Ep 384 - The Hustle Behind PingPod with Ernesto Jon Ebuen

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Ernesto “Jon” Ebuen — six-time Philippine table tennis champion, former number-one rated US player, and co-founder & co-CEO of PingPod, the multi-million dollar autonomous sports startup now making its mark across Asia. John shares how the discipline, obsession, and long-game mindset forged on the table tennis court became the very foundation of his entrepreneurial success — and how he's now paying it all forward, one indigent kid and one ping pong table at a time. 

Episode Timeline:

00:02:08 – Ernesto “Jon” Ebuen, co-founder & co-CEO of PingPod 

00:03:03 – What is PingPod? The autonomous, 24/7, employee-free table tennis studio 

00:06:07 – Six-time Philippine champion and former number-one rated US table tennis player

00:12:51 – The support system: how his parents fueled his obsession

00:18:00 – The ROI of sport: scholarships, sacrifice, and what athletics really gives you

00:24:12 – Training in chaos: five-hour sessions, no system, traveling court to court

00:30:16 – Balancing sport and school: the student-athlete grind and lessons that stuck

00:36:00 – The network effect: meeting billionaires through a "basement sport"

00:41:08 – Choosing the US over a pro career in Europe — and why

00:46:47 – The La Salle connection: how a Filipino-American consul changed everything

00:53:19 – From competitor to coach: organically transitioning into a new identity

00:59:00 – First startup mistakes: the hardest lessons crossing from athlete to entrepreneur

01:01:52 – Six-month eviction notice sparks the idea that becomes PingPod

01:07:16 – No employees, just technology: the autonomous concept is born

01:12:13 – Raising $10M: Sequoia Heritage believes in the concept

01:18:03 – The spin-out: PodPlay is born as a standalone SaaS platform

01:22:35 – Why John is in the Philippines: franchising through Kosmas across Asia

01:25:34 – 2012: founding the Philippine Table Tennis Academy for indigent kids — for free

01:29:13 – Where to find PingPod, PodPlay, and Kosmas — and how to partner up

QUOTE/S FROM ERNESTO
”I was fortunate enough that I met people that are so good at what they do, they actually laid the path for me to not make a mistake..Transitioning from all of those things was not difficult. It's because of these people. Because they were helping you out…Whether it's advice,  whether it's financial access,  whether whatever you need is like  They open the kimono to you and there's no reservation. There's no like, you have to pay me back.  Like you owe, you owe me  none. Like you feel welcome. “

Resources:
LinkedIn (Ernesto Jon Ebuen) https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernesto-%E2%80%9Cjon%E2%80%9D-ebuen-6a5233181/

Website: https://pingpod.com/

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

This episode is brought to you by Villgro Philippines: , Paymongo, GoTyme Bank & SeekCap

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