"There is a bright future for Filipinos to work without having to leave the Philippines. Another interesting development is the return of Filipinos who had previously left. While I don’t know the exact numbers, I know it’s happening, and it’s fascinating. These individuals bring back their experiences, exposure, and best practices, enriching the overall talent pool in the Philippines. This creates positive feedback loops that will continue to grow and strengthen the country's talent ecosystem, as long as we sustain and support this momentum." - Nicolas Bivero, CEO & Co-Founder of Penbrothers" - Nicolas Bivero
"We wanted to create those jobs here in the Philippines, to create opportunities for Filipinos to work with interesting foreign companies, startups, SMEs—whatever it is—without having to leave. And with COVID or after COVID, even more so, without actually having to move to Metro Manila. Before COVID, everything had to be around here or in the big cities, but now with the development after COVID, we can do it remotely. For example, we have a great German-speaking accountant in the middle of nowhere in Mindanao, which is great. She didn’t need to uproot herself or her family to get this job with a German startup." - Nicolas Bivero, CEO & Co-Founder of Penbrothers" - Nicolas Bivero
"It was like, "We’re looking for opportunities in Southeast Asia to replicate what we do in Japan—go forth and figure it out." So I took my university training and essentially turned it into a research study. In the first month or six weeks, I focused on researching Southeast Asia—the countries, their economies, foreign direct investment laws, and whether we had any existing connections in the region. I went around the office, asking the older members of the company, "What exactly do we do? Do we have any prior relationships with any Southeast Asian countries?" On one hand, I aimed to learn as much as I could about Southeast Asia’s economies and opportunities in our sector, and on the other, I tried to understand from our experienced managers what we did and how we did it." - Nicolas Bivero, CEO & Co-Founder of Penbrothers" - Nicolas Bivero
In this episode, Jeremy Au speaks on the 8-year side hustle to full-time founder at 44 journey, Japan intern to Philippines director, and PEO industry for Filipino talent.
Keywords: Nicolas Bivero, 8-Year Side Hustle to Full-Time Founder at 44, Japan Intern to Philippines Director, PEO Industry, Filipino Talent, Philippines, Southeast Asia, Startup, Founder Story
