About
I created Readcord with the hope that it would help parents and their children stay connected, even when they are apart.
Hi, I'm PhilipRonnie
I’m a military veteran, husband, and proud father of three amazing kids. When I’m not coding for work or spending time with my family, you'll often find me up late working on Readcord.
Readcord - Origins
I was born into a wonderful, close-knit family, but just a few months after my birth, my dad left our small town in the Philippines and moved to San Francisco to seek better work opportunities and support our family.
This was in the late 80's so staying connected across such a long distance was a challenge. However, my parents made use of a sweet and novel solution to keep our family close: voice-recorded cassette tapes.
My mom would record messages for my dad, with me and my older sister in the background, while my dad would respond with his own stories and updates for us. These tapes were exchanged about once a year, passed along by people in our community who traveled between the Philippines and San Francisco.
After seven years of hard work and sacrifice, my parents were able to reunite our family in San Francisco. Ten years later I enlisted into the United States Marine Corps.
I would go on to deploy to Iraq with the Marines in 2008, and during that deployment I saw again, though this time through a different lens, the impact that separation has on families.
To parents separation meant missed bedtime stories, missed voices, and missed opportunities to see your children grow. And to kids, especially those with parents serving overseas, separation meant missed love, missed moments, and sometimes—unfortunately—missed forever.
I would go on to serve seven years of active duty in the Marines before leaving to pursue my education at Stanford University.
During my last year at Stanford I began building the first prototype of Readcord. However, after graduating, I put Readcord on hold in order to focus on pursuing a career that would help provide for me and my wife. But as our family grew I remembered my ambitions for Readcord, so I continued to build upon the prototype, working towards making it fully functional for our family.
Today, with the help of my amazing family including our kids and their aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents, not only do we have a personal Readcord library that our entire family can enjoy, but we also have a product ready to share with you and the rest of the world.
We’re currently providing special offers to select groups within our local community, including first responders and military service members.
If you'd like to learn more about our special offers, please feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear from you.
-PhilipRonnie Quiambao
email: pr@readcord.comReadcord - Inspired By
While at Stanford, I took a class called Child Development and New Technologies. This course deepened my understanding of the positive impact technology can have on families when used thoughtfully. Since then, I’ve been developing Readcord with the goal of being able to offer families an experience that blends technology with meaningful connection.
My time in the Marine Corps taught me a great deal about the value of serving others. In particular, the role I held during my final years of active duty—coordinating and performing military funeral honors for Marine veterans—had a profound impact on how I view service as a life’s work.
Since leaving the Marine Corps, I’ve been searching for new ways to serve others. This search has ultimately led me to create and release Readcord.
Romans 12:6 calls us to use our gifts in humble service. Throughout my life, I’ve always seen creativity as one of the greatest gifts God has given me. From this gift, along with my life experiences, came Readcord.
My hope for Readcord is that it becomes a valuable tool that serves families worldwide and that through my work with it, I can share God's love with others.