Lenddo CEO says building a startup isn’t easy but passion is key

After starting operations in the Philippines in 2011, Lenddo, an online platform that promotes creditworthiness through social reputation, has come a long way and now has over 500,000 users globally. But it didn’t come so easily.

Lenddo co-founder and CEO for Asia Richard Elridge shared some of the experiences he and his team encountered to a group of startups during the recent Startup Grind held in Makati City. Here are some of the key points from his talk:

1. Working at a startup involves continuous learning

Lenddo’s idea came to existence when a number of employees in Elridge’s outsourcing company came to him to ask for loans. Elridge says:

I was amazed as to why they are coming to me and looking to me for money when they could go to a bank. […] We decided to do a research. We were curious.

The research showed that the middle class in the Philippines is starting to grow. And this class also mostly used the internet for social purposes. In addition, in the Philippines, 80 percent of people still didn’t have a bank account.

“I thought, how about we try to put traditional microfinance online?” says Elridge. But he and his team didn’t know how they could make it happen. “It just seemed like a huge idea,” he adds.

They studied the trends further and decided to look at some of the best practices. Here’s what Elridge learned:

Your social reputation is your collateral. And moving is important in the future, that’s going to be very important. [Online] reputation is being formed in many different ways now.

2. Believe in the idea

Gathering all these thoughts together, Elridge and his team was sure that they wanted “to economically empower the emerging middle class.” But at the same time, they didn’t want to be a financial institution. What they wanted is to create was an online experience “that allowed people to join very easily and calculate credit scores” based on social media and other online activity.

In the beginning, Elridge encountered some people who doubted the sustainability of Lenddo. But what he carries with him is the “fundamental vision and passion” for what they are doing.

3. It won’t be easy

If you think turning your idea into reality is easy, it’s not. A successful entrepreneur might be one who does not give up. Many startups can relate to this. So does Elridge. He says:

4. Don’t rush