I had another awesome time last Saturday morning at the April Edition of Open Coffee. Here are some of my thoughts and observations on now holding four of these formatted mixers. 1) The Sharing Continues to Amaze Me My colleague AR told me that she plans to write a thesis about how the growing Filipino entrepreneurial community…
In one of his blogposts, Peter, refers to the concept of the Argonaut from the book, Start-up Nation. What are your personal opinions on the contribution of the Argonaut to a Philippine Startup Nation? Joey: I think the Philippine Startup scene is about 10 years away from being labeled as mature. A lot of my colleagues, maybe…
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…
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…
It was around 11:30 am. I just closed the main pitching activity at the recently-held JGL Open Coffee activity and told everyone to gather at the hallway of 47 East to take a quick group pic. And so we did. After that, I told everyone it was free time. You can probably imagine what happens next. Wondrous…
In this early 2005 interview with Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder described Facebook as: "I mean, I just really want to see everyone focus on college and make a really cool college directory product...there doesn't necessarily have to be more..." Zuck was intent on just focusing in colleges. He was ecstatic with his 3 million users. Then,…
The moment was captured. So real, honest, and simple. It illustrates the warmth and vibrancy of a growing community that supports and is open to collaboration. To all the leaders and feeders in the startup community, may this video fuel your spirits :)
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…
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…
In a lot of ways, it was like launching a startup. The concept (sorta-kinda-like group speed dating) had never been done before and it was either going to be AMAZING or a complete, fiery DISASTER. No in-between. We thought it was a great way of creating better impact with a larger crowd than the usual conference/panel format. It…