The Unlikely Journey of Our Newly-Minted COO

January 9, 2017 by Leave a Comment

We’ve all been through those moments in life when everything seems to be falling apart. That was where Kellda was when I first met her two years ago. You wouldn’t know it through my interview process with her. A former Unilever achiever and fastfood startup founder, she was introduced by a mutual entrepreneur friend. She was in-between jobs. Kellda dazzled us in the recruitment process with her intelligence, strong will and demeanor. Even if she had no prior exposure to tech, she was obviously eager to learn more about our industry. I wanted to woo her into joining our company as one of our product heads. Soon, I gave her an offer. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. She had bigger brands … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GOD@WORK, Life in a Startup, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP!, Wunderkinds Tagged With: , , ,

What Happened When We Killed Timekeeping and Attendance

September 1, 2015 by 9 Comments

One of the great perks of being an entrepreneur is having complete control over time. From the time we founded STORM, Pao and I have always worked with a completely flexible schedule. Actual sms messages: Dude, coffee shop muna ako this morning. or Had a late night, will work from home today or Won't be in the office this afternoon We never had to be worried that the other person is slacking off. We'll even tell one another if we need a break to slack off. This is because we trust one another. In the end, I know Pao cares about the firm and will work his tail off for its objectives. I know that goes both ways. This never became a rule for our employees though. We followed a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life in a Startup, Startup Ideas, TOOLS AND RESOURCES Tagged With: , , ,

5 Reasons Why You Should Quit Your Job Now and Work for a Startup (With Traction)

August 12, 2014 by Leave a Comment

So, you want to put up a startup. You want to take the leap. But it's sooooo hard to let go of the cushy job you've spent numerous years cultivating... You worry about the sudden disruption of that bi-monthly cashflow you're now so accustomed to and built your life around. So what now? Here's a solution - work for a startup. But don't just work for ANY startup - work for a startup with traction. What's traction? I like Naval Ravikant's (Angelist founder) efficient definition of traction: "Quantitative evidence of market demand." A startup has traction when it has increasing numbers - revenue, users, profitability, engagement, traffic, etc... These are evident signs … [Read more...]

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

Thursdays Unplugged Postscript (July 31 Edition)

August 8, 2014 by Leave a Comment

  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 the third participant calling that he couldn't make it the last minute, this became a 3-person session. Of course, I loved the result, as Jode, Gerome, and I not only got into the technicalities of the their startup ideas, but more importantly, we got to talk about their journey, and the softer parts of the startup life. The thing I love … [Read more...]

Filed Under: ANNOUNCEMENTS, Event Postscripts, Life in a Startup, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: ,

Soft vs. Hard Entrepreneurship and What to Prioritize

July 20, 2014 by 2 Comments

You can divide all the elements of entrepreneurship into two distinct categories: hard and soft. Here's what the HARD column can be populated with: Valuation Product-market fit Lean Startup Methodology A-B Testing Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C.... Pivot Runway Dilution MVP Growth Hacking Strategies Here's what the SOFT column can be populated with: Passion Founder Dynamics Culture Maturity The entrepreneurial spirit Mentors Perseverance Following the heart Following the dream Motivation Taking a leap of faith Now, ask ANY successful entrepreneur what the reasons are for her success. Do you think most responses will fall within the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life in a Startup, STARTUP ADVICE Tagged With: ,

I Forgot I Was On Vocation!

July 14, 2014 by 4 Comments

The past few months have been some of the most rewarding for me as an entrepreneur. At the start of 2013, we made a crucial decision to split STORM Consulting, my startup baby, into two, distinct, laser-focused firms: STORM Rewards was going to focus on flexible benefits. I was going to lead the efforts as its CEO. STRATA was going to focus on HR competency frameworks. The big difference here was that I really wanted to source an independent management team to lead Strata - I didn't want to be involved in the day-to-day operations. In hindsight, it proved to be a very pivotal decision. (yep, focus is everything) Armed with a new business model which allowed it to offer Flexible … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GOD@WORK, Life in a Startup, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: , , ,

How Failing 2,032,198 Times Helps You Succeed

November 21, 2013 by 3 Comments

We've heard it so many times for entrepreneurs - how you have to know how to fail in order to succeed. I wanted to dissect how exactly this is so. How exactly does failure help you succeed? My first instinct in answering this question is to look at my own entrepreneurial journey. Has failure helped me? When asked this question, my reply is almost immediate - yes, it has helped me tremendously. It's not just because of the sheer learning that happens afterwards (though this is big as well, and is the basis for the lean startup movement) The great thing that failure has given me is the stomach for it. Having failed so many times before and knowing first-hand what the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life in a Startup, STARTUP ADVICE, TAKE THAT LEAP! Tagged With: , ,

My Year in the Philippines: Reflections On Starting Up and Development

November 3, 2013 by 1 Comment

I've been in the Philippines for almost exactly a year now. Oh, what an incredible ride it has been so far. Within the year, I've had so many different experiences from starting things up with JGL to a brief stint at co.lab to being part of the launch of Ashoka Philippines.  Life has been unpredictable. I've been exposed to so many new and different ideas. So many different people. I've gained a sense of belonging in a country that has opened my eyes to the world. The year has really been such a gift and a strong driving force of change for me. I remember the days when I only had one peso in my pocket. I remember the days when I was so desperate for blog content that I would write … [Read more...]

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

Avoid These 5 Absolutely Crippling Startup Choices, Part 2

September 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment

(This is part 2 of 2-part series. You can read part 1 here) 3) Reluctance to Get Down and Dirty Take a gander at some of the Lean startup methodology books. There is a reason why this line of thinking has become quite severely influential for startups around the world. The principles are quite sound: information and validation over guesswork and assumption. Getting to that information? You have to talk to a lot of customers. You have to SYSTEMATICALLY do it in an unbiased manner. You have to do it over and over. You have to iterate your product over and over. This is serious, rigorous work. You want success, as with anything worthwhile, you have to pay the piper. But I think this … [Read more...]

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

The Compass, The Anchor, and The Propeller

August 7, 2013 by 7 Comments

When we moved into our new office, we were in a momentary quandary about what to do with a good-sized room that was right smack in the middle of the layout. We could turn it into another meeting room - you could never have enough of those. Or perhaps a designated interview room? Incubate a startup idea (or two)? (such a temptation!) Then, it hit Pao and I at the same time - we just HAVE to turn it into a prayer room. It's obviously not the bottom line-friendly alternative, but knowing our history, it just made too much sense to put a prayer room in the middle of the office. This was our little way of honoring the God who has been so faithful to us and our journey. Prayer … [Read more...]

Filed Under: GOD@WORK, Life in a Startup Tagged With: ,
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