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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Ernest Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom, to trace the journey from helping in a family business and studying in the U.S. to building a career in tech and returning home to make his mark. They dive into Ernest’s first entrepreneurial leap, his role in shaping the Philippines’ BPO boom, and the leadership mindset that helped transform Globe into a digital-era powerhouse.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernestcu/
Website: https://www.globe.com.ph/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with tech pioneer Dado Banatao, alongside Maria Banatao of the Phildev Foundation, to trace the journey that earned him the title “Bill Gates of the Philippines”—from a rural barrio to engineering school, Boeing, and Silicon Valley. They also dive into Dado’s semiconductor breakthroughs, early entrepreneurial setbacks, and the VC framework he now uses to support the next generation of Filipino founders.
Resources:
LinkedIn (Dado Banatao): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dado-banatao-96ba89b7/
LinkedIn (Maria Banatao): https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-banatao-49721a38/
Website (PhilDev): https://www.phildev.org/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
PLDT Enterprise: https://pldtenterprise.com
- MSME Fiberbiz - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-fiberbiz
- 5G SIM Only - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-smart-postpaid
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Nina Ellaine Dizon, the founder of Colourette Cosmetics, as she shares her journey from selling items in school to accidentally entering the beauty space through soap—and scaling the brand exponentially through online growth. Nina also opens up about her decision to raise venture capital and how it reshaped Colourette’s trajectory from a side hustle into one of the country’s most recognizable beauty brands.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-ellaine-dizon-b24bb6100/
Website: https://colourette.ph/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Kim Lato, founder and CEO of KimStore, the Philippines' longest-running and largest electronics e-tailer. Kim shares her incredible 19-year journey from selling cameras on Multiply as an 18-year-old college student to building an e-commerce empire that survived platform shutdowns, customs controversies, family tragedy, and a global pandemic—emerging stronger each time.
00:02:06 – Kim's hustle: Building KimStore.com from scratch
00:06:41 – The Fil-Chi way: financial literacy from age 12
00:09:04 – Launching on Multiply: from hobby to side hustle
00:11:25 – Early fulfillment: LRT rides with cameras to meetups
00:14:15 – Wild Wild West: ghosting customers and cash-on-delivery struggles
00:16:36 – 2008 financial crisis: choosing full-time hustle over job hunting
00:19:29 – Building the first team: CSRs and in-house riders in Tondo
00:21:52 – Riding the group buying wave (Groupon era)
00:24:18 – Go Negosyo feature: "I want to be the Amazon of Electronics"
00:29:02 – When Multiply shut down (2013): pivoting to Facebook
00:35:17 – 2015 tragedy: Dad shot 8 times in inside job holdup
00:36:45 – Finding God: the turning point that changed everything
00:42:36 – Lazada and Shopee: competition or opportunity?
00:48:10 – COVID-19: The breakthrough year (2020)
00:52:35 – Building brand equity vs. just selling
00:54:02 – Delayed gratification: first car after 9 years
00:56:01 – Finding purpose beyond the hustle
"I wasn't really certain about what I'm doing, but I took a leap of faith that I think this is something worth pursuing. I think we could make this big. And that really helped me do this in a bigger aspect."
Website: https://www.kimstore.com
Facebook: KimStore (3M+ followers)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimstorePH/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE
Diamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank.
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Smile API co-founder Jan Pabellon to uncover how he bounced back from a failed first startup, taught himself tech, built his own dev shop, and discovered the massive credit data gap holding millions of Filipinos back. Jan also reveals what pushed him to become a founder again and how Smile API is now taking on one of the biggest challenges in Philippine financial inclusion.
Resources Mentioned:
Website: https://www.getsmileapi.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpabellon/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: OneCFO
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This week on Hustleshare, Ron Baetiong sits down with Pam Belen, Founder and CEO of Umpisa, to unpack how a CPA-turned-tech-founder is on a mission to make the Philippines recognized globally as a tech hub. Pam shares her journey from accountancy to winning a startup weekend in San Francisco, the fundamentals that keep Umpisa profitable and sustainable, and why Filipino founders need to stop putting bamboo ceilings on themselves.
Ep Timeline:
00:03:07 – Pam's hustle: leveling up the Philippines as a global tech hub
00:10:13 – Origin story: from Alaminos, Laguna to leadership roles early on
00:16:18 – The skills that matter: treating people with respect, optimism, and sports discipline
00:21:27 – Why accountancy fundamentals are critical for every founder
00:30:41 – The pivot: from Big 4 accounting to Winston Damarillo's startup world
00:38:42 – Why Filipino founders must work in high-growth startups first before going all in
00:48:05 – The trigger to take the leap of starting her own company
00:56:38 – Finding the right co-founder: Dennis, the CTO who worked with Pam for 2 years first
01:02:54 – How Umpisa grew methodically: revenues, cashflow, execution, and the right people
01:10:14 – Growing and evolving as a leader and as an organization
01:22:31 – Mentors who shaped Pam’s entrepreneurial journey, in and out of Endeavor’s Scale Up
01:29:04 – How to achieve Umpisa’s ultimate goal
"If you're going to have a co-founder, you have to make sure that you've worked with the person. At least give it a year, maybe two years. Because you won't know how the person deals with pressure unless you've been through it together."
— Pam Belen
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pambelen/
Website: https://umpisa.co
Email: pam@umpisa.co
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
PLDT Enterprise: https://pldtenterprise.com
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Diamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Raphael Rey Bacolod, director of the Austrian Business Agency (ABA), who’s leading Austria’s push to recruit top Filipino talent in IT, engineering, and healthcare. Rafael shares how Filipinos can land jobs in Austria with no placement fees, bring their families, and enjoy world-class quality of life—just like his grandmother did when she became one of the first Filipino nurses there in 1974.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raphael-rey-bacolod
Website: https://www.workinaustria.com/en/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/workinaustria
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ABAWorkinAustria/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@austrianbusinessagency
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
This week on Hustleshare, Ron Baetiong sits down with Vince Yamat, CEO and Managing Director of 917Ventures, to unpack how the country’s top venture builder is reshaping Philippine innovation through people-first leadership, relentless experimentation, and a powerful ecosystem advantage. Vince shares the wins, failures, and bold new direction behind Velocity—917V’s program giving startups unprecedented access to Globe’s scale, data, and distribution.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinceyamat/
Website: https://917ventures.com/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Cristina “Indo” Ibanez, president of Scale NCR and head of Miriam College’s Innovation Center. From growing up in a family of entrepreneurs to championing collaboration among university-based incubators, Indo shares how she’s turning classrooms into launchpads for the next wave of Filipino founders.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mcibanez/
Facebook (Scale NCR): https://www.facebook.com/SCALENCR/
Website (Philippine Startup Week 2025): https://www.phstartupweek.com/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dave del Rosario, Program Manager of the DLSU Animo Labs and one of the organizers of Philippine Startup Week, discusses his 12-year journey in the ecosystem, focused on building the startup community from the ground up and inspiring young founders. He shares his origin story, detailing his start as an intern at IdeaSpace and his pivotal decision to move to Iligan, Mindanao, to bring opportunities and foster innovation at the grassroots level.
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, we welcome Kevin Brockland, Managing Partner and Founder of Indelible Ventures. Kevin is a prominent investor dedicated to being an active, positive contributor to the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem, with a particular focus on the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia.
Kevin takes us through his journey, starting from a small town in Missouri (the "Show-Me state"), where he developed his entrepreneurial mindset through an early hustle of reselling bulk candy at school. He shares how being kicked out of high school limited his options and forced him to hustle, working a full-time job at an automotive firm and an overnight hotel shift while attending night school. This led to a period of extensive world travel and study in Europe and Mexico before he pursued his MBA in finance and Master's in international relations at Seton Hall, just as the 2008 financial crisis hit. Kevin then discusses his investment thesis, which centers on addressing the geographic and stage gaps in Southeast Asian institutional capital. He explains why he believes the market is at a tipping point to shift from consumer tech to enterprise/B2B technology and how his philosophy of "give first, get later" is key to building an active ecosystem. Finally, he offers his perspective on the current wave of AI in Southeast Asia and how it is changing the "build versus buy" dynamic for corporate SaaS.
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: The Philippines' leading fractional CFO services provider. https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, we sit down with Dennis Velasco, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Prosperna, an online marketing and e-commerce platform designed to empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and real estate professionals in the Philippines.
Dennis shares his journey from growing up as an Asian-American in Texas to discovering entrepreneurship through his family’s businesses. He recalls his rise in Silicon Valley with companies like Salesforce, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Xero, and how launching a small business during the 2008 financial crisis shaped his entrepreneurial mindset. Ultimately, Dennis reveals what inspired him to return to the Philippines to found Prosperna, empowering SMEs to embrace e-commerce and digital growth.
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Phil Renner, co-founder and CEO of Dr. Shiba, to share how a German-born McKinsey consultant turned his love for pets into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing pet care brands. Phil breaks down how his multicultural upbringing shaped his hustle, why he bet on the Philippines’ booming e-commerce scene, and how Dr. Shiba became a go-to brand for pet parents across the region. He also talks about scaling from startup to multi-market player, the tough calls behind culture and hiring, and what it takes to build a proudly Filipino-led global brand from the ground up.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philipprenner
Website: https://dr-shiba.com
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
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In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Mansueto "Joel" Callao, Chairman and CEO of NYXSYS, to travel through his journey from a PUP graduate breaking into multinational sales to leading one of the Philippines’ biggest players in digital out-of-home advertising. Joel shares how persistence helped him land major clients, why a ₱26M billboard deal with no location became his first big break, and how a spectacular installation failure pushed him to level up. He opens up about shifting from static billboards to Asia’s largest LED displays, pivoting during the pandemic to build AI-powered audience measurement, and the leadership lessons he’s learned from working with Gen Z talent. Joel also gets real about staying true to your company’s “why,” keeping innovation constant, and why embracing failure is essential to long-term success.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mansueto-callao-73a110a4
Website: https://nyxsys.ph
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
PLDT Enterprise: MSME Fiberbiz and 5G SIM Only
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Mel Nava, founder and CEO of 1Export, to talk about her journey from hustling as a bazaarista and working in export sales to building a tech startup that empowers Filipino SMEs to expand globally. Mel opens up about the struggles of bootstrapping a company, losing her co-founders, and battling depression, and why she chose resilience over giving up. She also shares how 1Export turned a “rejected idea” into a fast-growing export platform, the lessons she learned from her MBA at AIM, and how the company is making compliance, documentation, and global market access easier for small businesses.
Episode:
[00:04:40] – Mel’s Hustle: From export sales to 1Export
[00:06:51] – Early Hustles: Selling toys and leading through volunteering
[00:14:01] – Bazaarista Life: Side business while working full-time
[00:23:41] – MBA at AIM: Competitions, networks, and new perspective
[00:33:05] – Birth of 1Export: Turning a rejected idea into a startup
[00:36:57] – Breaking Barriers: Bureaucracy, compliance, and relationships
[00:45:01] – Bootstrapping: Lean growth, IdeaSpace, and first customers
[00:53:13] – Resilience: Losing co-founders and battling depression
[01:03:42] – Word of Mouth: Scaling from 6 to 260 SMEs
[01:06:26] – Exporting Made Simple: Turning SME products export-ready
[01:18:58] – Advice to Entrepreneurs: Grit, honesty, and purpose
“You think about this after five, you think about this before you go to sleep, the first thing you think about when you wake up — it’s a whole different grind. If you don’t have a good support system, it’s going to be very, very difficult to execute."
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melnava
Website: https://1export.com/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE
Diamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Vincent Mendoza, founder and CEO of Farmvocacy, to talk about his journey from selling security systems door-to-door and launching beverages at URC to building a climate fintech startup that empowers Filipino farmers. Vincent opens up about the failures that forced him to start over, why he chose purpose over a stable corporate career, and how Farmvocacy is breaking the cycle of farmer debt with commodity-backed financing and sustainable partnerships. He also shares the lessons he’s learned from surviving multiple “valleys of death,” and how grit, humility, and faith continue to guide him as he brings Filipino innovation to the global stage.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincent-roy-mendoza-b39a64121/
Website: https://farmvocacy.com/
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Lester Cruz, CEO of Singlife Philippines, to talk about the journey that took him from his early sales grind and 15 years at Citi to pioneering digital banking at CIMB and Uno before leading one of the country’s most innovative digital insurers. Lester gets real about the rejections that built his grit, the leadership lessons he learned climbing the corporate ladder, and why he chose to take on the massive challenge of closing the Philippines’ insurance gap. He also shares how he’s redefining the insurance experience for Filipinos, and what running, resilience, and family have taught him about leadership and balance.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lester-cruz-0243ab122
Website: https://singlife.com.ph
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Nel Laygo, Founder and CEO of Peddlr, to unpack the wild journey that took him from hustling as a kid in Catbalogan, Samar to building one of the Philippines’ fastest-growing fintech startups for micro and small businesses. Nel gets real about how early side hustles shaped his entrepreneurial grit, why breaking through barriers in Region 8 gave him a chip on his shoulder, and what it took to scale Peddlr from idea to 250,000 downloads in just six months. He also shares how he tackled user trust issues, built a grassroots community that became their biggest growth driver, and what he learned moving from bootstrapping to finally raising investor capital.
Resources:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nel-laygo-a2486686
Website:
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
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In this episode of Hustleshare, we explore the story of Carl Orale, a repeat founder and CEO of Ticket Nation Philippines—an innovative platform helping venues and event producers deliver seamless ticketing experiences. Carl takes us through his rollercoaster journey: from running his first internet café as a college student, to building a 50-person BPO, to enduring three bankruptcies—including a crushing collapse during the pandemic. He opens up about how his upbringing fueled his hustle, how gaming sparked his passion for tech and entrepreneurship, and the tough lessons learned from financial missteps, scaling too fast, and bearing the responsibility of dozens of employees. Most importantly, Carl shares how he found the grit to rise again—launching Ticket Nation in 2020 and generating over $1.4 million in ticket sales in under a year.
Resources:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carl-angelo-orale/
Website: https://ticketnation.ph/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ticketnationphilippines/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ticketnationphofficial
X (Twitter): https://x.com/ticketnationph
Links/Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode of Hustleshare, we sit down with Clive Aranha, General Manager of Hotel Casiana, to talk about how he went from running bars on cruise ships to leading one of the top hotels in Tagaytay. Clive shares how growing up in the hustle of Mumbai sparked his love for hospitality, how he built and sold his own restaurant in Australia, and what brought him back to the Philippines. He also talks about the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, building strong teams, and how he helped turn things around at Hotel Casiana in just over a year—with the help of partners to fix key challenges and support their rapid growth.
Learn more about Clive Aranha
Official Website: https://www.hotelcasiana.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmclivearanha
Sponsors:
OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/
PLDT Enterprise: https://pldtenterprise.com
- MSME Fiberbiz - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-fiberbiz
- 5G SIM Only - https://bit.ly/pldtenterprise-ROId-nbsi-smart-postpaid
Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.