring entrepreneurs is to always see your journey from a point of ignorance. You're here because you're intelligent, that's for sure, but you don't have all the answers, and you'll make a lot of mistakes and hopefully learn from them! Always validate your assumptions and activities by talking to people more experienced than you or with different approaches than yours. See your process and journey as a learning experience and never stop asking questions, even if you think you may look clueless!
"Be open to failure from time to time. Trust me, the journey will come with many shortcomings, but hopefully, the successes will outpace the defeats and you'll learn to have a 'Plan B' if an idea doesn't work out at first, I certainly did."
Find out more about Wippli here.
Posted on Tuesday 28 September 2021