Alex Wong grew up drag racing “Fast and Furious style” on the streets of his native Philippines, feeling the wind whip across his face and a full-body adrenaline rush. Soon he found an enclave of like-minded racers to compete against.
“The thrill was in the unpredictability of the outcome,” Wong says. “People with more money, like the son of a mayor, would have all these fans and expensive parts in his car, but people like him would lose in the end. They’d buy all the nice items and install them, but they wouldn’t go together. We were scrappy and strategic about the essentials.”
Wong found ways to win sponsorships that allowed him to take his passion and talent onto the racetracks in the city’s official leagues.
“We would scrounge our way because it’s an expensive hobby,” Wong says. “We’d figure ways to fund our racing, sell exhaust systems, and leverage our reputation. These other kids that admired us would take our advice and use the parts we’re using.”
After setting aside his racing dreams, this WeWork SOMA member took a job at a tech company in San Francisco. The world of Silicon Valley startups was exhilarating.
“Every quarter I’d be on a different team, handling different accounts, or handling different jobs, and got promoted quite quickly,” Wong says. “It was great.”
Until it wasn’t. The recession hit in the early 2000s, shaking up the tech economy. But luckily Wong had learned a thing or two about investments through his father, who had run Sun Microsystems in the Philippines. After moving to Austin to invest in commercial real estate, he was able to retire at 27.
But after six months of sheer boredom, he decided to revisit the racing scene.
“Formula One was in Austin, and I lived in the same apartment where the German engineers were building the racetrack for the U.S. Grand Prix,” Wong says. “I’d be privy to all the race stuff. That’s how Formula Social started.”
Formula One has been growing in popularity in the U.S., but has run a distant second to NASCAR. Wong wanted to fix that.
“People who run motorsports are very old school, and they don’t believe in new ways of engaging fans, like social media or digital platforms,” Wong says. “It’s a fragmented experience, and they’re a very one-sided producer of content. What I wanted to build was a social platform, which was mutually beneficial for both the fans and Formula One.”
After moving back to San Francisco and building out the platform for three years at WeWork SOMA, Wong turned his side hustle into his main project.
“I bootstrapped, and self-funded, and I’m the only founder,” Wong says. “It’s a mix of taking information that’s out there and putting it together and partnering with teams, drivers, and sponsors. It’s a very big and complex project, and it’s a very political sport. So on top of building the platform, I dealt with the politics and culture of motorsports.”
But the project proved to be too much for one person to handle.
“I think the biggest thing that would’ve helped me stay on track was a co-founder,” Wong says. “No one kept me accountable. I was accountable to myself, so there were no checks and balances. The biggest lesson for me is having a co-founder would’ve helped me focus on the tiny victories.”
So Wong put Formula Social on hold. But he still channels his passion for racing by working directly with Formula One drivers to help them build their brands and secure sponsorships. Currently, Wong is working with Alexander Rossi, winner of the Indy 500.
“I’m also working the Austin race in October for the Grand Prix for the marketing arm, responsible for autograph sessions, celebrity appearances, and logistics,” Wong says. “It could be the most mundane thing to the most glamorous thing.”
By Chuljae Lee/Flickr