Hustleshare

This week on Founders Only, we sit down with James Fernando of Armada Brands as he opens up about one of the most honest and emotional journeys a founder can experience. From reaching the heights of success to facing unexpected setbacks, James shares what it truly feels like to go from being on top to suddenly finding yourself starting over again.

In this episode, he reflects on the bittersweet reality of accepting defeat—something many entrepreneurs struggle to confront. James talks about the difficult moments of humility, self-doubt, and rebuilding, while also revealing the resilience and determination that pushed him to keep moving forward. Rather than letting failure define his story, he used it as fuel to rise again.

The conversations happening on Founders Only are the ones every entrepreneur needs to hear. Don't be the last to know. Watch the full episode on YouTube. ⏭️

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This week on Founders Only, we sit down with Jojo Malolos of PayMongo for a powerful conversation about one of the most compelling turnaround stories in the local business landscape.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into what it truly means to step into a company at its lowest point. Jojo shares the reality of walking into an organization that many believed was beyond saving — a company facing internal challenges, shaken confidence, and the lingering impact of a highly publicized controversy in 2022.

Follow now and never miss an episode. 🎧

💡Follow Founders Only on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foundersonlypodcast

💡Follow Founders Only on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fPsNbi8m8mCIyGZH1YGm1?si=2c67a0451949498b

💡Follow Founders Only on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/hustleshare

💡Visit Founders Only on Squarespace: https://www.hustleshare.com/founders-only

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Founders Only, we mark an exciting new chapter with the official relaunch of the show — and we’re kicking it off in a big way. To celebrate, we’re joined by two of the most influential figures in the venture capital landscape: Paulo Campos of Kaya Founders and Franco Varona of Foxmont.

In this special episode, they take us behind the curtain of how venture capital truly operates in the country — far beyond the headlines and funding announcements. Paulo and Franco unpack the inner workings of building and managing a fund, from sourcing promising startups and making high-stakes investment decisions to supporting founders through both rapid growth and difficult pivots.

Follow now and never miss an episode. 🎧

💡Follow Founders Only on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@foundersonlypodcast

💡Follow Founders Only on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6fPsNbi8m8mCIyGZH1YGm1?si=2c67a0451949498b

💡Follow Founders Only on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/hustleshare

💡Visit Founders Only on Squarespace: https://www.hustleshare.com/founders-only

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Michael McCullough, Chairman of KMC Solutions, to unpack how a lemonade stand kid from Oregon built one of the largest flexible office and offshoring platforms in the Philippines, powering 800+ companies and 20,000 desks nationwide. From coding MVPs and battling 2.5 Mbps internet to betting big on Filipino talent, Michael reveals the grit, culture-building, and calculated risk-taking it took to turn labor arbitrage into a long-term empire.

“There's developers that want to do it perfectly and they want a full week or three weeks to do it perfectly. And there's some that will understand that you're looking for a quick shortcut because there's no money in the project unless someone's about to sign and pay for the project. And having it done perfectly doesn't mean that we're going to have cash coming in so I can pay you. And they don't understand. The developers don't always understand the commercial aspect of what we're trying to solve for. And that money just doesn't appear out of thin air.” – Michael McCullough

Connect with Michael:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmccullough/

Website: https://kmc.solutions/

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

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Donald Lim, COO of DITO CME, to unpack his journey from selling lighting products in Binondo and cleaning toilets at Burger King to leading digital transformation across agencies, media giants, and the country’s third telco. From building Yehey in the early internet days to shaping strategy at ABS-CBN and beyond, Donald shares why humility, hunger, and hard work remain the real secret behind long-term success.

“There’s no secret to any success. It’s just simple hard work. It’s just simple humility. It’s really just doing the grind.”

Links/Sponsors:

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

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donald-patrick-lim-b359b52/

Website: https://ditocmeholdings.ph/

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Dom Sagolla and Anna Spisak, the minds behind Developer Camp, an 18-year-old global hackathon movement that began in Silicon Valley and is now coming to Manila. From the early days of Twitter and the first iPhone Dev Camps to building inclusive tech communities worldwide, they share how cooperation, mentorship, and community-first innovation can shape founders, families, and entire generations of builders.

Resources:

LinkedIn (Dom Sagolla): https://www.linkedin.com/in/sagolla/

X/Twitter (Dom Sagolla): https://x.com/dom

LinkedIn (Anna Spisak): https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaspisak/

Website (Developer Camp): https://developer.camp/

LinkedIn (Developer Camp): https://www.linkedin.com/company/developercamp/

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

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Hustleshare, Ron Baetiong sits down with Paulo Canivel, GM of Evro Mobility Solutions, to unpack his journey from scrappy side hustles and barbershops to building the Philippines’ leading EV charging platform under 917Ventures and AC Mobility. Paulo shares how betting early, learning faster than the market, and staying relentlessly adaptable helped him go zero-to-one—again—while leading one of the country’s most critical mobility shifts.

“You never know what you’re going to need to be. What the business needs you to be.”

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulocanivel/

Website: https://www.evro.ph/

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Hustle Share, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Cris Azaña, co-founder and CEO of Kazam, to trace her journey from growing up in a household shaped by kasambahays to building a tech platform that connects homeowners and domestic workers in a safer, smarter way. Cris shares hard-earned lessons on grit, family expectations, and founder conviction—revealing what it really takes to solve meaningful problems, push through doubt, and create opportunities for overlooked communities.

Resources:

LinkedIn (Cris Azaña): https://www.linkedin.com/in/cris-aza%C3%B1a-ba55812b4/

Website: Kazam

Facebook (Kazam): https://www.facebook.com/kazamph/

LinkedIn (Kazam): https://www.linkedin.com/company/kazamph/

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

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong sits down with Julian Legazpi, founder and chief venture officer of Infi Group, to trace his journey from growing up Filipino-Canadian to becoming a global operator, angel investor, and venture builder across Southeast Asia. Julian shares hard-earned lessons on grit, diaspora identity, and what it really takes to build, fund, and scale companies in emerging markets—beyond the hype and into the real work.

Ep Timeline:

[00:02:30] – Julian's hustle: venture building, investing, and scaling across Emerging Asia

[00:04:17] – Origin story: Growing up Filipino-Canadian in Vancouver

[00:06:56] – Mr. Worldwide era: Austria, Taiwan, Indonesia, and everywhere in between

[00:08:48] – First influences: Rich Dad Poor Dad and Tito Ray's real estate seminar

[00:14:05] – Skill stack: What traveling the world taught him about confidence

[00:18:18] – Building confidence vs. competence: embracing failure as fuel

[00:22:32] – The Philippine diaspora: Why most Phil-Ams see home as "back there"

[00:29:20] – Jumping into entrepreneurship during COVID (worst timing ever)

[00:32:47] – From angel investor to VC: putting money where your mouth is

[00:37:09] – What Julian looks for in founders: "You're a cockroach, bro"

[00:40:45] – Why Southeast Asia is always one cycle behind

[00:44:48] – The vintage problem: Fund One exits and the recycling capital game

[00:52:22] – Why most startups shouldn't take VC money (and what to do instead)

[00:59:02] – The B2C trap: Why product businesses struggle with VC math

[01:05:18] – The hybrid model: How InfiGroup blends VC, PE, and venture building

[01:11:14] – InfiCommerce: Rolling up boring logistics businesses across the region

[01:18:14] – Bridging the diaspora: Julian's mission to bring talent home

"I cannot stress enough that we all have to find our own superpower. And everyone is different. Everyone has something that is not categorized in math, science, social sciences, economics, like we learned in school, right? There are these gray area fringe type of personality skillsets that you only get by working and constantly analyzing yourself."

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jlegazpi

Website: https://infigroup.co/

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

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on Hustleshare, host Ron Baetiong welcomes Stephanie Kubota, president and CEO of Rush Technologies—one of 917Ventures’ most successful portfolio companies. Steph shares her journey from being a Subway sandwich artist in Boston to becoming one of the youngest CEOs in the Globe ecosystem, navigating imposter syndrome, building social capital, and making the hardest call any founder faces: downsizing her team during tech winter.

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniekubota 

Website: https://www.rush.ph

Links/Sponsors:

OneCFO: https://www.onecfoph.co/

Hustleshare is powered by Podmachine

Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE

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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.