“How can you say a company is a start-up company? Is it measured by the age of the company? Or does it have something to do with the stability of its management?” These questions sparked the discussion between our guests and our DJ that day.
The guests were Lorenz A. Benitez and Mark Leo B. Jalandoni from Blue Lemons Gaming Studio (OPM Jam), April Margaret Cuenca from Flip Trip NCR (online Philippine’ travel platform), Allan Gosiengfiao from My Child (student-customer relations management solution for web/mobile application) and Chino Atelano from Time Free Innovation (virtual queuing). Each has different opinions and different answers.
The first to answer was Mr. Gosiengfiao who quoted from the definition of Silicon Valley. He said that start-up companies are companies that are trying to get to a new business model. Basically, he said, established companies knows a business model for their target market, start-up businesses does not. Blue Lemon Gaming Studios agreed to the idea that it is measured by the age of the company, saying that they are a start-up because “they just started in November.” BLGS was started by three college students who decided to put up their own company while waiting for their graduation in April. Ms. Cuenca from Flip Trip didn’t actually categorize their company as a start up but mentioned how their company started up. Fragmented information about Philippine’ travel adventures was the problem found by Flip Trip and tried to solve it by loading information into their website all about a certain destination. Instead of asking Google and going through different websites, Flip Trip got it covered. Ms. Cuenca’s personal advocacy is for tourists to enjoy the beauty of the Philippines and appreciate it for themselves.
Most startup companies offer innovation, new ideas to the table. My Child’s concept is developing a strong communication between the school and the parents through an online web application. Through My Child, parents can review their children’s attendance, grades, or class suspensions. Their grand vision, according to Mr. Gosiengfiao, is to offer it even to public schools in the Philippines. BLGS is developing an app that would help motorists find the cheapest source of gas in and around the metro. Queuing is a problem for businesses this days, this is where Time Free comes in. They developed a software which would queue the customers and text them if their turn is near. “Time is the new currency,” said Mr. Atelano. Time Free Innovations is now an international commodity, having established both here in the Philippines, Hong Kong and hopefully, in Malaysia.
Next, questions were read by the DJs from the listeners. Since Flip Trip mentioned they focus on exploring the Philippines, the first question was that if they offer travel packages to other countries as well (e.g.: Hong Kong and Singapore). Ms. Cuenca said that they are looking forward to expand their company, but as of now, they only cater for the Philippines. Since their hit game was OPM Jam, a listener wondered if BLGS is exclusive for OPM songs. Mr. Jalandoni said that as of now, they would market for the Philippines only. What pushed them for this idea, said Mr. Benitez, was due to the prevalence of KPOP, which isn’t exactly bad, but should not outshine the OPM industry in their own land. Another listener didn’t just ask a question, but also complained of poor queuing in Quezon City Hall. He was wondering if Time Free is already in use in other City Halls. Sadly, the answer from Mr. Atelano was no.
The segment ended with the startups promoting their companies to the listeners.
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