Kickstart, US Embassy host Fil-Am startup founder

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino-American technopreneur and Scan.com founder Garrett Gee advised local technopreneurs to focus on building their businesses and executing their ideas instead of wasting time debating on new ways of doing things.

Gee braved the Manila rains to speak before a full-house crowd, which attended the first Kickstart Startup Mixer at the Ayala Corporation headquarters. The Kickstart Startup Mixers are a series of events being organized by incubator-accelerator Kickstart Ventures, Inc. to get the Philippine startup community together and discuss subjects relevant to startup founders. Kickstart is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Globe Telecom.

“If you’re wasting time on your startup and you’re not building your business, you’re gonna lose out. If you’re sitting with your files and thinking that ‘if only I had a million dollars,’ you’re really wasting your time,” said Gee.   “Tap the service that is available. Your ability to execute your idea is what’s gonna get you there. Make it up and running as fast as possible.   If you don’t love your startup and your startup is not your baby, you need to find another one.”

The young IT entrepreneur and software designer is founder and chief executive officer of Provo, Utah-based Scan Inc., which received US$1.7 million in seed funding when it started in early 2011. Scan creates web and mobile tools to enable enterprises and individuals to benefit from mobile transaction technologies such as Quick Response (QR) Code, Near Field Communication (NFC), among others.

Gee came to the Philippines as part of the US Embassy’s Speaker Program designed to promote understanding of US culture, society, policies and institutions, and the political, economic, social and cultural fabric context out of which they arise. 

Gee revealed that setbacks are a necessary part of a founder’s journey. “I told you about the 10 companies that signed up with us, but not about the hundred who declined,” said Gee. “You need the failures to learn what you can and can’t do. It’s only a failure if you give up.”

Minette Navarrete, president of Kickstart, expressed optimism that the presence of Gee during the launch of Kickstart Startup Mixer could inspire startup founders to focus on execution, persevere and make their dreams come true.

“We’re building a community of trust, generosity and result-orientation. To do that, we all need to meet new people and share our talents, passions and energies to create an exciting new environment that supports creative, game-changing entrepreneurial initiatives. This singular purpose underpins all the community activities of Kickstart, and is the reason we’re organizing Kickstart Startup Mixers,” she said. “The Philippine startup community is creative, dynamic and passionate about innovation and we’re fortunate to have Amazon and the US Embassy as partners for this first Kickstart Mixer, with everyone articulating the belief that it is persistent and purposeful action that drives success.”