Articles by Leandro (6)
Before You Look for Investors, Look for Customers
Before founders raise capital, they need evidence that they are solving a real problem. This article explores the case for customer validation before fundraising, the strengths and limitations of bootstrapping, and how founders can choose the right type of capital at the right stage of their journey.
Why Innovation and Entrepreneurship Are Not the Same Thing
Most startup ecosystems treat innovation and entrepreneurship as the same thing. They are not. Innovation creates new value. Entrepreneurship captures and scales it. This piece breaks down the distinction with real examples and applies it directly to founders, MSMEs, and ecosystem builders in Northern Luzon. You do not need to invent something unprecedented to start building.
How to Start a Startup as a Student
I joined my first startup competition as a college student with no prototype, no revenue, and no real idea of what I was doing. What I had was a problem I cared about, a rough pitch, and enough nerve to submit an application. That decision shaped how I think about building startups far more than any classroom did. This is what I learned and what I wish someone had told me before I started.
What Is Innovation? (It Is Not Just Technology)
Most people think innovation means building an app. It does not. This piece redefines innovation using real examples from Northern Luzon, covers four types of innovation, and explains why the biggest opportunities in this region are coordination and distribution problems, not technology problems.
Baguio Used to Be on the Global Startup Map. It Is Not Anymore. That Should Bother Us More Than It Does.
In 2021, Baguio City entered the StartupBlink Global Startup Ecosystem Index at 944th globally. By 2022, it had dropped off. The 2026 index just added two more Philippine cities, bringing the country's total to ten ranked cities. Baguio is still not one of them. That gap is not a data problem. It is a signal worth taking seriously.
Where Are the Baguio Startups?
I have been attending startup and innovation events in this region for years. And I keep seeing the same faces. That is not a criticism. But when the same fifty people show up to the same events, year after year, it tells you something about the reach of the ecosystem.
Featured Contribution
Inv8 Studio
Innovation Partner for Startups & Growing Businesses
Areas of Focus