Posts in startups
Ep 225 - The Hustle Behind Mayani

JT Solis, Ochie San Juan, Lance Villanueva, and Ronald Dime of Mayani join us in this episode where they talk about how they are solving the Philippines' agriculture distribution problem. They will share their vast individual experiences that include startups, legal, agriculture and more along with how they bonded over a common goal of helping farmers during the pandemic. They will also share the extreme hurdles they had to overcome during the pandemic and how they were able to scale their ops. They will also share how they raised their $1.7M seed round along with their immediate plans on scaling Mayani further.


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Ep 224 - The Hustle Behind Unbox

Carlo Ople of Unbox joins us in this episode to talk about how he turned his side hustles in content creation to the famous Unbox Group. He shares how he got his headstart in public speaking by helping his family and how we fell in love with the internet growing that became a springboard in pursuing his first jobs. Carlo also shares the major turning point on why he became very particular in pursuing jobs and side hustles that give him satisfaction that became his fuel to do his side hustles and corporate job. He also shares how he built the Unbox team through the years that paved the way for him to take the full time jump to becoming an entrepreneur. 


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Ep 223 - The Hustle Behind Betterteem

Bo Discarga of Betterteem joins us in this episode to share about how he solved the most pressing human resource problems using his HR analytics company. He also looked back on the struggles he had in his formative years working in fast food chains and starting his BPO career, even before he graduated college. He also shared how his early hustles contributed experience that had brought him into discovering his passion for human resource. Bo also discussed problems in the HR field and how creating Betterteem solved these problems.

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Ep 222 - The Hustle Behind Bridge

David Bonifacio of Bridge Southeast joins us in this episode as he talks about how they are solving payroll for Filipino companies. David shares how he started his hustle with saving his father's company leading him into the right mindset as he built Bridge. He also shares how they impact the lives of employees using Bridge's payroll system. He also adds how he became a VC with TNB Aura and how he invests in Christian companies with Archangel Impact Capital.

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Ep 221 - The Hustle Of A Standup Comedian

Well known standup comedian and podcaster James Caraan of The Koolpals joins us in this episode to share the science behind his comedy and how he balances his passion and IT career. James will share his origin story and his lifelong dream of being an actor along with how he ended up in IT. He also shares how he has progressed in his IT career that allowed him to pursue his passion in comedy over the years. He also provides context on the science of how he does his comedy and how it resembles the process of sales and persuasion.

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Ep 220 - The Hustle Behind BackScoop

For our season premiere for 2023, Amanda Cua of Backscoop joins us to share her inspiring journey from being on a gap year in college to creating Southeast Asia's most promising media startups. Amanda will share her early hustles in school and how she decided to take a gap year after high school before going to college because of the pandemic. She will also share how she ended up working in tech startups despite not having any experience and how she was able to learn lots of new things in a short amount of time. She will also share how she created BackScoop and how they grew their following quickly and how they were able to raise funds to kickstart their young journey.

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Ep 219 - The Hustle Behind Bit2Me

For our season finale for 2023, Koh Onozawa of Bit2Me joins us to share they became the biggest crypto company in Spain. Koh will share his origin story being raised in an entrepreneurial family in Cebu and launching the award-winning Loudbasstard natural amplifiers. He will also share how he decided to move to Spain and how he was able to join Bit2Me early on as an adviser until he became Co-CEO through the years. Koh also shares the amazing journey Bit2Me had to undergo in order to become the company that they are today along with the exciting things that are in store for Web3 in the years to come.

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Ep 218 - The Hustle Behind Zagana

Joshua Aragon of Zagana joins us in this episode to share how they are bridging the wide gap between farmers and consumers in their app. Joshua will share his early hustle working in the family business and how he got exposed to great business acumen from his kin. He will also share how he decided to pursue his own business when he launched Pushkart.ph along with how he hustled to get it off the ground. Joshua also shares how joining the Alibaba Fellowship in China changed his perspective that eventually led him to launch Zagana and scale it up from the ground up.

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Ep 217 - The Hustle Behind Cocotel

Rafael Jouwena of Cocotel joins us in this episode to share how they are helping Filipino hotels improve discoverability in the hospitality industry. Rafa will share his early hustle growing up in Indo before moving around and working in finance. He will also share what made him take the leap to start Cocotel along with the initial pivots they made after the pandemic hit. Rafa also shares how they survived the pandemic and got to profitability that led them to get investors.

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Ep 216 - The Hustle Behind Limitless Connect

Chris Howe of Limitless Connect joins us in this episode to share how they are elevating the customer experience of contact centers around the world. Chris will share how he started his career being in the military that played a vital part in his success when he entered the technology and business world. He will also share how he leveled up in his career in tech and how he decided to create Limitless Connect. Chris also shares great advice on how to scale your business globally with remote teams.

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Ep 215 - The Hustle Behind Philippine Blockchain Week

Filipina pilot Chezka Gonzales joins us in this episode to share with us the hustle behind Philippine Blockchain Week. Chezka will share her inspiring journey of being a young mom while studying and eventually working as a flight attendant. She will also share how she became a pilot and how she got immersed into the crypto world during the pandemic. Chezka will also share why she started the Philippine Blockchain Week and the amazing roster of speakers she was able to invite for the crypto community in the Philippines.

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Ep 214 - The Hustle Behind SAP Philippines

Rudy Abrahams, Managing Director of SAP Philippines, joins us in this episode to share how SAP is powering thousands of business in the Philippines. Rudy will share his inspiring journey growing up in South Africa and working globally in SAP before he came to the Philippines to lead the SAP Philippine team. He will also share how SAP is advocating digital transformation and the transition to the cloud for the thousands of clients they help along with their commitment to sustainability. Rudy also shares amazing leadership advice along with how SAP is upskilling their workforce for a better tomorrow.

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Ep 213 - The Hustle Behind RevaStaff

OJ Lopez of REVAStaff joins us in this episode to share how they are helping real estate businesses around the world outsource their creative needs. OJ will share his colorful journey in finding his passion towards Architecture and Entrepreneurship despite the many setbacks he experienced in college. He will also share how he discovered the demand for REVAStaff and how he was able to grow it organically while bootstrapping. OJ also shares how he's able to see new opportunities to scale REVAStaff locally and how he divides his time with other interests.

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Ep 212 - The Hustle Behind Tindahang Tapat

Magno Conag of Tindahang Tapat joins us in this episode to share how they are impacting the sari sari stores in 13 provinces in the Philippines using technology. Magno will share how he started his career as an educator and how he decided to be an entrepreneur to help tech talents in his hometown of Naga get great careers and stay home. He also shares how he struggled with his first venture and how he learned from that failure to launch Tindahang Tapat to apply all the learnings he got from his first startup. Magno also shares how they were able to scale across the country quickly along with what's coming next for Tindahang Tapat.

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Ep 211 - The Hustle Behind STAT

Ram Morales of STAT joins us in this episode to share their quest in revolutionizing the way Filipinos access their meds. Ram will share his early hustles in college and how his previous stints in customer service impacted the way he navigates the business world as an entrepreneur. He will also share how he created a pizza restaurant with his wife while working full-time and how they were able to make that work despite massive challenges. Ram also shares how he created STAT and the challenges they had to go through to get initial traction and raise funding.

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Ep 210 - The Hustle Behind Narrator

Ahmed Elsamadisi of Narrator.ai joins us in this episode to share how they are solving the data problems of all startups and tech companies using a very easy-to-use product. Ahmed will share his previous hustle working as a dev in WeWork and how they were able to grow fast and solve problems even though they were using fragmented data points. He will also share what triggered him to create Narrator because of the need to create a functional Business Intelligence tool that is easy to use despite the many data sources startups use. Ahmed will also share the grit it took to get Narrator to where it is today despite the years of having no functional product and getting pressure from investors and almost running out of runway.

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Ep 209 - The Hustle Behind Supah

Timothy Cu and Jojo Lontok of grocery delivery app Supah joins us in this episode to share how they are able to improve Manila's quick commerce industry and delivery to their users in 15 minutes. Timothy and Jojo will share their origin stories with Tim sharing his previous experience in Ninja Van and Freshket while Jojo shares his 20+ years of experience in aviation and logistics. They will also share how they joined Sarisuki to work with Brian Cu and created Supah to make it easier for Filipinos to get their groceries quickly. Tim and Jojo also shares the early hustled they did to deliver the magic moment they committed to their users and how they are able to get more traction organically.

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Ep 208 - The Hustle Behind AHG Lab

Serial entrepreneur Bjorn Pardo of AHG Lab joins us in this episode to share how AHG Lab aims to create startups that solve big problems in the Philippines. Bjorn will share his early ventures in selling in eBay and how that led him to go to the Philippines to launch Xend. He will also share the key learnings bootstrapping Xend and operating it for 16 years which sprung multiple products and several exits. Bjorn also shares the experience he got working with UBx and other startups that prepared him for his new journey creating new startups with AHG Lab.

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Ep 207 - The Hustle Behind Dart

Julian Schumacher of Dart App joins us in this episode to share how they are revolutionizing quick commerce in Manila. Julian will share his early hustles growing up in Germany and how he also worked in private equity and one of the fastest growing quick commerce startups in Europe - Gorillas. He will also share how he saw the perfect opportunity in the Philippines for quick commerce and how he, along with his cofounders, created Dart. Julian will also tell us how they were able to build quick traction and healthy metrics since its launch a few months ago.

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Ep 206 - The Hustle Behind Symph

Startup veterans Dave Overton and Albert Padin of Symph joins us in this episode to share their decade-long journey creating amazing tech products for clients and for themselves. Dave and Albert will share their respective entrepreneurial journeys in Cebu and how they ended up working in tech and software development. They will also share the numerous close calls that almost ended Symph through the years and how they were able to learn and bounce back for every challenge thrown their way. Dave and Albert also share amazing anecdotes and advice on how to execute a startup and survive for the long haul.

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