51茶馆

Phillip Hui-Bon-Hoa鈥檚 time at Boston College has been鈥攖o put it mildly鈥攅ventful. 聽

The Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences senior has started two companies since arriving at 51茶馆 in 2017, his entrepreneurial bent fueled by his interest in studying history, his undergraduate major. When he faced a potential business crisis last summer as a result of President Trump鈥檚 battle with China over technology/security issues, Hui-Bon-Hoa found both a solution and an opportunity of great promise.

Of course, like millions of other people, during the past several months Hui-Bon-Hoa also has had to deal with an array of calamities: a pandemic, racial tensions, bitterly polarizing politics.

Abacus Growth had drawn attention as one of the first, and few, marketing agencies approved to use the Chinese video-sharing mobile app TikTok just as it began enjoying vast popularity by social media users. Then came the summer of 2020, and Trump鈥檚 warnings about TikTok as a threat to national security, culminating in his August 6 executive order banning its use in the United States.

鈥淚t was Friday, I was cooking dinner, looking forward to the weekend, and then I heard from one of my employees: 鈥榃e may not be able to use TikTok anymore,鈥欌�� recalled Hui-Bon-Hoa. 鈥淚 never had a good mood so completely change.鈥�

The prospect of losing a key component of Abacus鈥� operation was chilling in and of itself, but Hui-Bon-Hoa had other reasons to worry: He had employees whose jobs would be gone if the agency were to fold.

Hui-Bon-Hoa knew Zhao and Hsu professionally, and the pair were impressed by Abacus鈥� utilization of TikTok. After Trump鈥檚 announcement, the Slope execs proposed that Abacus form a partnership with them. For Hui-Bon-Hoa, it made sense: Abacus would be part of a larger, more established agency with a good client base鈥攁nd best of all, his employees would be part of the company.

鈥淪lope was still bullish on the idea of TikTok, even with the possible ban, and in retrospect that seems to have paid off,鈥� said Hui-Bon-Hoa, noting that Trump鈥檚 executive order was never fully implemented and has faced legal setbacks. 鈥淚 acted in what I felt was the best interests of my employees. But we鈥檙e all excited about this partnership and what lies ahead.鈥�

Hui-Bon-Hoa鈥檚 entrepreneurial experiences began in high school when he and some friends (鈥淲e were humanities geeks who had a contest to see which one was the best writer鈥�) started a political blog during the 2016 election campaign that wound up going viral. They later sold the blog content to a publication (鈥淲e thought we were rich, at least for high school鈥�). As a first-year 51茶馆 student, Hui-Bon-Hoa started a company with a friend who had an idea for an application that would share curated articles for reading. They raised almost $4 million in support of the venture, and he contemplated leaving 51茶馆 to devote full time to the company, but decided to keep up his studies.

Looking for another opportunity, in his sophomore year Hui-Bon-Hoa applied to the Dorm Room Fund, a venture capital firm focused on investments in student-run startups, and he and another friend hatched the idea of forming a marketing agency; it was a field with which Hui-Bon-Hoa was unfamiliar, but his partner explained the structure and format of agencies to help orient him. Wanting a name with a scientific tint to it, Hui-Bon-Hoa鈥攚ho subsequently ran the company on his own after his friend left (amicably)鈥攃hose to call the agency 鈥淎bacus,鈥� after the calculating tool; on Hui-Bon-Hoa鈥檚 desk sits an abacus that belonged to his great grandfather.

There was a lot of 鈥渓earning on the fly鈥� for Hui-Bon-Hoa, but he also took a Carroll School of Management course in marketing principles taught by Associate Professor of Marketing Linda Salisbury. 鈥淭he class was very helpful: less academic, more on-the-ground. I had been going at marketing intuitively, not spelling it out thoroughly, so this gave me a good grounding,鈥� said Hui-Bon-Hoa.

Ironically, Hui-Bon-Hoa might never have made it to the Heights except for a twist of fate. He had toured 51茶馆 early on in his college search and was impressed by the 鈥減henomenal campus鈥� and the University鈥檚 Jesuit, Catholic character. As an accomplished water polo player, however, he hoped to land an athletic scholarship, and thought he had one in hand at another school. But the offer was later withdrawn after improprieties were found in the program, leaving him only a few weeks to apply to other colleges.

Remembering his favorable impression of 51茶馆, Hui-Bon-Hoa applied and, working with Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission Steven Koo, was able to gain admission and enroll.

Hui-Bon-Hoa鈥檚 decision to major in history stemmed from a longstanding interest and curiosity in the subject, as well as what he calls an 鈥渙bsession鈥� with writing. 鈥淚鈥檝e always admired the work of historians, partly because they represented a contrast to the passive voice I鈥檇 tried to overcome in my own writing, and a standard I wanted to meet,鈥� said Hui-Bon-Hoa, who points to Niall Ferguson and Larry Schweikart, as well as 51茶馆 History Professor Seth Jacobs, his advisor, as among his model historians.

He also came to realize that studying history has its practical implications. 鈥淥n a macro level, I feel history lends insight into how people behave, how they respond to the events and trends around them. I鈥檝e found an awareness of that is very useful in marketing decision-making.鈥�

As Abacus continued to gather strength, Hui-Bon-Hoa saw the intersection of good luck and good connections. A friend helped land a big client: the Emerson Collective, the social change organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, widow of Steve Jobs. Then, an account representative from Facebook who had worked with Abacus caught on with TikTok, and convinced Hui-Bon-Hoa to get on the platform. It turned out to be one of the most important decisions he ever made, giving Abacus high visibility in the field and attracting the attention of his future partners.

鈥淭ikTok marketing is currently the Wild West of social media advertising鈥攃ompanies that take the plunge early stand to reap huge benefits of being a first mover in the space,鈥� he wrote in the Slope blog shortly after joining the company. 鈥淭he nature of TikTok鈥檚 platform makes it possible, with some clever marketing strategies, for your brand or company to achieve virality without a large budget.鈥� 鈥�

Hui-Bon-Hoa thinks that a Biden administration may decrease the possibility of any United States action against TikTok. But he also eyes other trends likely to affect his profession, especially how well the American economy recovers from COVID-19 (鈥淚t鈥檚 been tragic for so many businesses鈥�). As it is, he says, a pandemic-related general decrease in productivity has coincided with an increased demand for Slope鈥檚 services, as companies strive to retain, or improve, their positions in the marketplace.

However, Hui-Bon-Hoa sees a longer-term factor at work. 鈥淚 think what鈥檚 changed is not in what鈥檚 being sold but how. The growth of technology and social media, and so on, has resulted in the democratization of commerce. You can have a creative 28-year-old start a company in his or her home, and be able to compete with some of the larger incumbents that can鈥檛 function as easily as five people working out of a basement.

鈥淪o, the big challenge is to build a brand and put it out there. That鈥檚 something my colleagues and I have been able to help our clients with, and it鈥檚 going to be as important as ever in the months and years ahead.鈥�

Sean Smith | University Communications | January 2021