I remember my first days as an entrepreneur. My first store was a novel cotton candy cart in Fiesta Carnival. My then-girlfriend (who is now my wife) helped me negotiate to get the space. The business was a simple idea that turned into a multimillion-peso business years after. I can still remember my excitement as I saw people line up to try a huge cotton candy. My parents’ house was the factory where we made the cotton candy mixes. Sacks of sugar filled my Dad’s office at our home. That was 32 years ago.

My son Christian and his cousin Michael also started a t-shirt venture a year ago. They called it Delivery One. It did not end up quite well. I told them that they should develop a retail brand if they want to, at least, have a chance to succeed. Having to outsource design and consign the shirts with other retail shops, nothing was left to keep as margins were all eaten up. Then, I told him to maybe just drop the idea and work for me.
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As I watched PNoy deliver his first State of the Nation Address in Filipino, I said to myself – this person, who was elected by majority of the Filipinos, does possess the quality of being street smart that many people did not expect.

PNoy’s style in delivering his message in our vernacular seems to cater well to the greater population of Filipinos. It has a strong mass-appeal, is easy to understand and practical. While his examples in pointing out the mistakes of the previous administration were relayed in very simple and general terms, it showed how serious he is in fighting corruption, which is a good thing. This is what people really want to see – the assurance that taxes will be well spent.
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Last Thursday, we attended the wake of Frank Mayor. He was the father of good friends Joanne Ramirez and Val Sotto.

Joanne was the classmate of my wife in Assumption. She was also editor of our 55 Inspiring Stories of Women Entrepreneurs book. Val is the wife of Ping Sotto who is one of our Angelpreneurs and co-author of our How-to-start your own business book.

As we arrived, Joanne, Val and the rest of their family were talking to guests. I noticed that Deedee Siytangco seemed to be monitoring someone’s arrival, so I told my wife that maybe P-Noy was arriving.
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