{"id":81807,"date":"2026-02-09T00:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/890603559"},"modified":"2026-02-09T00:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T03:47:18","slug":"solving-business-pain-not-chasing-tech-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/09\/solving-business-pain-not-chasing-tech-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"Solving business pain, not chasing tech trends"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Instead, he talks about people\u2014business owners who barely have time to see their kids, entrepreneurs buried under paperwork, and companies struggling to scale because everything is still written on paper.<\/p>\n

That human-first mindset has shaped Hatchit Solutions, the Cebu-based technology firm Charles founded and now leads as chief executive officer.<\/p>\n

A decade after its humble beginnings, Hatchit has grown into a 30-plus-strong team building software solutions for businesses across retail, logistics, property management, payroll, and more. But the journey was anything but smooth.<\/p>\n

The second-place finish<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hatchit didn\u2019t begin with venture capital or a polished business plan. It started with five fresh computer science graduates\u2014 officemates who decided, almost on a whim, to build websites and simple business systems<\/p>\n

for friends and family\u2014trying to bring order to chaos.<\/p>\n

Their first projects were small and informal. They got paid for every job\u2014but not nearly enough to pay themselves. Still, the work was real, and it revealed something important: businesses didn\u2019t just need software. They needed systems.<\/p>\n

That spark took a sharper shape when the group joined a UnionBank hackathon in Cebu. They didn\u2019t win\u2014but the judges believed in their idea enough to create a special second-place award just for them.<\/p>\n

Instead of celebrating, the team made a harder choice: they spent the prize money on plane tickets and an Airbnb in Manila to compete again\u2014this time against<\/p>\n

tougher, more polished teams. They didn\u2019t win there either. \u201cBut that trip changed everything,\u201d Charles recalled.<\/p>\n

Exposure to Manila\u2019s more competitive tech ecosystem revealed uncomfortable gaps in their work and a hard truth: ideas mattered less than execution, context, and real-world application. They didn\u2019t pursue the original hackathon idea, but years later, Charles and his team would return as mentors, marking their quiet transition from contenders to builders.<\/p>\n

The experience helped shape Hatchit\u2019s founding philosophy: technology should never be the centerpiece\u2014solving business problems should be.<\/p>\n

The cubicle moment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles\u2019 path to entrepreneurship wasn\u2019t linear. He did what many young professionals do. He took a stable job at a Japanese firm in Cebu. The culture was disciplined and efficient, but the rigid schedules, strict controls, restricted internet access, and highly structured corporate culture felt stifling.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had my own cubicle. Very quiet. Very strict,\u201d he recalled. Internet use was limited. Time was clocked to the minute. \u201cI had a calendar beside my desk\u2026 By the third day, I knew it wasn\u2019t for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t laziness\u2014it was longing. Longing to build, to move, to create something that felt alive.<\/p>\n

Walking away from that stability wasn\u2019t easy. But it was honest. Charles returned to entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Coming from a family involved in business, Charles tried his hand at manufacturing and construction. The experience gave him a groundlevel view of how hard business owners work\u2014opening shops early, managing people all day, staying late into the night.<\/p>\n

That grind clarified his purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to use technology to automate operations so business owners can focus on more important things\u2014meeting clients, spending time with their kids, actually living,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Success, however, didn\u2019t come instantly. Charles tried forming teams\u2014twice\u2014and failed. Only on the third attempt did Hatchit finally find its footing.<\/p>\n

Technology should never be the centerpiece\u2014 solving business problems should be.<\/p>\n

Technology as relief, not noise<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, Hatchit employs more than 30 people, many of whom started as interns. Charles is deliberate about mentorship, partnering with Cebu universities and grooming young developers into senior roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe in growth,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re also strict with our process. Not everyone gets in.\u201d<\/p>\n

That balance\u2014supportive yet disciplined\u2014defines Charles\u2019 leadership style. He doesn\u2019t micromanage. Instead, he builds systems that allow people, and even his other businesses, to run without him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spend 90 percent of my time on Hatchit,\u201d he said. \u201cThe rest of my businesses only need 10 percent because they\u2019re automated.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its first decade, Hatchit focused almost entirely on customized solutions, taking the time to deeply understand each client\u2019s industry before building anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t automate what you don\u2019t understand,\u201d Charles said.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/strong> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When tech<\/span> entrepreneur Charles Anthony Yu talks about technology<\/span>, he rarely starts with … focused on choosing the right technology<\/span>\u00e2\u0080\u0094 sometimes simpler, but more sustainable … technical. Convincing business owners that technology<\/span> was an investment rather than …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-81807","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81807\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}