"At an event for the Management Association of the Philippines, the Singaporean ambassador gave a 15-minute speech about the strong relationship between Singapore and the Philippines. Her final paragraph encouraged everyone to do more business in Singapore, and she ended by saying, 'In the time it took me to give this speech, you could have registered a business in Singapore.' It was mind-blowing because, in the Philippines, our study with portfolio companies showed that simply registering a business can take up to 45 days—45 days where businesses can go to die." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner of Foxmont Capital Partners" - Franco Varona
"Everybody keeps asking, 'When is AI going to kill this?' but it hasn’t happened yet. What we’re seeing instead are many efforts to upskill workers using AI within the BPO sector. Nothing has fully replaced voice, and I think that’s because of empathy. Filipinos make phone calls to credit card holders in the US and to people whose flights are canceled in places like the US and Australia. How many times do people press one just to reach a human voice? It happens all the time, especially when your flight is canceled at an airport." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner of Foxmont Capital Partners" - Franco Varona
"Foxmont likes to invest in Filipino solutions to Filipino problems, which is a simple way of saying this country has many challenges. We complain about it every day, and anyone arriving at the airport and taking a Grab ride will have their share of complaints. But that also means there’s plenty of opportunity—many services and products still need to be built. If you’re a regional startup that hits the right price point and solves a problem no one has tackled before, there’s huge potential to be the winner in this country." - Franco Varona, Managing Partner of Foxmont Capital Partners" - Franco Varona
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on the Philippines' startup boom, global diaspora power, and why first movers win.
Keywords: Franco Varona, Philippines Startup Boom, Global Diaspora Power, Why First Movers Win, Philippines, Southeast Asia, VC, Thought Leadership
