JGSOM
Scores a Three-PEAT
at the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Competition
It's three for three for the John Gokongwei School of Management at the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards, as team "Piyestang Pinoy", made up of Jaime Mendejar (IV BS LM), Angeli Ko (IV BS Mgt), and Marc Cu (IV BS LM) won the Gold Award at the grand finals of this year's competition held at the Makati Shangrila Hotel on 8 March 2006. JGSOM has dominated this competition since its inception, winning the Gold Award in each of the three years that it has been held.
Team Piyestang Pinoy,
(from left to right) Marc Cu, Angeli Ko and Jaime Mendejar, celebrates their
victory
The victory was especially sweet, as Piyestang Pinoy was the only Ateneo team in a finals line-up that included four separate teams from the Far Eastern University. Jaime, Angeli and Marc won the board of judges over with their proposal to set up a local tour operator specialized in Philippine fiesta tourism, hoping to share the richness of our local culture and our unique fiesta tradition with not just foreign tourists, but also local expatriates and our own countrymen. At the end of their presentation, Mr. Warner Manning, CEO of HSBC Philippines, exclaimed that he'd like to be one of the very first to sign up for one of their tours, so that he could enjoy firsthand their promise of "an experience like no other".
Aside from their trophies, these three young entrepreneurs received P200,000 in cash from HSBC (to serve as seed funding for their new business), a 6-month scholarship to the Asian Institute of Management's Venture into Entrepreneurship program, and a one-week study tour to the University of California at Berkley, U.S.A.
The team is now preparing to represent the Philippines at the Regional Grand Finals of the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards in Hongkong, where they will be pitted against the Gold Award winners of Malaysia, Thailand, and Hongkong. Last year's Gold Award winner, e-Musikero, made up of Alexis Ng (CTM '06), Aaron Ho (LM '06) and Karlo Mortel (Mgt '06) ably represented the Philippines by bagging the "Best Business Plan Presentation" award at the Regional Grand Finals, one of only two awards given out that night. JGSOM is truly becoming the home of the Philippines' best budding entrepreneurs!