How does a complete newbie to the startup scene get in the loop?
A month ago I was on the beach in Bali attending a talk on Brand Association at the Genius Beach Club Cafe, when I had a thought: why not do the same back home? Connect with Filipino entrepreneurs and like minds through face-to-face meet ups. Everyone’s saying the secret sauce these days is community (how awesome is that btw?), so why not just dive right in?
A Quick Backstory
The last time I felt I was part of the pulse in the local entrep or tech scene was in 2009, when I attended the Maven Secrets Program under Anton Diaz of OurAwesomePlanet. Every week for about three months, I’d be at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) exploring emerging business models in the tech scene, sitting in a room full of people eager to learn “how to make money online.”
The business models back then were few and compared to what’s out there today, very simple: blogging, e-books, e-commerce, and membership sites. That’s it. Anton would invite speakers to tell us about their personal journey, and it was a great experience for me to learn from other renegades: people who made it by just doing it. I got introduced to concepts I still carry with me today: “Ready, aim, fire” and “Inspiration has an expiration date.”
My big takeaway from those days: I built an online presence (mynuvalihome.com) that successfully boosted my brick and mortar business (real estate). Even then, I still felt more comfortable in having one foot in the tech world, and another in the real world.
Fast forward to 2017, after seven years of living under a rock (countryside living+art+preschool education life), and I am back to square one, raising my hand to ask questions, because I have a lot!!
A Warm Welcome to ASpace
In the spirit of learning by doing, I just said yes to the first Philippine event that popped up on my facebook feed: (GECx) Manila, “an exclusive gathering of changemakers + luminaries” in the ASEAN region. Wow, right?
Here’s the fb event invite:
GECx, is happening at ASPACE Greenbelt on July 21, 2017, Friday!
In the lead up to the second Global Entrepreneurship Community conference, ASPACE is hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Community Roadshow (GECx) to keep our local startup community engaged and at the edge of their seats for what’s next.
GECx is a collaboration between ASPACE + the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Center (MaGIC) to keep the community in the know about the different initiatives that continually engage + support the ASEAN startup ecosystem.
I had zero expectations and just showed up.
When I got to the door someone asked me what company I represented, and somewhat shyly I said, “Well, I just have an idea…” To my surprise I was welcomed with “Oh! You’re a startup!” and was led inside. It was an unexpectedly warm welcome and it set the tone for the rest of the day: this was going to be a room full of friendly people.
There was free-flowing food and I sat at the nearest empty table. ASPACE is possibly the rock star of coworking spaces in Manila, and I’d been there on other occasions before: a music fest and a play. The energy in the room this time was different–it felt active. People weren’t there to sit and be entertained. This was a networking event, so everyone was actively talking.
The first friend I made was Dustin, who was connected with IdeaSpace before joining a new incubator led by Dado Banato under the AIM umbrella. Dustin indulged my newbie questions (what’s an incubator, what’s the startup scene like, which events are good for newbies, who are the people in the room, etc.) and confirmed that the startup culture is a friendly and helpful one.
GECx was one big invitation for Filipinos to join the Global Entrepreneur Summit happening in Kuala Lumpur on December 2017, so Malaysian players flew over to promote their event in full force:
1. YBhg. Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah – Chairman of GECommunity + the Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance Malaysia
2. Ashran Dato’ Ghazi – Chief Executive Officer, MaGIC
3. Ehon Chan – Executive Director, ASEAN Centre of Entrepreneurship (ACE)
4. Chin Xiao Yao – Senior Manager, Ventures
5. Low Ngai Yuen – Managing Director, Global Entrepreneurship Movement (GEM)
6. Rubi Dahlan – Project Director, ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Award
Filipino key players were also asked to share their own “initiatives + contributions to the ASEAN mission of creating opportunities for innovation” and about their experience in last year’s GECx2016.
1. Diego Ramos – Founder + CEO, MedicalTourism.ph
2. Atty. Kristine Alcantara – Policy Consultant and Program Director, 3. Startup Ecosystem Development Program, Department of Trade and Industry
4. Rhea Matute – Executive Director, Design Center of the Philippines (DCP)
5. Micah Asistores – Community Lead, ASPACE Philippines
It was definitely not a time and place to play coy or pakipot, and I put on my most sociable hat and just walked up to people and asked them questions. I wasn’t ready to be asked about my own business (I just had an idea, remember?), but then again, is anyone ever really ready? Here’s the spiel I went with that day:
I’m in art and real estate and I want to find a way to merge both worlds through creative communities all around the Philippines. Imagine if we all lived in the same place–these people here in this room as neighbors by the beach, in a self-sustaining community with schools, art hubs, tech and research centers!
It was a really quick way to learn to distill my vision for Alaya and talk about it to strangers.
Here I am with Dash, President of GEM (Global Entrepreneurship Movement), who talked about an inaugural competition for “solutions that help to address gaps in ASEAN in the areas of governance, poverty eradication, education, health, environment, sanitation.”
I went up to him to ask if he thought I should put in an application for Alaya (he said yes!). If not for anything but the exercise of drawing up my future vision for Alaya in investor speak (i.e. an objective and grounded plan with clear and measurable strategies and not just passionate head-in-the-clouds talk), I’d give it a go.
To anyone interested, deadline for submissions is on October 31, 2017 for a cash award of USD100,000.
Click below to see more pics of the event:
Some of my insights the morning after:
Yesterday I went to my first #startup event and got inundated with so many buzzwords: #founder, #CEO, #hyperlocal, #glocal, #ecosystem, #community #builder.🤓 By the end of the event I became more comfortable wearing the hat of an #aspiring startup founder, and kept reminding myself to proceed soberly. Balance between #inspiration and #fluff.
July 22, 2017. #Saturday
#montalutdoodles #linedrawing #illustration #visualmeditation #GECommunity2017 #RoadtoGEC #thrivetayo
I’m just getting my foot in the door of the #startup #culture in the PH and feeling both excited and cautious. This is a new #landscape for putting up a #business, with an emphasis on #scale and #speed, and it seems like heaven for people with new ideas all the time (raising my hand!). My big question is this: is the promise of #mentorship and #support to bring an idea to life for real? It seems too good to be true. What’s in it for these #incubators and #accelerators?
July 22, 2017. #Saturday
#montalutdoodles #linedrawing #illustration #visualmeditation #ideation #ideas #startup #GECommunity2017 #RoadtoGEC #thrivetayo
My big takeaway from yesterday’s roadshow for the Global Entrepreneur Community Summit: in today’s startup landscape, anyone with a great idea can find the mentoring and support to bring it to fruition. The helpers and resources are plenty. I really really want to believe this is true! Is this really how things are today? The general mindset is to help each other?
July 22, 2017. #Saturday
#montalutdoodles #linedrawing #illustration #visualmeditation #ihaventbeenoutmuch #wow #startup #community #helpers #GECommunity2017 #RoadtoGEC #thrivetayo