Best pitch? Solve problems

An official of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) said traditional business owners may want to hear more success stories about local tech startups, to convince them to invest in new ideas.

Ramon Escueta, co-chair of PCCI’s power committee, who represented the chamber in a two-day gathering of the country’s startup community in Puerto Princesa City in Palawan on Aug. 24-25, said success stories of Philippine startups may entice more traditional business owners to support and fund players.

“Success stories are very nice to hear,” he said, “(but) these hardened business people, they are not always convinced easily.”

“Very few” members of the PCCI, he said, have invested in tech startups because of the risks that come with it.

However, he said there are two ways for traditional businesses to invest in startups. First is through corporate social responsibility, where corporations may allocate a portion of their resources to support and grow startups.

Second, startups themselves can work harder to convince big businesses to invest in them.

“Startups should really look and try to find out where they can help big businesses. If they are able to do it, it gives everybody a win-win (situation.) The big companies can reduce their cost to increase their income. Startups can be part of bigger businesses, too,” said Escueta.

But he then cautioned, “You need to be able to do something that resonates with the businessmen.”

As of August 2017, the Philippines has 547 startups, according to StartupPH, the country’s umbrella organization for all stakeholders and supporters of the startup ecosystem.