How you can use FEAR as a REVERSE Spider Sense

May 30, 2013 By 3 Comments
spideysense

Fear has been my constant companion all throughout my startup career. I remember feeling I might be laughed at as I was about to present my idea to potential partners or investors. I remember that crippling feeling. That extreme doubt I felt when I was about to resign from my fulltime job. I remember hearing all the "no's" in this journey, the disheartening voices and fearing they actually might be right. I remember delaying the first-ever post of Juan Great Leap (JGL) for weeks for fear other people might judge me. After developing several startups (both successes and utter failures), and the unexpected growth of the JGL audience, you'd think I finally would be free from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Life in a Startup, Small Steps, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: ,

How To Assemble Your Startup Entourage

May 14, 2013 By 5 Comments
entourage

(the following is a guest post by multi-awarded entrepreneur Maoi Arroyo) As a junkie of all things startup, I’ve always loved shows like Bloomberg’s TechStars. Whichever season you watch, these entrepreneurship-themed reality shows try to select the best teams as opposed to the best ideas. As Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar, famously said:  “The view that good ideas are rarer and more valuable than good people is rooted in a misconception of creativity. If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they’ll screw it up. But if you give a mediocre idea to a great team, they’ll make it work.” If there’s one thing I learned in the nine years I’ve helped tech-based startups … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP!, TOOLS AND RESOURCES, Wunderkinds Tagged With: , ,

Juan Great Leap Calls on 5 More Student Leaders!

May 10, 2013 By 2 Comments
storm conference room

I'll be meeting around 5 student leaders next Wednesday, 4pm, at the STORM conference room, at Unit 602, Centerpoint Building, along Julia Vargas. The main agenda will be: 1) How to push entrepreneurship and the startup movement in universities 2) How to help student entrepreneurs   (Map here) Our conference room seats around 10 people, so there are 5 seats still free. I wanted to open it up to interested parties. Do you want to join this conversation? If you are an incoming undergraduate student, interested in entrepreneurship, and you're the type of person who gets things done, then you might want to join us. If you are interested, please do send me an email at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANNOUNCEMENTS, GETTING STARTED, Small Steps, TAKE THAT LEAP!, Wunderkinds Tagged With:

Just Start.

May 7, 2013 By 10 Comments
just start

I think sometimes we overestimate what it takes to "start" - especially for those of us who are first-time entreps and don't exactly know what were doing. (welcome thought: I suspect most first-time startup founders fall into this category - everyone starts out feeling stupid) Perhaps we're thinking: "Oh gosh, I need to raise a million bucks." or "I need a technical co-founder who has a 3.8 GPA in computer science." or "To do this I need to resign from my job and risk everything! Need to prepare." or "I need to win one of those startup contests!" You know, if we always think this way, we might never come to the point when we think we're ready to start. It will end up as just some … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Small Steps, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With:

How to Use Consulting as a Bridge Between Corporate and Startup

April 18, 2013 By 6 Comments
stepping stone

I had a great lunch meeting today with a very talented friend who's been working in corporate for nearly two decades already. During that span, he's built impressive credentials and has worked on different projects in his chosen corporate function. "I'm at that point Peter where I'm at a crossroads in my corporate career. If I leave my company now, I can apply for department head in another firm, but then what? I'll be looking at a future of just jumping as department head from one company to the other?" (I was at that same crossroads before, so I could really relate to what he was saying.) A common friend of ours who was managing her own lucrative consulting practice was asking him if … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Life in a Startup, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: , ,

How to take your consulting/freelancing gig to the next level

April 11, 2013 By 5 Comments
one thing

I know quite a number of freelancers and consultants, engaged in a variety of services: design, HR Consulting, programming, writing, training, fitness, and so on. These guys are cool - they are able to live the dream of being their own boss and at the same live comfortably. Some of them are perfectly content with their lifestyle and current circle of clients. I remember one of them telling me recently: "Why should I complicate my life getting more clients?" (For me, this is awesome.) Some of them though, want to expand and are constantly seeking ways to do so. Some have opted to hire an employee or two to help them grow. Maybe more. If you are among the latter category, this article is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, STARTUP ADVICE, TOOLS AND RESOURCES Tagged With: , , , ,

JOIN A STARTUP! – I’ve recently updated our jobs page

March 27, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Updated job openings! Please do find our updated list of job openings in our startup network! You can click on the link at the menu above or just click here.  You can contact either me (at peter@juangreatleap.com) or Angeli (angeli@stormrewards.ph) for queries or to send your resume. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANNOUNCEMENTS, GETTING STARTED, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: , ,

The Software Guru tells the Real Story: On Startups, Bankruptcy, and Attitude (Part 1 of the Joey Gurango Series)

March 21, 2013 By 4 Comments

I remember texting Peter right after my interview with Joey Gurango, which was just days before Startups Unplugged. In my text, I asked Peter about what he thought about posting an uncut version of Joey's interview on JGL. The reason for my suggestion was that after my interview with Joey, I was completely taken aback by the incredible knowledge that he was sharing with me; even though I wasn't a techie, Joey's stories resonated with me and schooled the heck out of me. Everything Joey shared with me just seemed so important, so I wanted to post everything that he said. While I must admit, I've omitted some parts of the conversation to be practical, this is still a very raw version of what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Leadership, Life in a Startup, Mentors, STARTUP ADVICE, Startup Myths, TAKE THAT LEAP!, Wunderkinds Tagged With: , , , , ,

5 Things I’ve Learned from Startups Unplugged

March 13, 2013 By 2 Comments
Justice League by DC Comics

I've been trying to push myself to blog Post Startups Unplugged, and share all the instances of serendipity that truly made this miracle happen. However, I thought that it would be more effective if I were to cut to the chase about what I actually learned from it all. Here it goes! These are the 5 things that I've learned from Startups Unplugged: Ask and you shall receive. I had no shame in asking sponsors to join Startups Unplugged. This is how I usually got in contact with a sponsor: A kind individual would give me a business card of XYZ individual from XYZ organization, and I'd literally call that person on the spot, even it if was the direct line of the CEO. It might sound too crazy … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Leadership, Life in a Startup, Small Steps, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: , ,

The crucial art of finding business partners

March 7, 2013 By 1 Comment

I've written about this matter extensively in this blog - I can't over-emphasize how important finding the right partner is. In fact, I think I can say that for my case, this factor has been THE biggest factor determining a startup's success or failure. I recently wrote an article for homegrown.ph summarizing what I think are the most important items to consider. Do check it out here.  … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED Tagged With: , ,
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