Don’t Hold Back, Bring Your Startup to Life

A Message from Two Young Entrepreneurs and Two Incubator Mentors

by Bella Angela Del Rio

Preparing to be part of the workforce can be difficult, especially for students and young professionals; the thought of choosing the right company to apply to, figuring out one’s strengths and capabilities, and whether or not to start their own business. There is definitely a lot of uncertainty in starting something new, but as we’ve learned from two startup founders in their early twenties, “Don’t be afraid to try new things.”

We virtually sat down with our Impact Boost Camp (IBC) participants Geraldine Escano, Founder of Rebirth PH, and Kok Hong Chiang, Founder of LabaGo, who shared their passion and desire in running impact-driven startups. They are breaking barriers for young entrepreneurs to thrive in the startup and social enterprise ecosystem.

We also went behind the scenes with two of our IBC mentors Anja Teehankee, Incubator Manager of the Convergent Resilience Technology Business Incubator (CONRES TBI), and Shearyl Arenas, Project Leader of Nurture Innovation Technology Revolution Office (TIP NITRO TBI), who unpacked the role of incubators and mentors in molding young entrepreneurs and their best practices in coaching student startups. Read on to understand these young minds and mentors who are changing the world of business.

The motivation of startup founders to keep pushing forward

Geraldine is a Materials Engineering student at the University of the Philippines Diliman who volunteers on the side, and Hong is currently working on several projects and a Civil Engineering job. Juggling between all these while running a business is difficult to manage, but as entrepreneurs, they are motivated to continue to move forward despite the hurdles.

Geraldine Escano: We decided to continue our venture [Rebirth PH] because we found a problem when it comes to giving birth, where mothers usually think that they can only give birth in one position and that giving birth can’t become comfortable. 

When we won the National James Dyson Award in 2020, we felt a sense of validation that we can actually make this project work because it is solving a problem. We wanted to use this opportunity to turn our idea into a real product and a business idea.

As a materials engineering student, most of the theses and projects created just stay on the bookshelf, but we wanted to make it different by turning this into a product and push this forward to help the community.

Kok Hong Chiang: My passion is doing business. At a very young age, I used to sell different products like sweets and crackers in school. I continued doing this until I reached high school and college where I got involved in various businesses and established more connections when making conversations while selling. I really have a passion for doing business, I see it as an avenue to give opportunity for others to start their own venture as well.

The role of mentors in the startup journey of an incubatee

All entrepreneurs have a mentor, whether that’d be a parent, professor, fellow entrepreneur, or one from an incubator. Mentors play an important role in molding the mindset of startup founders. Just as a child has a parent to teach them how to walk, an entrepreneur has a mentor to guide them on their journey.

Anja Teehankee: There are two types of mentors- the generalists, who really guide the incubatee through the process; and the specialists, who have a very clear area of expertise where they can really go in-depth.

I am a generalist. For me, it is about looking at the bigger picture, looking at the process from where they are today and where they want to be. It is really trying to help them through the challenges they have and understanding what their objectives and goals are. As a mentor, I am there to nudge, listen, and ask a lot of questions; and hopefully, the thoughts that are generated through that will help them focus on what they want to do, where they want to be, and the decisions they have to make.

Some questions for budding entrepreneurs by mentors

Shearyl Arenas: There is always something to learn when I mentor an incubatee, because each of them is different, they have different needs, and there are different approaches when coaching or mentoring them. We are non-directive, we are there to give advice, and it is up to them whether they accept it or not. There is definitely a lot to learn.

Learning is not a one-time thing

In school, students have to go to the classroom to learn. In life, the world becomes a classroom. Rather than learning from professors, we learn from the diverse group of people we meet. An interesting concept to look at is the process of unlearning to learn and adapting to the changing environment.

Geraldine Escano: As a founder, I may not have much experience in running a business, because it wasn’t taught to us as engineering students, but I want to learn more from other startups by volunteering.

It is important to explore and get to know more about ourselves because it will help us collaborate with colleagues and potential customers or clients. In understanding ourselves, we will be able to garner more confidence and believe that we can handle a business.

Anja Teehankee: I still have a lot to learn, but that is the great thing about being a mentor, every day it is challenging, every day I realize that there are things that I don’t know yet.

Kok Hong Chiang: It is really hard to multitask and manage several businesses, but this is my passion, so I do it anyway. I experienced several failures, got scammed, and got robbed in the past but “fighting!” (a trending term usually used by Korean’s to cheer up when met with an obstacle), we still need to go on and we must learn from our failures.

Shearyl Arenas: I need to improve my craft. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship from attending several workshops and seminars, and here comes another language about social impact and social innovation. Before the terminologies were about pivoting and building traction, now there is another buzzword in the ecosystem focused on social impact.

We need to move fast and adapt to the changing environment in the startup ecosystem. Our engineering students were initially trained by providing the problem and them creating a solution. Now, Technopreneurship also considers social impact and the impact of innovation on society.

As mentors, we need to teach our incubatees to start with the problem rather than starting with the solution, and then iterate if needed. We need to do the same, if our mentorship style works for one team and does not work for another, we too have to iterate our methods in mentoring.

All startups should create Social Impact

“Whether or not you qualify as a social enterprise, all businesses have to create impact.” - Johanna Erroba. In the previous Impact Boost Camp, Johanna emphasized that businesses have a social role to play. May it be a tech business, a restaurant, or a courier service, businesses have a say in shaping the mindset and the growth of a community.

[READ: How to Build Businesses of the Future?]

Kok Hong Chiang: What I realized is that as startups we should be able to create impact. From the Impact Boost Camp, I have learned how to align my startup (LabaGO) with the Sustainable Development Goals. We focused on SDG 8 [Decent Work and Economic Growth], to help and provide decent work for our delivery drivers and the staff that are handling the clothes of our customers. We want to prioritize those who are part of low-income and vulnerable sectors.

Shearyl Arenas: What I have learned about technology-based incubators, is we need to strengthen how to include social impact and the awareness of impact in the venture. Similar to other engineering students who are CEOs, they usually focus more on technology, as compared to incorporating social impact. We need to have many lessons, lectures, and activities for them to understand and connect their venture to the SDGs.

Delivering the hard truths

Dr. Esther Obonyo, one of our Visiting Professors from the Pennsylvania State University talked about, “noble failure”, it is embracing that failure is inevitable, and should be seen as a signal to pivot. Entrepreneurs are innovative and creative which is highly commendable, but should also be open to failure and feedback.

[READ MORE: Incubate the Future: Building Back Better University-based Technology Business Incubators]

Anja Teehankee: Part of being a mentor is just simply being honest. As mentors, it would come to a point when handling our incubatees, we say that “the project is not good to do at this time, it is not innovative enough for the market,” or “this is not something that is worth investing your nights or your weekends while studying because it doesn’t seem like there is enough need for it."

Shearyl Arenas: I believe that yes, entrepreneurs may have the aspiration to solve the world’s problems, but they should also remember that they can only contribute so much to solve those problems that we face.

Anja Teehankee: When our incubatees are met with failures, we must remind them that it shouldn’t be a reason to be in despair or become discouraged. Especially for our young ones that hit a roadblock, or had a bad interview with a potential customer, I can definitely see that everything for them breaks down. They suddenly think, “Oh this is never going to work,” or “it was such a bad idea,” just because one person had bad feedback. We must bring them back.

Message to aspiring entrepreneurs from young entrepreneurs

Geraldine Escano: Don’t be afraid to try things, we are young but we have a great mindset. I encourage you to seek out guidance from mentors and those who have done this kind of work, especially in social entrepreneurship. Our responsibility as social entrepreneurs is far bigger than just running a business. We are providing opportunities for the communities to grow.

It may be challenging but we are in this generation where there are several organizations and communities in the startup ecosystem that can help us grow our idea. So do not be afraid, because there are several startup resources right now, it is a matter of just reaching out.

Kok Hong Chiang: Continue to go on with your startup and your idea. When you think of something, do it, and try it! Do not be afraid to do things. You should have passion and love for what you are doing. Entrepreneurship and business can get very challenging, there are times where you will fail but that is how you will learn. My advice is to continue to go on and believe in what you are creating.

In running your startup, you should be the number one fan or person that believes your startup will succeed 100%, no matter what. You should have the gusto in everything that you do, you must have the enthusiasm that when people see you, they can see that you are passionate about what you are doing.

When they see the dedication and passion for what you are doing, they will believe in you.

Do you have an innovative idea that can change the world? Go for it, and don’t hold back! Geraldine and Hong are two of the Gen Z’s ready to take action to create a better society for all. There is a world of possibilities in your hands, and you are capable of shaping the world. So Don’t Hold Back, Bring Your Startup to Life!

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Bella Angela Del Rio is a youth advocate that aims to bring awareness towards youth's role in society, gender equality, and environmental conservation through communications and graphic design. She currently serves as the Communications Assistant for the Innovation for Social Impact Partnership (ISIP) project, empowering local social enterprises and driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into action through design and compelling stories.