This week we had the opportunity to talk to a local inspiration! Today we present to you Mr. Pete R., a self made entrepreneur looking to conquer his dream right out of the street of the city of Angels. Just back to Bangkok after another-one of his experience seeking travels, this is what he had to tell us about becoming your own man in these modern times: 
This week we had the opportunity to talk to a local inspiration! Today we present to you Mr. Pete R., a self made entrepreneur looking to conquer his dream right out of the street of the city of Angels. Just back to Bangkok after another-one of his experience seeking travels, this is what he had to tell us about becoming your own man in these modern times:
1- It is obvious you are a lot more than just a designer, would you mind to give a small introduction of yourself?
I’m Pete, the Founder of Travelistly, a Reddit for travelers, the founder of MyColorScreen which was sold to a US company a while back and finally the founder of The Pete Design, a small design operation I am currently running. My main expertise lies in the field of entrepreneurship, UI/UX design/development and Ruby on Rails. I’m all in for building niche startups that connect people together. I’m also an avid solo traveler traveling the world one country at a time.
2- Looking at your portfolio is easy to see you are quite diverse in the projects you take on, what personal project are you involved in as we speak?
Wow, I just realized I am doing so many things right now: 1. I’ve recently built a humor + experiment website combining storytelling and e-commerce over at #IAMNOTCHINESE. 2. I’m also giving out free jQuery plugins every week at The Pete Design. 3. I write inspirational and travel blog at BucketListly Blog 4. I run BucketLlistly and Travelistly on a daily basis (design, development, marketing, user acquisition, etc.) 
3- When it is time to develop a new website, what are your weapons of choice when it comes to software?
I usually start out with a wireframe in my mind and draft it on Adobe Illustrator. Once the design is approved, I’ll laid the foundation down with Textmate using Bootstrap framework and Compass for CSS.
4- What has been your biggest achievement so far?
Not sure if it’s the biggest achievement but here are things I can say I’m really proud of: Related to Business: 1. Sold my first company, MyColorScreen at the age of 23. 2. Launch my first iPhone app (designed by me, built by freelancers) In general: 1. Trek the Himalayan Mountain Range (Annapurna Base Camp) alone to the base camp and back in 7 days at 24. 2. Started traveling alone 4th May 2013, and now May 2014, I’ve traversed 10 countries. 
5- We have a lot of students looking to become free lancers, any advice on how to do it effectively and successfully?
I’ve learned these through trials and errors: 1. Start blogging. You have the knowledge and you need to position yourself as an expert in the industry. The best way is to write about what you’ve learned and how it can be applied in a real world situation. This will help you amplify your reach and opens you up to more opportunities (guest blogging, more freelance work etc.). 2. Give away your product for free. As a beginner, you want to rush to make as much money as you can with less effort, but that’s not how it works. I gave away 20+ free plugins before I started selling icons. The reason is that at first, you are nonexistent and you need to build a funnel where you can get more exposure for your work. What’s better at giving you exposure than giving away free stuff? 
6- Which artists/designers inspire you Pete?
Usually the outcome of the work involves more than one artist/designer so I believe in looking at brands as a whole for inspiration rather than one individual. Brands with great design DNA are: Stripe, Square, SquareSpace, and Pinterest.
7- As a local yourself, would you mind telling us where we can find entrepreneurial meet ups for new technologies here in Bangkok? We know things are happening, but where?
Usually, you will be able to find awesome meetups at Meetup.com. Many friends of mind are organizing events like Mobile Monday, BKK Web, and Graphic Designers in Bangkok. 
8- Which skills should designers be focusing on now a days? Are websites going to be as important as they are, or should we be focusing on mobile and applications design?
I think designers should focus on skills that are reusable. Skills like the utilization of white spaces, human behavior, typography, UI/UX can be applied and adapt on any platforms.
9- Is there a lot of demand for skilled web designers in Bangkok?
Startups are booming in Bangkok, and they will all need designers to propel their products skyward. There’s no better time to be a designer than now. 
10- What would your advice be for our students who want to make a profession out of the web?
Be observant about everything. Ask questions like “Why do they put this button here?” and “Why do they use this color on call to action buttons?” and understand why it is this way so that you can adapt and apply to your service. Also, be generous and give back to the community (open source your work etc.) as much as you can. You never know what opportunities it will bring.
Check out some of Pete’s awesome free content:
Soweto, Kruger National Park, Victoria Falls – Welcome to Africa by BucketListly from Pete R. on Vimeo. So!! There you have a super inspirational account of what it takes to be your own entrepreneur in our ever-more digitalised world. Hope you guys enjoyed it, it was certainly a pleasure doing the interview 🙂 Come visit us at Web Courses Bangkok! Let us know if there’s anything you’d like to learn in online marketing, web design , graphic design and a lot more!
