In this episode, Ronster chats with Dennis Velasco of Prosperna to uncover how a former Silicon Valley executive leveraged his global experience to build the Philippines' leading online marketing platform for real estate.

Dennis shares his journey, from his humble beginnings growing up as an Asian in Texas to his early exposure to entrepreneurship. He recounts his path to the heart of tech innovation in Silicon Valley, the pivotal business he started to stay afloat during the 2008 financial crisis, and his impressive career stops at giants like Salesforce, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Xero.

Ultimately, he reveals why he chose to move back to the Philippines to launch his own startup. Listen in as Dennis shares the strategy behind their consistent four-year growth despite being bootstrapped, and provides invaluable advice for employees contemplating the jump to entrepreneurship and for those currently navigating financial struggles amid the pandemic.

Links/Sponsors:

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

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Listen to our brand new podcast: Founders Only HERE

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

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In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Phil Renner, co-founder and CEO of Dr. Shiba, to share how a German-born McKinsey consultant turned his love for pets into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing pet care brands. Phil breaks down how his multicultural upbringing shaped his hustle, why he bet on the Philippines’ booming e-commerce scene, and how Dr. Shiba became a go-to brand for pet parents across the region. He also talks about scaling from startup to multi-market player, the tough calls behind culture and hiring, and what it takes to build a proudly Filipino-led global brand from the ground up.

Episode:

[00:02:18] – Phil’s Hustle: Building Dr. Shiba and Southeast Asia’s leading pet ecosystem

[00:04:24] – Early Roots: Growing up in China, Singapore, and Germany with his first pets

[00:08:40] – Cultural Exposure: Lessons from a global upbringing and adaptability

[00:13:31] – McKinsey Years: Learning structure, stakeholder management, and problem-solving

[00:23:53] – The Founder’s Itch: From consultant to entrepreneur and taking the leap

[00:32:53] – Scaling Dr. Shiba: Betting on pets, building culture, and keeping the right team

[00:41:02] – Why the Philippines: Choosing the market and building data-driven brands

[00:49:15] – Scaling the Brand: Managing supply, premium positioning, and quality control

[00:59:04] – Leading Remotely: Evolving as a global leader in a fully remote setup

[01:03:54] – What’s Next: Expanding Dr. Shiba, Prof. Bengal, and entering new markets

“The other thing is empowering people a lot. In a lot of Filipino companies, people are very hierarchical in the way they act. Breaking down these barriers and empowering people to take some risks—and not punishing them for mistakes—goes a long way.”

Resources:

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

Website: https://dr-shiba.com

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.

In this episode of Hustleshare, we chat with Mansueto "Joel" Callao, Chairman and CEO of NYXSYS, to travel through his journey from a PUP graduate breaking into multinational sales to leading one of the Philippines’ biggest players in digital out-of-home advertising. Joel shares how persistence helped him land major clients, why a ₱26M billboard deal with no location became his first big break, and how a spectacular installation failure pushed him to level up. He opens up about shifting from static billboards to Asia’s largest LED displays, pivoting during the pandemic to build AI-powered audience measurement, and the leadership lessons he’s learned from working with Gen Z talent. Joel also gets real about staying true to your company’s “why,” keeping innovation constant, and why embracing failure is essential to long-term success.

Resources:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mansueto-callao-73a110a4

Website: https://nyxsys.ph

Links/Sponsors:

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

PLDT Enterprise: MSME Fiberbiz and 5G SIM Only

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