Posts in startups
Ep 30 - The Hustle of A Filipino Tech Mogul

Getting 3 startups acquires in Silicon Valley is a feat no other Filipino has done. In this episode, Ronster chats with Winston Damarillo, where they go back in time as he shares his journey to becoming a Filipino Developer turned Tech Entrepreneur in the US. Through his experience in Silicon Valley, he saw the potential of Filipino developers which led him to setting up DevCon, wherein he aims to create a venue for them to grow and learn more, not only locally, but internationally as well. Winston will also discuss the rise of technology entrepreneurship today and his advice to developers and businessmen on ensuring their success in the industry in this inspiring episode.

Read More
Ep 29 - The Hustle Of Winning The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards

Winning the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards with only a 2% chance among 2900 other applicants was no easy feat.  In this episode, Ronster chats with Carmina Bayombong, Founder of InvestEd, 1 out of 7 companies that recently won the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards. She will discuss how her hustle on putting low income and marginalized college kids to school has led her to building her own startup company. Carmina will also talk about her passion in helping the community and building a career out of it to further make an impact in society. Lastly, she will give her advice to entrepreneurs who are in the valley of death and tips to fundraising from her years of experience in this heart-warming episode. 

Read More
Ep 28 - The Hustle Behind e27 and Echelon

Showcasing Southeast Asia's startup ecosystem is a very big responsibility. In this episode, Ronster chats with Mohan Belani, the Founder and CEO of e27 and Echelon. Mohan will share the humble beginnings of how e27 was born and why Echelon was made. Mohan also talks about the process of how they choose which stories to feature and the impact of articles they write to startups and investors. Mohan will also share amazing tips on how to go to startup conferences on a discount, how to recruit effectively, and the qualities of a good startup in this awe-inspiring episode.

Read More
Ep 27 - The Hustle Behind Qwikwire

Pivoting your startup to the right direction is a very difficult feat. In this episode, Ronster chats with Ray Refundo, the Founder and CEO of Qwikwire. Ray talks about how he started his first startup and what it felt like when he had to go back to corporate when it failed. He will also talk about how he managed and developed his team of interns to making them his co-founders today. Ray will also share his tips on how he coped with the ups and downs of the startup life and how this helped him in realizing his “why” in this eye-opening episode.

Read More
Ep 26 - The Hustle Behind Profoundly and Near Group

Creating a world-famous app that grew to 60 million users in 3 months is unheard of until Profoundly was launched. In this episode, Ronster chats with Prashant Pitti, the Founder and CEO of Profoundly and Near Group, to discuss how he was able to create apps that millions of users are using with zero marketing. Prashant will also share his journey of how he became an entrepreneur after being an Assistant Vice President of a US bank at the young age of 23. He'll also share his tips on how to create products that scale and he will reveal if Profoundly really reveals the people asking questions on the platform in this jaw-dropping episode.

Read More
Ep 25 - The Hustle Of A BPO Marketplace

The future of the BPO industry in the Philippines is set to have a resurgence in the very near future. In this episode, Ronster chats with Derek Gallimore, the Founder of Outsource Accelerator, to discuss the importance of having a marketplace for Philippine BPOs. Derek will share what he thinks is the next wave of opportunities that the BPO industry can take advantage of and how he can help evangelize this industry from an untapped market in the West. He will also share his personal tips on how you can bounce back from a failed business and what he thinks is the future of the BPO industry in this telling episode.

Read More
Ep 24 - The Hustle Behind Kickstart Ventures

The hustle to get $150 Million to invest in startups is extraordinary. In this episode, Ronster chats with Minette Navarette to discuss the hustle behind Kickstart Ventures. Minette will share how she started her career in working for multiple multinational companies to how she started working on innovation while she was with Level Up Games and Globe Telecom. She will also share the origin of how Kickstart Ventures came to be and their philosophy of how they invest and what happens during due diligence. For the first time ever, Ronster will also share what it is like working with Kickstart and the valuable lessons he learned when Kickstart invested in his first startup. Lastly, Minette will discuss in detail how the $150 Million Active Fund fund of Ayala will be invested in startups in this exciting episode.

Read More
Ep 23 - The Hustle Behind Kumu

Building the Philippines’ fastest-growing social media network takes serious hustle. In this episode, Ronster chats with Roland Ros, the Founder of Kumu, as he shares how he started his hustle and how he got Dado Banatao to be his Adviser. Roland will talk about his humble beginnings, from moving to the country to pursue his passion, how he bounced back from 15 years of failures in multiple businesses he started. He is also going to share key learnings like he five key factors that Dado Banatao taught him in launching businesses that he used to grow Kumu to be used heavily by Millenials and Gen Z's in this very insightful episode.

Read More
Ep 22 - The Hustle Behind Grab

The hustle behind Southeast Asia's biggest ride hailing super app is no easy feat. In this episode, Ronster chats with Brian Cu, the President of Grab Philippines. Brian will share deep learnings about how Grab started and how they hustled to get drivers onboard. He will also talk about how he was able to grow the grab team, how they competed head-to-head with Uber and the things that happened to Grab after they merged with Uber. Brian also shares his secrets on how to handle criticisms, how to cope with stress and what Grab has in store for the public and the startup community in this mind-blowing episode.

Read More
Ep 21 - The Hustle Behind The Philippine Startup Law

The Philippine Startup Bill is now officially a law. In this episode, Ronster chats with Karl Satinitigan to discuss the details behind The Philippine Startup Law. Karl will discuss in great detail a lot of valuable information that the public needs to know like how people can get access to the funding this law provides, how startups can get tax incentives and what type of people are eligible to get these benefits. Karl will also share the challenges and the process they had to go through to get the law passed and the next steps we need to take to implement the law in this very important episode.

Read More
Ep 20 - The Hustle Of A Startup CFO

The role of a Chief Finance Officer in a business is very important. In this episode, Ronster chats with Addi Guevarra, CFO of Advance. Addi will share his experiences as a Finance professional that prepared him to be a CFO in his own startup. He also shares why they chose to solve the problem of helping employees bridge their cashflow problems through Advance. Addi will also share key tips on how to manage your money as a startup and as an individual in this enlightening episode.

Read More
Ep 19 - The Hustle Of A Marketer Turned CEO

The process of quitting your corporate job to join a startup can be a very scary experience. In this episode, Ronster chats with Cindy Burdette, CEO of Allcare.io. Cindy talks about the hustle in starting her career and how she was able to rack up awards for her work. She also discusses how difficult it was to leave her corporate job to join a startup and the sacrifices she had to do for it. Cindy also sheds light on the struggles she faced when it was her turn to run the company and do ICO and fundraising. Lastly, she discusses the importance of having benefits and gave a very special gift for those listening to this episode.

Read More
Ep 18 - The Hustle Of A Chatbot Maker

Making chatbots are not as easy as it seems. In this episode, Ronster talks to Andrew Demeter, a world-famous chatbot maker. Andrew is the Social Media Manager and Community Manager of Chatfuel, the world's biggest chatbot development platform and he will discuss what it was like having a career helping other people make chatbots while he is still a full-time college student. He also talks about how he got recruited into the Chatfuel team and what makes a good chatbot. He also shared is tactics on how he copes with his struggles and his predictions for bots in the very near future in this very educational episode.

Read More
Ep 16 - The Hustle Of An Influencer Marketing Entrepreneur

Influencer Marketing is one of the most effective ways in this era of Social Media. In this episode, Ronster chats with Ace Gapuz, CEO of Blogapalooza. Ace shared her stories on how she hustled her way through early struggles in her career and how she was able to bounce back from them. She also shared what it takes to be an effective Influencer that brands would love and taught us very useful tips on networking, persuasion and sales in this very informative episode.

Read More
Ep 14 - The Hustle Of Getting In 30 Under 30

Getting in Forbes Magazine's 30 under 30 list is an exceptional achievement. In this episode, Ronster chats with Georgianna Carlos, Founder and CEO of Fetch! Naturals and a recent inductee of Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2019. She discussed how she started her career as a Psychology major and the hustles she had to go through early in her career. She also talks about how she immersed herself in a new environment to run her first startup, MyOffice. Lastly, she discussed how grew Fetch from scratch and shared how it impacted in her getting in 30 under 30 this year in this very inspiring episode.


Read More
Ep 13 - The Hustle Of A Venture Capitalist

In this very rare episode, we will get to know the ins and outs of Venture Capital. Ronster hosts Michael Lints, a Venture Partner of Golden Gave Ventures. Michael shares what a VC does in great depth like how they raise funds, who they raise funds with, how a VC makes money and what they look for in terms of funding a good startup to invest in. He also shares what he thinks the Philippine ecosystem should to improve and catch up with the region. He also shared great tips in how startups can get the attention of VCs and one can grow a network from scratch is this very packed episode.

Read More
Ep 12 - The Hustle Of A Tech Co-Founder

Did you ever wonder what the hustle is like building an app that thousands of people use? In this episode, Ronster hosts Andrei Navarro, the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Booky. Andrei will share his journey on how he started programming 20 years ago to how he improved his coding over the years in his different stints as a developer and professor. He will also tell us how the mindset should be in creating a very popular app and the right approach to programming. Most importantly, he dropped a very big surprise in this episode that will leave us all hungry and ready to eat great food.

Read More
Ep 9 - The Hustle Of A Filipina Ecosystem Builder

Building an ecosystem for startups to thrive in is something that is not easy to make. In this episode, Ronster talks to Katrina Chan, the Director of QBO. They discussed the early stages of her career in how she hustled to qualify into one of the most prestigious schools in the country, also on how she studied in the US. Kat also discussed the start of her career and how QBO almost never happened. 

Read More
Ep 8 - The Hustle Of A Fashion Model Turned CEO

What does fashion and business have in common? In this episode, Ronster chats with Abbie Victorino, Founder and CEO of Style Genie. Abbie will share how she started her career being a Fashion Model and how she got into the world of eCommerce. She will also discuss how she used her expertise in eCommerce to launch her startup - Style Genie. They will also discuss the difficulties and challenges of launching a fashion startup and the importance of the Girl Boss movement for women entrepreneurs.

Read More
Ep 6 - The Hustle Of A Serial Entrepreneur

Did you ever think about how serial entrepreneurs manage having multiple businesses at the same time? In this episode, Ronster sits down with RJ Ledesma to talk about how he manages running multiple businesses like Mercato Centrale, a hosting career and a TV career all at the same time! They also discuss about key learnings that RJ was able to gather while being exposed to so many entrepreneurs. RJ also drops a very big surprise in this episode that can benefit you if you have a budding food business.

Read More