Ep 75: Scarlett Ong Rui Chern: Passion Plus Perseverance

Diva Tech Talk Podcast

Diva Tech Talk interviewed Scarlett Ong Rui Chern, entrepreneur, founder/ CEO of Peerstachio. Scarlett is the epitome of entrepreneurship: courageous, persistent, agile in approach. She grew up in a small town in Malaysia and left to pursue higher education in the United States. “I had one year of community college in Kuala Lumpur, and then transferred as a freshman into the University of Michigan (https://umich.edu/).” As a 10-year old, Scarlett said: “I was interested in tech, especially the gaming field. I was always interested in the collaborative aspect of tech, the basis of what I am working on, now.”

Scarlett matriculated to the university, after looking for a sense of “community” among colleges. Everyone was friendly. However, “my first year was not a very good year. But I really believed in myself, although I was struggling to adapt to the whole situation,” she said. “Besides being an international student, I was a first-generation college student in my family. And I didn’t have family members around.” Scarlett initially faltered, academically. “It was a shock to realize that I was coming from behind. Not having enough peer support, in an academic sense, brought me into a space where I felt alone, and not sure of what I was doing.” She had to “figure out strategies of how to reach out” for help. Scarlett initially closed herself off, but now “I have grown to be a more open person, more self-aware” knowing when to ask for help. “There are a lot of other students that face this issue, too.”

Scarlett joined the university’s “optiMize Social Innovation Challenge” in freshman year. Her first project created a “gamified” classroom experience for elementary school students. She then entered the university’s business school, with an emphasis on consulting. “I joined a pro bono consulting club on campus.” There, she worked with the famed Zingerman’s, and created a framework to enable past employees stay in touch with the current Zingerman’s community. She discovered that consulting was NOT her personal life mission. “I am the kind of person who likes to get her hands dirty, make ‘hands-on’ impact, see things through,” she said. “This is when passion comes into play. Not only did I pick myself up, but I wanted to create something that would help others pick themselves up.”

Scarlett discovered U of M’s Zell-Lurie Institute, dedicated to advancing knowledge and practice of innovation. “They offer a lot of support in terms of mentorship, grant-funding” She also joined the Michigan Venture Capital Association, as a summer intern, where she worked on the association’s 2017 annual landscape guide and “changed the game” in terms of its data collection, data collation, and interactive reporting. She entered U of M’s CAMPUS OF THE FUTURE competition, which “reimagined” techniques and spaces for teaching and learning in the 21st century. Scarlett and her partners tried to create a “study mentor” using artificial intelligence (AI). Her team was one of 5 finalists that had the unique opportunity to meet with Amazon’s Vice President of Development. From this, Scarlett learned one of her key life lessons: “What makes a startup successful is not just a cool idea. Ours was too far in advance. There wasn’t yet a market for it.” Scarlett shed the original team, and took the kernel of that concept as the foundation for Peerstachio, conceptually launched in September 2017.

Scarlett takes both computer science classes and Udemy courses. “But I knew, deep in my heart, that even though I love tech, I wouldn’t be a professional coder. I partnered with a friend of mine, who is currently our CTO (Chief Technology Officer).” She also recruited a UX designer to implement the “front end” of Peerstachio, while the CTO manages the back end. Scarlett manages fundraising, the company’s overall vision, market research, marketing, competitive analysis, and sales.

Peerstachio’s main mission is to help students improve grades by connecting underclassmen with a trusted cadre of older students, to get academic questions answered in a highly responsive fashion. The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is launched on django, html5, scss and javascript coding stack Website, and sqlite3 (PostgresSQL in future) on the back-end of the site. Scarlett ensured that she validated real customer need by conducting detailed surveys of potential clients. (At the time of our Diva Tech Talk interview, the Peerstachio team had interviewed 110 students, globally.) Scarlett is becoming a highly experienced entrepreneur. For instance, she said “If any startup tells you there is no competition, they need to do more research.” For Peerstachio, “I feel fortunate we have competitors. That means there is a market, and room for us to improve.”

Scarlett thinks that passion, perseverance and sense of purpose are propelling her as well as empathy for the customer. “I would add one more: positivity,” she said. “A ‘growth mindset’ has kept me going.” Scarlett’s fond hope is that she, and others like her, can show that “if you have some goals, and try to get what you desire, that is ultimate happiness.” Her biggest fear is missing something that she could accomplish.

Scarlett’s leadership lessons include: develop deep listening skills, collaborate, be confident and decisive, and lead by example. She stressed that, in a startup, “there is no such thing as 9 to 5. Work and life are intertwined.” To balance that, Scarlett follows a “process of layers of priority” to juggle multiple goals, successfully. Many of those goals are tied to making life better for others. She also recoups energy through exercise and reading, watching videos, and reflecting.

Note: Peerstachio has received grants since this interview including DTX, at TechTown Detroit: https://techtowndetroit.org/?press-release=u-m-startup-peerstachio-receives-inaugural-10000-gm-go-award.

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