How does a busy person like foodpanda CEO Daniel Marogy unwind and de-stress? Simple: riding.
After more than a decade of living in the Philippines, Dan recently revisited an old hobby and has now gotten back on the saddle. How has riding helped him and his work at the helm of one of the country’s top food and grocery delivery platforms?
After more than a decade of living in the Philippines, Dan recently revisited an old hobby and has now gotten back on the saddle. How has riding helped him and his work at the helm of one of the country’s top food and grocery delivery platforms?
Category
🚗
MotorTranscript
00:00 Hi, my name is Dan. I'm CEO of FooPanda Philippines and I've been here in the Philippines since 2009.
00:07 I'd definitely have to say the people. I think you notice as soon as you leave the Philippines just how nice and warm and friendly the people are.
00:19 Whenever I'm overseas I kind of get reminded that that's probably the main selling point of the Philippines, the people.
00:26 I try to ride every week. Around here in Rizal area, Tanay, is usually where I go. Sometimes Tagaytay area and Usupu, but mainly here.
00:35 Okay, so I think if it was anywhere, Patagonia in South America. I think that would be awesome.
00:41 In the Philippines, I would love to go right to the north, Pagodpud area. I think that would be great.
00:47 I think what makes it difficult is it's very, very technical. I think anyway more technical than, or at least feels more technical than four wheels.
00:54 You really have to constantly be polishing technique and then also challenging yourself to do things that aren't always that natural, right?
01:02 Like leaning, you know, not squeezing the brake too hard at certain points because you might break traction.
01:07 At the same time, the fact that you're exposed and you don't have a shell around you means that the whole experience is very exciting. It's really thrilling.
01:14 You see a lot of motorcycle cafes popping up. There's one in Makati that popped up. I saw one in Ortega the other day.
01:20 I guess that's bringing people together with similar interests, also offering things like customization and so on.
01:26 So I think it's very vibrant. I find it's good for de-stressing. I think that in a way it's a bit like meditation, right?
01:32 Like you have to focus on one thing. That's your riding, right? Like in the road conditions.
01:37 So in a way, you're focused on that one thing and you're not thinking about anything else. So I find it actually quite relaxing.
01:44 First bike was a Triumph Speed Twin 1200. I have another Triumph, a Tiger 660 Sport.
01:52 I think you just find more members, right? Like obviously we've got lots and lots of delivery partners.
01:57 Within our head office as well, there are some people who ride bikes and I think it's more about just getting all of those people together and doing as much together as we can.
02:06 We act fast. We do it fast. We decide fast. We are always after time. That's kind of the culture.
02:12 Corporate stress piles up. It's normal. Then you have to come up with an outlet.
02:16 We try to organize some short rides that can be combined between work and the hobby itself.
02:22 If a company allows an employee to pursue multiple hobbies, they strive to be excellent in those hobbies.
02:29 Trying to fortify an attitude like that is super relatable to work.
02:33 Because at the end of the day, anything that makes us good makes, as employees, we make Foodpanda good.
02:38 I think, as I mentioned, de-stressing. I think that's definitely one thing.
02:43 I would also say just because biking is very, very technical, you're forced to pay attention to details.
02:49 I think that's quite transferable into managing any business.
02:54 Definitely sort of learning to be agile. I react to changing conditions.
03:00 Things that you see on the road that are actually very, very transferable into managing the Foodpanda business.
03:06 (upbeat music)
03:08 Thank you.
03:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]