Hustleshare

Michael Calma, Country Manager at Advance AI, introduces the company’s goal of enhancing financial inclusion by providing seamless identity verification and credit assessment tools powered by artificial intelligence. He reflects on his early hustles and learning programming in the 2000s, leading to key corporate roles, including his time at NEC where he acquired valuable hard skills. Transitioning...

Rene Cuartero is the Co-Founder and CEO of AHG Lab – the largest independent venture studio in the Philippines that empower entrepreneurs and enrich ecosystems. With extensive experience in leadership roles at multinational companies such as P&G, Deutsche Bank, and Morgan Stanley Capital International, Rene also made a significant impact with the Red Cross and Child and Youth Finance Internati...

Guaya Melgar, CEO/Co-Founder, and Adrian Co, CTO, share their journeys leading up to co-founding Mochi, a receivables management platform designed to improve billing and collections. Pete discusses his early self-taught coding experiences and forming a dev group, which led him to Proudcloud and later to Logitech. Meanwhile, Guaya reflects on her first startup, Vesl, which addressed credit access f...

Jay Olos, Founder and CEO of OneCFO, takes us through his path from humble beginnings to becoming a financial leader in the tech industry. He introduces OneCFO, his platform designed to make CFO services accessible to SMEs and startups and recounts his early entrepreneurial experiences, underscoring the grit and resilience instilled by his upbringing. Jay shares his journey from auditor to tech pr...

Tina Amper, a pioneer in the Philippine startup ecosystem, shares her inspiring journey. Tina discusses how she founded Geeks On A Beach as a way to give back to the community and foster innovation in the tech space. She recounts her upbringing in Cebu, early exposure to government work, and her academic experience studying engineering at USC San Carlos before moving to the US. Tina’s career in te...

Macy Castillo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Enstack - an app that helps small businesses set up online stores, manage payments and handle shipping seamlessly. With a background in banking and tech, she significantly advanced e-commerce in the Philippines through her work with Zalora and Shopee. Launched in 2021, Enstack transforms SME operations by consolidating order management, inventory tracking...

Jeffrey Ong is the Co-founder and CEO of Mobee Group, a platform that facilitates car buying and selling in the Philippines. Jeffrey explains how Mobee serves both car owners and used car dealers by offering transparent pricing and ensuring seamless transactions. He discusses the growing demand for both new and used cars in the Philippines, driven by social mobility and poor public transportation....

Enrique Hormillo (CEO) and Miguel (Mixx) Locsin (COO) are the co-founders of DOON, a peer-to-peer car-sharing platform that transforms traditional rentals by linking car owners directly with renters. Enrique and Mixx share their rollercoaster journey from personal setbacks to raising $1.5 million in pre-seed funding to fuel growth and expansion, comprising $500,000 in equity and a $1 million debt...

Erika Aquino is the founder of M Squad, an organization dedicated to supporting women and minority-owned startups in the areas of sustainability, wellness, education and the future of work. Her career began with corporate roles at Shell, financial services, and as a PR manager at Mandarin Oriental before moving into the startup space with Lendo, where she played a key role in scaling the user base...

Michael Bantigue Walter Boo are the dynamic co-founders of Invesko, a Filipino-founded investment platform, Invesko's growth was driven by a $1.6 million seed round from regional VC firms in early 2023. The company allows investors to build diversified portfolios with minimal capital by offering fractional shares, SIPC protection, and instant portfolios, thus promoting financial growth and securit...

Georg Steiger is the CEO and Co-Founder of BillEase, a fintech company providing consumer loans and “Buy Now, Pay Later” services to the emerging middle class in the Philippines. Georg shares insights into how BillEase manages default risks and fosters customer loyalty, while drawing comparisons between the financial landscape of the Philippines and its neighboring markets. He recounts his career...

David Yao is the General Manager of Vertiv’s Manila Hub, a pivotal entity in delivering essential digital infrastructure and continuity solutions. Starting with his early influences and hustle lessons from his uncle, David’s path took him from studying architecture to becoming a pivotal figure in the tech industry. David recounts his time at Amazon, where he shifted from managing customer service...

Bianca Cruz Azurin is a leader in the future of work. Her passion for real estate and tech startups led her to flexible workspaces, where she expanded Acceler8 Coworking, earning it the title of Best Coworking Space for several years. She then moved into crypto and blockchain, driving business development at Moneybees and partnering with trusted names like Tambunting and Cebuana Lhuillier to make...

Khalid Keenan is the co-founder and CEO of Elevate Pay, a Y Combinator-backed startup that provides US dollar bank accounts to freelancers and remote workers in emerging markets. Khalid shares his journey from a software engineer to a fintech founder, offering insights into the challenges and triumphs of building a startup in the highly regulated financial industry. He also reflects on the pivotal...

Martin Gonzalez is the bestselling author of “Bonfire Moment’ workshop, a transformative program designed to help startup founders and their teams step out of their daily pressures to resolve conflicts, realign with their mission, and prepare for future challenges through a structured, intense and reflective one-day session. Martin shares his experiences from his early career days at J&J and B...

Vince Rocha is the Founder and CEO of the Mylo Speech Buddy App, a groundbreaking application dedicated to aiding children with autism and speech delays in their speech development journey. Vince recounts his personal experience of raising a child with autism, which served as the catalyst for his mission to develop the Mylo App, providing crucial support to children facing similar challenges. He d...

Raffy Montemayor of Salmon Finance joins us in this episode to share how they were able to raise funding in the middle of a funding winter. He also shares the difficult milestones they had to unlock and why they acquired a rural bank to give more benefits to their consumers. Raffy also shares the rapid changes Salmon went through to keep up with their fast growth. Founders Only is brought to you b...

Carlo Valencia of Startup Training PH joins us in this episode to discuss the fundamentals that founders often overlook in launching their startup. Carlo also discusses remedies in overcoming the key basic mistakes founders often do. Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapita , GoTyme , and SeekCap Carlo's Top 5 Founders Shumate Royo- https://ph.linkedin.com/in/shumateroyo MK Bertulfo- h...

Artie Lopez joins us in this episode to share his unique journey coming from a startup coach to become a startup Founder. He also shares the incredible hustle that startups do in order to survive in an investment winter where runways are short. He also shares an amazing #FoundersOnlyTop5 brought to you by Shoppable Business . Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapita , GoTyme , and Seek...

ER Rollan, Founder and CEO of GrowSari, joins us in this episode to discuss the massive tradeoffs that founders make to chase their startup success along with the pros and cons of making these life decisions. ER also shares the tough decisions they made after raising Series C to make GrowSari continue growing. Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapita , GoTyme , and SeekCap ER Rollan Hu...

How hard is it to be a Filipina Startup Founder? Mel Nava of 1Export and Carmina Bayombong of Invested joins us in this episode to share the challenges they had to overcome as Filipina founders and how they cope with startup life. Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapita , GoTyme , and SeekCap Carmina and Mel's Hustleshare Episode: Carmina: https://bit.ly/3XjnnXt Mel: https://bit.ly/3M...

It's virtually unheard of to see a highly scaled and profitable tech startup but Dragon Pay defied all odds and did both for 14 years! Find out how they did it when the CEO of Dragon Pay, Dick Chiang, shares the success secrets. Founders Only is brought to you by Qapita , GoTyme , and SeekCap Dick's Hustleshare Episode: https://bit.ly/48ey1CU Dick's Top 5 Founders Coleen Chiang Ron Hose: https://b...

Christian Blanquera, serial entrepreneur and #StartupPH creator, joins us in this episode to talk about how the Philippine startup ecosystem has changed since it got launched around 2012. We tackle the improvements, setbacks, and the mistakes that startups still do to this day. Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapita , GoTyme , and SeekCap Christian’s Top 5 Founders: Domingo Roxas Joh...

Crystal Lee Gonzalez of Noneaway is a seasoned industry veteran known for her leadership roles at companies like Pick A Roo, Honest Bee, and Viber in the Philippines. She shares how the pandemic impacted her leadership style, leading her to become more nurturing and present. She also delves into her personal growth, the importance of being present, and the deliberate choices she made in her career...

Roland Ros and Rexy Dorado, Co-Founders of Kumu, joins us in this episode to share how they lead their team through a very tumultuous period and how they lead their team to bounce back and carry on to their mission of sustainability. They will also share great advice on how they tackle leadership, coping with stress, and many more in this episode. Founders Only is brought to you by PayMongo , Qapi...