PayrollHero Welcomes Faburrito!

Posted on June 21, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

Faburrito Fresh Mexican Grills became PayrollHero clients a few months ago and their team has been really enjoying it. PayrollHero’s platform helps the Faburrito team take care of their time, attendance, scheduling and Philippine payroll. As you can see from some of the employee’s clock in photos – they really enjoy the process! (just look at some of their clock in photos)

“Faburrito is a young company that was founded in 2011 and as we are growing, we have tough challenges, one of them is to keep our Human Resource organised. So, I started to open up our main office to support our restaurants in the field and I really had a hard time finding a good HR person who will take in charge with all Payroll, Scheduling, Benefits & Others – Good thing I found PayrollHero who has been helping both the company and the employees in many ways.”
– Chester Alfaro, Support Center Manager, Faburrito

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Do you have a restaurant in the Philippines that needs a payroll solution? Do you want to utilize PayrollHero’s time, attendance, scheduling and payroll platform within your restaurant business? Reach out to our client happiness team for more details.

Update: Philippine Payroll Platform

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

PayrollHero launched it’s payroll platform in the Philippines with a complete cloud based payroll solution to help businesses from Manila, Cebu, Mindanao, Davao and everything in between. Recently we have added even more functionality that enables Philippine companies to not only run their payroll but see their employee’s time, attendance as well as handle scheduling.

Do you own a business that has employees in the Philippines?

PayrollHero understands the 13th Month pay, the difference between Regular and Special holidays, BIR withholding tax, Philippine Government deductions, nighttime differential, plus much more.

If you have questions about how PayrollHero can help your Philippine company, visit our website and click on “chat” – our team would be pleased to help.

—
Free 14 day course on how to start a business in the Philippines!

Inaugural “Better Business Brunch” in Manila

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

I was invited to speak at the inaugural “Better Business Brunch” that New Leaf Ventures was holding at the new Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Fort Bonifacio, Philippines. The New Leaf Ventures team expected about 40 attendees but that number was far exceeded when over 80 people packed into CBTL to take part.

The idea for the Better Business Brunch is to bring in a speaker a month to share details about new technologies and how you can run a better business. I was pleased to be asked to speak at the first event.

My talk was a similar one that I have done for many EO Chapters around the world, except it was condensed to fit the time slot for this event. In my presentation I ran through many of the tools that we use within PayrollHero as well as how PayrollHero itself works for the Philippines. I talked about SlimTimer.com, 15Five, Wikis, Google Docs, Zendesk, Google Hangouts, Facebook, Twitter, Adroll and much more. Overall it was a fantastic event. I think next time they will have to book out the whole place!

PayrollHero Angel Investor And Venture Capitalist Comes To Whistler

Posted on May 17, 2013 by

It’s May, it’s 27°C outside and there’s wall-to-wall sunshine – we couldn’t have asked for a better week to welcome our good friend and angel investor, Nic Lim, to Whistler.

To give you a little introduction, Nic is a venture capital investor from Malaysia, who was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur. In 1999, Nic and his partners started their first dot com international investment company, Catcha, whose long line of success is down to their simple and effective strategy “take proven new media ideas from Western markets and execute them in Asia”. Now, as a shareholder of Catcha, Nic and his business partner Brian Wee built a new venture capital investing company, 8Capita whose portfolio includes mobile customer loyalty app, Perx; mobile game studio, Frenzoo; and e27, a media company focused on growing Asia’s tech startup ecosystem.

Whistler Crash Course: Poutine, Ziptrek and Mountain Biking

“I’m in Whistler for work…but when you’re in somewhere so beautiful it’s not so hard to squeeze some fun in every now-and-then”. – Nic, Partner at 8Capita

This was Nic’s first time to Canada and he admits to being taken in by the spectacular beauty of Vancouver. However, when asked what he thought of Whistler, before commenting on Whistler’s breathtaking mountain-scapes, the Sea-To-Sky Highway or even the wildlife, Nic said:

“I really like the food here in Canada!” and proudly followed up with “and I’ve even had poutine…but I had to get a doggy bag. I don’t understand how you eat all of it.” – Nic

We agree that the food in Whistler is great, but felt we needed to show him more of the outdoor lifestyle and what better way than biking to the office through the rainforest. The next morning Nic joined Mike (PayrollHero CEO and President) and Adam (Product Development & Co-Founder) for the 9.9km cycle from Nesters to the Payroll Hero office in Function Junction. “Not only did I ride 10km to work this morning, I also had to walk the 2km to Mike’s house before we set off” said Nic. But even after admitting that it had been over ten years since he had last pedalled a bicycle, Nic said:

“This is such beautiful place, why would anyone drive!”. – Nic

Like the rest of us here in Whistler, Nic is not stranger to adventure and loves nothing more than a burst of adrenaline in his veins. Nic is a seasoned bungee jumper and seeking a similar thrill he sought out the high speed, high-wire fun of ZipTrek. We offered the possibility of a company bungee jump, but in his words, “at 38 I need to slow down, I’ve had enough of vertical free-fall for now”. We didn’t mention that at in Whistler we regularly see downhill mountain bikers in their late 50’s.

How did PayrollHero Meet Someone Like Nic?

Nic says his path first crossed with PayrollHero when he and Mike were sat next to each other at the Echelon awards in June 2012. “We got chatting and it turned out we had mutual friends” said Nic, “then I saw their their pitch, and it was their intensity and preparedness that really attracted me to Steve, Mike and PayrollHero”.

Now as angel investor in PayrollHero, Nic is an integral part of helping us achieve our goal of ‘Optimizing Work Productivity with Happiness’. After nine months with PayrollHero, Nic now calls himself the ‘Payroll Hero Cheerleader’ – interesting for a guy who thinks he’s now too old to bungee jump.

It has been exciting having Nic here in Whistler with us, he really is a good guy, a good laugh, a good friend and an excellent business man!

Move to Whistler For A Career In Software Engineering With PayrollHero

Posted on May 7, 2013 by

If you were to ask most people in town why they moved to Whistler, British Columbia they would reel off answers like skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking and summer nights by the lake; the rest would say they were on a gap-year and most on a career break, but very few (if any) would say they moved for the perfect job.

With such a transient community Whistler has a bit of bad reputation for employment, but it’s PayrollHero’s goal to change that…one well-paid happy, adventurous employee at a time.

Just in case you still have doubts, later on we’ll introduce you to our most recent success story – Florent Lamoureux, all the way from historic Bordeaux, France.

Keep on reading this post for why more and more career-focused people are moving to Whistler and how, together, we could make it happen for you.

Work to live and live to play

CEB uncovered that one of the top 5 reasons an employee would quit his/her job in 2012 would be to pursue a better ‘work-life balance’. So if you’re already feeling underwhelmed with your current work-life situation, the only way is up when you move to somewhere as recreation-focussed as Whistler, British Columbia.

Swap your stressful highway commute for a walk or a bike ride through acres of lush green coastal temperate rainforest; and on the way home you could even stop for a game of beach volleyball or an evening BBQ at one of four lake-side beaches.

* Does this look like the life you’d like? You should get in touch and tell us a little about yourself. Maybe we could work together.

But isn’t moving stressful?

Psychiatrists Holmes and Rahe listed changing working conditions and moving house in their top 43 most stressful life events for adults. We know moving is never going to be easy, but there are a few things PayrollHero can do to help ease the ‘typical’ stresses of relocation.

#1 Stress: Finding a house

PayrollHero has staff housing for our new-into-town employees. On arrival Florent and his girlfriend moved into their own apartment right in Whistler village to help them get orientated as quickly as possible.

#2 Stress: That awkward gap between pay checks

In our PayrollHero staff housing, Florent received his first month rent free, second month at 70% off and third month at 50% off! We also have an office meals program to help keep everyone happy and healthy. Our commitment to happy employees doesn’t just stop there, our aim to also to have the highest average wage in Whistler. All added up, that should give you a few months of financial ease to help you settle in.

#3 Stress: Settling in and making friends

Making friends is easy in Whistler because everyone is here for the same reason – to have fun in the outdoors while striking a sustainable work-life balance in the mountains. Our employees enjoy regular activities paid for by PayrollHero, annual staff retreats and access to some of the world’s best biking and hiking trails right outside of our office.

My Move to Whistler: Florent Lamoureux

Name: Florent Lamoureux,

Social: @Flrent, Florent on LinkedIn, GitHub

Age: 22

Home: Bordeaux, France

Education: Masters Degree in Computer Sciences

School: SUPINFO International University

Reason for moving to Canada: To spend more time in the great outdoors and perfect his English.

What Florent thinks about his move to Whistler and PayrollHero:

“The slogan of Payroll Hero is ‘optimizing work with happiness’ and that’s something I felt with the company and Mike, right away. They made my move (with my girlfriend) very easy – they even came to pick us up from the airport. Since then I have enjoyed a great work environment, free food at the office and company activities in the summer. From the point of view of my work, I can use my JavaScript, web and mobile knowledge, while learning new skills like Ruby, and attending educational conferences with my co- workers, too.”

Do you feel the pull of the mountains, too? Are you our next PayrollHero Adventure Engineer? We’re always open to meeting new happy creatives from all over the world.

What to do now? Drop us and email right here at support[at]payrollhero.com. Be sure to include all the best bits about yourself and why you think you’d be a good fit at PayrollHero.

Post by Payroll Hero.

Recap: Crocodile in the Yangtze Asia Premier

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

Last night we hosted the Asia premier of the film Crocodile in the Yangtze in Manila, Philippines. We flew the director, Porter Erisman in for the event to speak to the group and do a question and answer session after the screening. It was a fantastic night!

The Crocodile in the Yangtze is a fantastic film that looks at the rise of China’s first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China’s first global Internet company, Alibaba Group.

A big thanks to Amazon Web Services and EO Philippines for sponsoring the event along with us to make it happen.

*More photos here

Porter Erisman (left) taking questions after the screening

Porter Erisman and Mig33 CEO Steven Goh

STAC Silicon Valley Announces 2012 ON3 Winners (PayrollHero WINS!)

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

Exciting news! PayrollHero was chosen as one of the 2012 ON3 Winners and will receive a 3 month immersion package in Silicon Valley provided by Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California. Below is the press release that was just sent out to announce the winners. We are excited to amongst such a great group of startups!

A big shout out to Tin Sanchez and Nico Suria of the PayrollHero team who pitched at the event! Great work!

– – –

Contact: Christina Laskowski, President
STAC Silicon Valley
(415) 425-1900

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STAC Silicon Valley Announces 2012 ON3 Winners
NEXTIX, Payroll Hero and SpellDial Win Plug and Play Tech Center Immersion

April 10, 2013 – Palo Alto, CA and Manila, Philippines – The Science & Technology Council officially announced the 2012 ON3 winners which include NEXTIX (GroupJump and Mii Move), Payroll Hero and SpellDial. The path of the 2012 ON3 Finalists started a year ago in April when each company presented their 3-minute pitch to a panel of judges during one of the four Regional competitions held in Davao, Cebu, Pangasinan and Manila. “The judges during the coaching sessions challenged us each time to justify our technology, target market, and team.” says Bobby Suson, Founder of GroupJump. “We used their feedback to finalize our presentation for competition day and we have been looking forward to the 2012 announcement.”

The ON3 competition is one that has an extremely unique format. ON3 takes place twice a year in the Philippines beginning with the Regional competitions hosted in cities across the country. There are two competitions in Luzon to enable participants from the northern and southern communities to participate, one in the Visayas and one in Mindanao. The best performers of the Regional leg come together to compete in the final competition where they are judged by a panel of angel investors, venture capitalists and professionals for their pitch performance. The short list of companies are then required to demonstrate ability to execute their business model over a period of three months and submit monthly reports. Companies that demonstrate an ability to execute and achieve milestones are then considered for the grand prize of a three month immersion package provided by ON3’s Platinum sponsor Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, California.

Plug and Play Tech Center is a global accelerator providing a unique platform to help international companies succeed. “As a judge during the Regionals in Manila, the entrepreneurs demonstrated their drive and approach to solving a global problem using technology and I am confident that the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the Philippines is headed toward success,” says Saeed Amidi, CEO of Plug and Play. To help facilitate their immersion, ON3 2012 winners will be supported in part through a grant from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which will help offset the living expenses during their three month stay in Silicon Valley. The Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has championed the cross border partnership and development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem supporting STAC SV and its ON3 program. The private sector support has been led by Novare Technologies, SMART Communications, and Globe Telecom who not only support ON3 but each are active in contributing to the ecosystem independently.

ON3 is a nationwide business plan search for emerging technology companies in the Philippines. In August 2009, The Philippine Government (Departments of Science & Technology, Trade & Industry and Foreign Affairs) signed a Memo of Agreement with STAC-SV to formalize a working relationship that together would create a platform in the Philippines designed to support efforts of local entrepreneurs, scientists and graduate students with attractive global business models. The prototypeON3 competition was launched at the 2010 eServices conference serving as the first competition of its kind in the Philippines. Jojo Flores, co-founder of Plug and Play Tech Center who also serves as Vice President of STAC-SV, led the event and currently serves as the ON3 Director.

About STAC Silicon Valley. The Science & Technology Advisory Council-Silicon Valley is a 501c3 non-profit organization that serves as an advisor to the Philippine Government in the areas of Science & Technology to promote entrepreneurship, support R&D investments by DOST and foster innovation. The organization’s members operate the ON3 Acceleration Program and are building a platform that will help support viable global businesses. STAC Silicon Valley is a partner of The Global Entrepreneurship Program, a U.S. State Department-led effort to advance entrepreneurship in emerging markets and developing countries. For more information about STAC SV: www.excelr8.org. For more information about GEP: http://www.state.gov/e/eb/cba/entrepreneurship/gep/index.htm

About NEXTIX Groupjump. Groupjump is a social and mobile e-group networking site that allows users the ability to fully control and manage the security and privacy of their virtual social groups. Groupjump can easily be accessed anywhere too—through the web, and mobile devices. For more information: www.groupjump.com

About NEXTIX Mii Move. MiiMove is the app that allows seamless real-time coaching and interaction between students and coaches around the world so you can improve and master any sport you like. Its platform enables users to engage the services of professional coaches from anywhere in the world, receive real-time instruction and analytical data to improve one’s game all on a social e-learning platform. For more information: www.miimove.com

About Payroll Hero. PayrollHero is a Consumer-friendly Time, Attendance, Scheduling and Payroll app that is in the cloud built for web and mobile. For more information: www.payrollhero.com

About SpellDial. Spelldial is an app that allows customers to remember names not numbers. Its platform enables users, merchants and brands to stay connected whenever wherever. For more information: www.spelldial.com

About Plug and Play Tech Center. Plug and Play Tech Center is a thriving Silicon Valley global accelerator that hosts a community of over 300 startups from all over the world. It accelerates growth of its startups via strategic partnerships, including 170 investors who participate in regular screening sessions exclusive to Plug and Play members. For more information: www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

About Globe and Kickstart Ventures. Globe™ is a leading telecommunications company in the Philippines whose mission is to transform and enrich lives through communications by way of its vision of making great things possible. Kickstart Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom, is an angel fund dedicated to investing and incubating Philippine start-ups. It is committed to build innovative businesses in cooperation with like-minded individuals and organizations by providing funding, mentorship and education. www.kickstart.ph

About Novare Technologies. A Philippine flag carrier with global reach in the world of strategic consulting, Novare Technologies continuously provides business value to its customers through its excellence and innovation, driven by best-in-class people. Novare offers a comprehensive, 360-degree approach to solutions architecture through consultancy, solutions development, and support: from backend integration of various solution vendor technologies, to the development and customization of multiple front-end applications on different platforms, Novare is a trusted partner of some of the most prestigious names in the Telecommunications and the Financial Services industries. Staffed by more than 130 professionals, it is headquartered in Hong Kong, with its Regional Operating Headquarters in Makati, Philippines, and branches in Silicon Valley, USA and Beijing, China. For more information: http://www.novare.com.hk/

About SMART Communications. Smart Communications, Inc. (SMART) is the Philippines’ leading wireless services provider with 49.0 million subscribers on its GSM network as of end-December 2011. SMART has built an international reputation for innovation, having introduced world-first wireless data services, such as Smart Money (the world’s first electronic wallet linked to a mobile phone), Smart Load (electronic prepaid top-ups in sachet denominations), Smart Padala (mobile-based remittance service) and the Netphone (Android-based operator feature phone). SMART is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Philippines’ leading telecommunications carrier, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company which is listed at the New York Stock Exchange. For more information: www.smart.com.ph

2 Days of Training (Zendesk and PayrollHero)

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

Our office in the Philippines is used by quite a few companies for events. We have, what we call, a “think tank” that works great for events. We have been the location for Google, Amazon and most recently been asked to host an event for Zendesk.

Zendesk is running a day long session on April 17th 2013 in our think tank and since Zendesk and PayrollHero share a few customers we thought it would make sense to run a bootcamp of our own the day before to make it easy for companies that wanted to attend both.

Join us!

PayrollHero – April 16th 2013 (Register Here)
Zendesk – April 17th 2013 (Register Here)

PayrollHero Manila Bootcamp Recap

Posted on March 28, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

We ran the first PayrollHero bootcamp in Manila, Philippines the other day and it was a great success. We had a full house of customers interested in learning more about the PayrollHero platform and how the time, attendance, scheduling and payroll functionality works within their operations. Below are a few pictures from the event… hopefully you can make our next bootcamp!

(above: Nick Franklin, Zendesk Head of Southeast Asia Sales dropped by to showcase the Zendesk product)

(above: Anna, Cres and Tin, PayrollHero bootcamp leaders)
541233_584423674904039_2134292382_n (above: Tin getting the bootcamp setup)

Crocodile in the Yangtze: Asia Premier Screening (& Contest)

Posted on March 17, 2013 by Stephen Jagger

Exciting news! PayrollHero has arranged for the Asia Premier of the film “Crocodile in the Yangtze” to be showcased in the Philippines. We have put together an exclusive event and we are flying in the director, Porter Erisman, to join us!

A big thanks to EO Philippines and Amazon AWS for sponsoring the event along with us to make it happen. While the event is invite only, we are giving away 2 tickets – all you need to do is head over to the PayrollHero Facebook page and comment on why you should be chosen to attend. We will pick two lucky people to join us.

About Crocodile in the Yangtze:

Crocodile in the Yangtze follows China’s first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China’s first global Internet company, Alibaba Group. An independent memoir written, directed and produced by an American who worked in Ma’s company for eight years, Crocodile in the Yangtze captures the emotional ups and downs of life in a Chinese Internet startup at a time when the Internet brought China face-to-face with the West.

Crocodile in the Yangtze draws on 200 hours of archival footage filmed by over 35 sources between 1995 and 2009. The film presents a strikingly candid portrait of Ma and his company, told from the point of view of an American fly on a Chinese wall who witnessed the successes and the mistakes Alibaba encountered as it grew from a small apartment into a global company employing 16,000 staff.