Ep 347 - Dan Gonzales and Earl Valencia - The Hustle Behind Startup Mindsets

EPISODE INTRODUCTION

In this episode of Hustleshare, we sit down with Dan Gonzales and Earl Valencia, co-authors of Startup Mindsets, to unpack the emotional and mental journey of building startups—especially through the lens of the Filipino experience. Dan, a Filipino-American writer with a tech background, reflects on his path from tech skeptic to ecosystem builder, while Earl, a pioneer of the Philippine startup ecosystem and co-founder of IdeaSpace, shares how a billion-peso fund came to life after a bold pitch to MVP. They dive into the irrational realities of entrepreneurship, the truth about failure and regret, and why mindset—not just execution—is what defines success. Packed with grit, vulnerability, and decades of hard-won wisdom, this episode is a must-listen for anyone standing at the edge of starting something meaningful.

Episode Timeline: 

[00:03:42] – Dan’s origin story and growing up as a Filipino in San Francisco

[00:08:04] – Dan’s first exposure to tech at Slack and learning about the ecosystem

[00:10:27] – Turning point: discovering The Intelligent Investor and mindset shift

[00:12:11] – Breaking into Google and venture capital; meeting Earl

[00:14:02] – Earl’s perspective: speaking at VU Venture and planting the seed for the book

[00:17:45] – The backstory of IdeaSpace and Earl’s wild pitch to MVP

[00:24:52] – Building the foundation of the Philippine startup ecosystem

[00:26:37] – Why Earl left IdeaSpace to become a founder himself

[00:30:57] – The emotional rollercoaster of starting Plentina

[00:34:49] – How Earl’s mindset shifted from investor to founder

[00:40:35] – Why they decided to write Startup Mindsets as a book, not just content

[00:45:40] – What the Startup Mindsets covers: from negative one to zero

[00:51:29] – Changes in perspective while writing the book

[00:56:13] – The Philippine ecosystem: what we’re doing right—and wrong

[01:00:22] – Do Filipinos believe they can build unicorns?

[01:05:39] – Advice to aspiring founders at the “negative one to zero” stage

QUOTES
“Good entrepreneurs seek out the truth. You can never hide from the truth, man. Sometimes you can cover it up, but, at the end of the day, you're the one looking at the mirror. Either it worked or it didn't work.” – Dan Gonzales

CONNECT WITH DAN AND EARL:

Earl Valencia (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/earlvalencia

Dan Gonzales (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/dangonzales1/

OTHER RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Website: https://www.startupmindsets.com/book 

Fullybooked:https://fullybookedonline.com/book-business-startup-mindsets-paperback-by-earl-valencia.html 

Hustleshare Ep. 4 – The Hustle of Incubating Innovation: https://www.hustleshare.com/episodes/earlvalencia-ideaspace-podcast

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