In this Developer Feature series, Spiffy talks to up-and-coming developers to learn what makes them tick. This time around, we have Steve Sng, the CEO and founder of startup LoveByte, a young growing company with the aim of bringing couples closer using technology.
###3 1) Describe yourself in three words.
Determined, competitive, problem-solver.
###3 2) What motivated you to start LoveByte?
There isn’t a beautiful story behind LoveByte. It was an entirely different product back in 2010 (it was an online search collaboration website similar to Socl - http://www.so.cl/) and it didn’t take off. So my mentor and I were thinking of how to pivot the failed product. Probably because both of us love our girlfriend a lot, we decided to pivot it into an app for couples to “collaborate” and share things privately online. But the first version wasn’t good either. It was a web app and it didn’t stick. So we pivoted it into a mobile app, and that’s what the current LoveByte is.
###3 3) What are the challenges you faced while starting LoveByte?
The main challenge is getting investor to support the product. I would say all the investors in Singapore (at that time) are followers. They follow trend. Before Y-Combinator startup Couple/Pair and Korea’s Between became big, the investors were skeptical about the product. None of them want to commit. One investor I spoke to said “it is not social, it won’t work”; everyone is investing in social products at that time.
###3 4) What advices would you give to other aspiring developers?
I think it’s a dream for most developers to be able to join and work in big tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Facebook. But I would say join a startup first because in a startup you will be able to work on many areas of product development. And when the startup grows, you will grow with it too, your skill and your reputation.
###3 5) What’s next for LoveByte?
LoveByte has not changed much for the past 2 years. The v1.4 you see now is pretty much the same as the v1.0 you would see 2 years ago. But we are now working on a very different v2 that is more in line with our mission helping couples stay loving.
###3 6) What’s next for you?
Most people see me as a good programmer/developer/engineer because of my background and past experiences. However, I would like to step out of that image and show people that I am an even better entrepreneur. So while I am still the CTO in LoveByte, I will move away from development work and focus more on product planning, operation and communication.
###3 7) Tell us something people might be surprised to learn about you?
I was offered an opportunity to join Facebook in 2012 (before its IPO) but I turned it down because LoveByte was about to launch and I thought I can achieve more with LoveByte. So far, I have not regretted my decision but I hope I can get another opportunity to work in the US in the future.
###3 8) How can people find you if they want to learn more about yourself?
They can find me on Twitter (@stevesng) or contact me directly via email (steve@lovebyte.us).