Ep 374 - The Hustle Behind Phildev Foundation

EPISODE INTRODUCTION

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.

Ep Timeline:

00:00:00 – Episode 100 kickoff: meeting the “Bill Gates of the Philippines”

00:04:10 – From barrio roots to big dreams: Dado Banatao’s early life

00:08:23 – What hustle looks like now: purpose beyond retirement

00:12:09 – Birth of PhilDev: choosing impact over personal gain

00:16:25 – Son of a farmer: growing up with scarcity and discipline

00:20:13 – Studying alone: Ateneo de Tuguegarao and early resilience

00:24:48 – Confidence unlocked: ranking #2 and finding his edge

00:28:07 – Numbers over words: learning strengths the hard way

00:32:19 – Almost a pilot: the career that nearly happened

00:36:30 – One professor’s push: choosing engineering instead

00:40:06 – Boeing chapter: working on the 747 in the U.S.

00:44:45 – Seeing the ceiling: why corporate wasn’t the end goal

00:48:26 – Stanford years: sharpening skills in Silicon Valley

00:52:12 – Love and partnership: meeting Maria and building together

00:56:08 – Enter semiconductors: designing chips from first principles

01:01:37 – Before the boom: Silicon Valley in its early days

01:04:46 – Crossing paths with legends: Jobs, Woz, and the nerd circle

01:08:12 – First startup failure: lessons from Mastron

01:12:02 – The comeback: Chips and Technologies takes off

01:16:29 – Founder framework: the 5-step formula for building startups

01:20:15 – From builder to backer: VC mindset and PhilDev’s mission

“If there is no market, there is no product.” - Dado Banatao

“Our biggest hustle now is trying to help the Philippines.” – Maria Banatao

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

Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE

Diamond Supporters: Sarisuki, PayMongo, SeekCap, Shoppable Business, Qapita, GoTyme Bank, Sprout Solutions, UNO Digital Bank