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After recently binge-watching the TV show Silicon Valley, it’s exciting and humbling to meet a similar start-up company (Launchpad) in real life, and compare them to the show and cast (who are the Dinesh and Gilfoyle of the group? Are there any Hooli threats? Is there a jaunty Erlich Bachman backing them up?)
David Julien and Arnold Lam are third-year computer engineering students at the University of British Columbia. David came to Vancouver for school almost three years ago, hailing from the town of Oakville, Ontario. Arnold moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong two years ago, and resides with David and three other roommates in Kitsilano. These guys are fresh-faced, young, dorky and laidback. You wouldn’t expect them to tell you they founded and run an app-making company, which has built up to fifty members in less than half a year.
David Julien, Co-Founder and CEO of Launchpad. Photo by Philip Moussavi
Arnold Lam, Co-Founder and CEO of Launchpad. Photo by Philip Moussavi
Justifiably, I had to find out if David and Arnold considered themselves nerdy. They easily confirmed this, with David saying, “we like spending our time being productive, and our weekend feels wasted if we can’t say we learned something new”. Arnold chipped in that being nerdy is “what’s cool nowadays and what our role models are like.” (David and Arnold are both big fans of Tesla’s Elon Musk).
The idea of Launchpad budded after their first Hackathon (a collaborative computer programming event) in March 2015, after David said they saw “a void in passion for technology at UBC and in Vancouver in general." David and Arnold decided it was time to create a community of developers on campus that were interested in new styles of engineering.
Launchpad officially bloomed in September 2015 as, after creating the website, David and Arnold received “a crazy amount of applications within the first week for something that didn’t even exist yet." Launchpad officially incorporated this month, and the team is now taking on contracts.
Arnold described the heart of Launchpad as “a group of students connecting technological innovation with aspiring entrepreneurs.” Launchpad aims to fill the void entrepreneurs feel when they have an idea but lack the skill to bring it to life. The design team uses coding to create an app or website at the fraction of the cost of other companies.
Launchpad at UBC. Photo by Philip Moussavi
When asked if Launchpad is a hobby, side job or a hopeful career, they both answered that Launchpad is a project that they want to take on in university as it allows them to give back to the community and share their passion for technology.
They think they can pass Launchpad on once they graduate. As David puts it, they hope to “get it to a level where it’s able to sustain itself.”
David and Arnold wanted to give a special mention to Srinjoy Chakraborty, the business representative of Launchpad who was unable to attend the interview. Srinjoy applied to the business side of Launchpad, and was filled with so much passion and dedication that he was hired on the spot.
Long-term visions for Launchpad include expanding to other universities and creating a new start-up tech culture where “anyone who has an aspiring idea will have Launchpad in mind so that there are zero barriers when bringing an idea to reality,” said Arnold. When asked if they have any advice for similar budding entrepreneurs, they agreed that research into your niche and market is good fertilizer but audacity is the real sun and water needed for any company to grow.
