From Startup to Scale in 3 Escalating Leaps

January 2, 2017 by Leave a Comment

Years ago when I graduated, I had no special commendations. My grades were slightly above-average. Flunked one or two, if I remember right. I have no MBA. No special connections. I was raised in a middle-income family, where I contributed a portion of my earnings as a breadwinner along with my brother. I never got the chance to work abroad. I started my professional career out as a high school English teacher, and then entered corporate life as an HR Officer. I remember slowly going up the corporate ladder. The frustration of it. The ups and downs. The multiple crises, quarter-life and otherwise. You know. I remember refusing to have my dreams slowly snuffed out by reality though. I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, GOD@WORK, Small Steps, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP!

What Is Your Fearlessness Quotient?

December 4, 2014 by 1 Comment

At work, when we talk about hiring (which we talk about A LOT nowadays), I usually tell my co-managers that I am very interested in hiring "entrepreneurial-minded" people. Then I'd get often asked: What does that mean? That's a question I've been mulling about for ages. What exactly is it? How do you evaluate if someone has it? How do you know if someone has the potential to have it? There are so many theories on what entrepreneurship is. Here's one of mine. I think, when you distill it, when you boil entrepreneurship down to its basest levels, entrepreneurship is all about fearlessness. Entrepreneurs just conquer fear. Innovation, a word long synonymous with … [Read more...]

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

Just Touch the Water

August 16, 2013 by Leave a Comment

It still amazes me how so many of the largest companies in world started out as some crazy idea in someone's head. Then, these individuals began talking about it with another person. Perhaps Larry invited Sergey over for a coffee chat, perhaps Steve started an argument with Woz, Hewlett started brainstorming with Packard, Procter meets with Gamble for the first time, and so on. As the idea is shared, it separates itself from one individual and takes on a life of its own. Now, two or more people get excited about it. More talks are scheduled. More energy is generated. Perhaps more people involved. Then things get actually tried out. Soon, papers get signed and boom, a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Small Steps, Startup Ideas, TAKE THAT LEAP!

How you can use FEAR as a REVERSE Spider Sense

May 30, 2013 by 3 Comments

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: ,

Juan Great Leap Calls on 5 More Student Leaders!

May 10, 2013 by 2 Comments

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

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:

5 Things I’ve Learned from Startups Unplugged

March 13, 2013 by 2 Comments

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: , ,

Start, UNPLUGGED!

February 22, 2013 by 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about blogging on Juan Great Leap is that I get to document my entrepreneurial journey without much apprehension. The cathartic experience that comes from sharing, as a crazy individual who is just starting in the Philippines, enables me to embrace the fear monster. From my first Open Coffee to witnessing the art of sharing at living hope, I'm starting to realize why Peter calls Juan Great Leap his gift; there is great reward in giving and sharing for all. With Startups Unplugged coming up next week, I'd like to share what this event means to me and what I hope to give back to it. What does Startups Unplugged mean to me?  Three months ago, I was blurting … [Read more...]

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

Secrets to Change: Write Down Your Ideas

February 8, 2013 by 1 Comment

Actions speak louder than words. We can all agree on that, right? Words can simply be thrown around like this "Hello...how...are you? Good. Great." Am I giving you any value with those fillers? No, I don't believe so. Let me get straight to the point. Words lose their value if they don't spark action. Even if you're literate and you treat them as signifiers, words are worthless if you don't act upon what you say. Perhaps, if you have even read some of my blog entries you may have questioned my authenticity, "Is this guy for real?" "What planet did this emo, Am-Boy kid come from?" I question myself too. Will my dreams, hopes, and aspirations actually turn into anything … [Read more...]

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

Startup Sacred Time for 2012

January 2, 2012 by 7 Comments

From 1:00pm to 6:00 pm every Friday afternoon, all Storm employees are required to work on a pet project of their choice. We call this “Innovation Friday.” The endeavor isn’t exactly original. I know Google employees need to devote 20% of their time on a personal project of their own. The difference here is the forced schedule. At 1pm every Friday, you have to drop what you are doing to work on your thing. No official project timelines are moved or extended – so you have to be able to keep your usual work commitments with half of a weekday removed. People love it though, and adjust accordingly. What strikes me is how different the projects are – from each other and from the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GETTING STARTED, Small Steps, STARTUP ADVICE Tagged With:
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