See that bottle of Pepsi in the picture? I started this Thursdays Unplugged session by accidentally dropping the closed bottle, and then proceeding to absent-mindedly open it. The result was an explosion of cola and pride, mostly on my shirt (which, incredibly, looks the same in the picture). It was all uphill from there though! With…
Last week, we held our very first Thursdays Unplugged in the STORM office in Ortigas. I was with John, Gelo, and Ethel. We were supposed to be 5 people but the last participant couldn't make it at the last minute. In retrospect, it was better suited for 4 people - more on this later. So what happened? …
One of the things I had promised myself was that I would always say "yes" to entrepreneur speaking engagements whenever I would have the honor of being invited and if my time permitted. A few weeks ago I was asked by Ateneo MBA students to be one of the speakers for their culminating event, "Night with Entrepreneurs."…
Recently, I took a picture of the weekly FLEXIBLE BENEFIT products we received in our office and now had to deliver to our clients: There were hundreds of items ordered in a span of a few days. It was the very first time I've seen this many orders made in our system. We had to find a…
I have to admit, I was worried about the 2-month absence of Open Coffee. Would we lose momentum? Would people still go? Will the pitches be just as good? It turns out, my fears were unfounded. I thought October Open Coffee was super! For starters, after the 2 months, it was great to see the holdovers /…
There was a moment during the actual pitching proper last Saturday's Open Coffee event that I looked at Matt and AR of JGL and said, "I love this...I love it!" It was one of the many times when someone in the audience had the the RIGHT contact or the RIGHT information and then just generously offers it…
Last Saturday, Juan Great Leap and Hybridigm held Dare To Pitch at the STORM headquarters in Ortigas Center. It was a pitching forum where we invited startups to pitch to VC's. No winners, no prizes. We just wanted deserving entrepreneurs to have a venue where they could pitch to institutional investors. At best, they could get funded,…
As usual, everyone had a grand time in the June edition of JGL's Open Coffee series held at the beautiful 47 East compound last Saturday. It was a good mix of seasoned startup guys (like Joey Gurango, Ari Bancale, Jojy Azurin, Glenn Santos, David Elefant, Jason De la Rosa, Robert Bernabe, Roxanne Aquino, and so many others),…
I had a great time at the Pitchcraft Event last Saturday at AIM. With nearly 70 people, there was a lot of energy in the air. Most importantly, I saw there was a lot of learning happening. Just a quick summary of what happened, for those of you who missed it: First, Karen Hipol of Carillion Partners…