A new Tech Start-Up Investor is in town!

This looks very interesting. I just hope some freelance coders will come up of a very interesting idea for us especially those who can’t easily access the internet.

Please someone fund some twitter client here in the Philippines!

If they’re really serious, why do they have a deadline? And why do you have to have an advanced math degree to submit?

I’m not an inventor or entrepreneur-wannabe but I’m interested in venture capitals generally speaking. Philabs don’t seem to accommodating to the ordinary joe schmoe with a good idea. If they only want PhiSci graduates, they can easily google the address of the school.

200k isn’t exactly hard to come by for well-placed, well-educated youngsters. They can get a high-paying job and save that money in a year.

What I’m saying is that if you have a head and have it in the right place then money isn’t really the issue anymore, at least not in the 200k level. So why give up 49%.

I think BrianB has a good point….well anyway investors are hard to comeby nowadays….. I am an avid reader sir abe….

most might have a good idea but having a hell of a time looking for funds to have it materialize. this is a good opportunity our thousands of brilliant minds that are kept inside the shelves..

Happy Birthday, Abe! :-)

hmmm.. interesting.. medyo maliit nga lang yong amount but interesting nonetheless..

happy birthday sir abe =)

They can shove their money up in their collective asses.

What this? If N<=100, what is the number of strings not greater than N in length that will entirely match (case-sensitive) the following regular expression: (ph){1,5}i+l+abs*

Oh yeah right, only the people who can answer that can think and implement bright ideas.

Have you heard of facebook? How about napster? Oh how about Apple or Microsoft? Or Dell?

Kakainis mga masyadong mayabang.

@ Ericzoo: Ganyan ang mga capitalist dito sa Pinas. At least, sa pagkakaalam ko. It’s as if they want to tell you na: “Hey, I’m going to provide funding for your ideas. But at the end of the day, your soul is mine!” … Hahaha. May mga kilala akong capitalists na ganyan. Sa mga technopreneurs or even just the regular business-minded Pinoys like myself, hindi dahil desperate kayo masyado sa paghahanap ng funding sa mga projects or ideas niyo, kakagat na kayo agad sa mga opportunities like phiLabs. 51%-49% equity share is C-R-A-Z-Y! All I can say is that: BE PATIENT! I am only 26 years old and I am in the process of closing a PhP900k-project. Do everything at the right time! Kung hindi man magworkout ang deal na ‘to, I don’t mind. I’m smart and so are you. We can always do better!

@yuga not exactly. to even think like that (being big as facebook) is silly. 51% share from an investor on any tech startup is very uncommon. Make no mistake this is a red flag for any startup founder. It will create lots of operation distress as investors can override decisions, push out the co-founders, act like a boss, etc. Remember that there will probably be 2-3 co-founder. that leaves 24% to 16% controlling share each.

I appreciate the thought of a Ycombinator like incubator here but the goal of this one is suspect. Ycombinator which pioneered this model takes 6%-12% of the company for around P600k to P1.4m, 3 months of startup bootcamp with world class mentors, top tier VC exposure,etc. Ditto for techstarts, dreamit, etc.

Silicon valley angel investors NEVER ask to have majority shares in their portfolio companies because they want these companies to succeed by themselves. Asking for 51% equity signals that they want and CAN take over the company should it get bigger. There is no other way to interpret that.

you can argue that Silicon valley is different but i could go back to the 1st paragraph. its in the interest of both Philabs and its portfolio companies to ammend the 51% to something reasonable and just mentor the 1st batch better.

Edwin, baka over-enthusiastic lang. Still, medyo kuripot ang venture capital na ganito. Why not just borrow directly from a bank? If you have to put a car or a house as collateral, mas sulit naman.

Even though we’re a poor country, 1.7 million is not impossible, and great ideas are very hard to come by. You can get lucky a hundred times without having one bright idea in your lifetime.

Abe, I am sorry, but I am quite lost with the example you provided. I believe the one “in question” with regard to the policy of phiLabs is that they get to get 51% share. It’s like this: If your product / company succeeds, the investor can easily take over everything you’ve worked hard for. How about that?

Just to complete may explanation. You mentioned risk. Well, having an invention is beyond that. An inventor doesn’t think of cost-effectiveness. He thinks of big industrial conquests. Like the light bulb, the zipper, the safety pin, the refrigerator, the Internet. Even on a more down-to-earth scale, like instant messaging, like flickr, you don’t think aha I’ll make 50%. You think I’ll make billions out of nothing… all I need is startup capital. The capital itself is not the most important thing. You can get capital basta may makaintindi lang ng invention mo.

Given this, medyo unfair ang share ng Philabs.

Abe, sobrang appreciated ko that you’re responding to our concerns. At the end of each day, mahirap lang that a regular Pinoy with a brilliant mind e madedehado with regard to giving due credits. Pasensya na pero I guess nagiging idealistic lang ako. Sa totoo lang, ang hirap mag-weigh between your own principles versus business profitability. As in! I, myself, am trying to build an empire. Haha. Anyway, we’re talking way beyond the profit sharing, Abe. We’re all concerned of who gets to control the company IF it succeeds. That’s all.

Thanks sa mga comment nyo so I decide di sasali group ko he he he he well we still have some question and waiting for thier reply:

1.Any Government certification or DTI regarding this competition, so we could assured both Investor and participant will not be compromise at any reason and terms.
2.The application form is very straight forward, there is no Terms & condition? Why?
3.How can we assure that our entry will be protected in term of Non Disclosure Agreement.
4.How many winners are possible to win or their target winner?

Just my two cents:

Every person who thinks he has a good idea thinks it will succeed. So of course, from the very start, at the back of his head, he believes that his idea will make millions. Thus, he will put passion, time and hard work into making this idea into a product.

Now, if from the very start he knows that the venture capitalist will have the power to take away the ownership of the product from him, then what’s the reason for him to get the funding from PhiLabs?

In the end, mediocre ideas, whose owner only HOPES it will succeed should join this.

ON the other hand, if you’re a smart person, who has faith in your idea, you should find a better source of funding.

That’s the message I get from this, at least.

@Edwin – Sir mukhang di naman masyadong mayabang ang worried ko lang is baka ma abuse yung mga mag su-submit ng idea hangang ngayon wala parin Terms & Condition sa Application form.

I agree na para nga ito sa mga no choice na developer na walang makuhang Angel Investor.

Sabi nga

“It’s doesn’t matter if you have a killer idea because there are thousand person thinking with the same idea what matter is how you going to create product on that idea”

Yung Problem Solving pang elementary 77 lang ang sagot he he he he.

N=78 in Ascii Code
(ph){1,5}i+l+abs = philabs

Ngayon pa ano sya nag match
(ph){1,5}i+l+abs is equal parin sa
philabsssssssssssss hangang maging 77 character or 100+ equal parin sya

kelangan ata ng funding ng pinoychan.org.

site to beat: tipidpc.com

@joedwebguy thanks sir. pero di po ako math major software engineer po he he he he.

Well this is possible solution too.

Thanks…

Being an avid observer of US startup scene, I think the 51/49 thing is way over the norm.

I think PhiLabs should be aware that the geeks here are not that cheap. Head on to yCombinator and read http://news.ycombinator.com.

Is the answer 650670 I posted on http://pinoychan.org/boards/pro/res/559.html for the puzzle on regular expression correct?