19/07/2026
"Feeling ko wala akong mahanap na work na bagay sakin."
If you've thought that more times than you can count.. baka hindi naman ikaw ang problema.
Maybe the "issue" is you wear many hats. Ang dami mong kayang gawin at gustong gawin, and corpo just isn't built for people like you (or me hehe).
Sa corpo kasi, usually you need to focus sa iisang bagay lang diba?
We're taught to pick one lane. One box.
Pero paano kung hindi ka talaga para sa isang bagay lang?
Did you know that there's actually a whole industry that fits people wired like this? Aside from becoming an entrepreneur yourself (hehe), maybe it's time to also consider working in the tech startup industry.
So whether balak mong mag-build ng sarili mong startup someday as a techpreneur, or gusto mo lang i-explore ang working in one, eto 'yung mga principles na pwede mo nang simulang aralin.
Useful 'to not only if you wanna be a startup founder, but also if gusto mong ma-hire sa startup.
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✨ 7 THINGS YOU NEED TO LEARN IF YOU WANNA WORK IN (OR BUILD) A STARTUP ✨
I learned all of these from formal education, startup trainings, and incubator & accelerator programs I was part of over the last 9 years. ✨
📌 TAKE NOTE: Foundations lang ’to. 😅 There’s so much more that has to be learned!
💡 But what you have to understand is this: what makes a startup a “startup" is INNOVATION — whether innovation sa product, or innovation sa business model. It’s about doing something that has never been done successfully before.
So if there’s anything you need to understand for all these frameworks - it’s the concept that EVERYTHING is an EXPERIMENT when you’re in the early stages of a startup. I guess this is what drew me to the industry - mixture talaga siya ng BUSINESS and ENGINEERING MINDSETS. ❤️
Anywayyy.. Here are the tools and a quick explanation under each one! Maraming resources online that can provide more information if you wanna dive deeper - Google is the key. 😆
My purpose for this post is to give you an idea lang kung ano ‘yung mga uunahin niyong aralin.
Remember that first step is the hardest. So, if you have an idea.. Just get started! 😊
Summary:
✅ Business Model Canvas
✅ Value Proposition Canvas
✅ Basic Financial Modeling
✅ Design Thinking Process
✅ Lean Startup Methodology
✅ Minimum Viable Product
✅ Action-Priority Matrix
💡 You can scroll down or just click through each photo for the details. 😉
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✅ BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
This is the most common starting point. When you’re going to build a startup, since experiment nga siya, you don’t need to write a full-on business plan YET.
Instead, ilalatag mo muna dito ‘yung ideas mo. At the start, you call it a “hypothesis.” Because hindi mo pa natetest.
As you go through the other frameworks, you’ll find out how to test your idea. At pag natest mo na and you get new data, babalikan mo lang ’tong business model canvas to update it based on new insights.
This is a “dynamic” business plan. Edit this MANY TIMES. Remember, version 1 is just version 1. Mag-eevolve pa yan.
I won’t go into detail of how to fill in each part. Just research and maraming explanations and sample templates na lalabas. 😊
✅ VALUE PROPOSITION CANVAS
Instead of starting sa business model canvas agad, you can also start here first sa Value Proposition Canvas. The objective here is you identify what your target customers’ needs are and how you can design products and services that will relieve their pains and give them gains.
📌 RIGHT SIDE OF THE CANVAS
JOBS-TO-BE-DONE - This is a marketing principle that says that whenever a customer avails a product or service, they are trying to accomplish a “job.” It can be a tangible “job” or an “intangible” job. A “job” is one purpose of a “product.”
A job can be functional, social, emotional, or for basic needs.
For example, if I buy a phone (the “product”), one “customer job” that I would probably want to do with it is to be able to “take photos."
So if you look at it, on the surface level, yung job is to “take photos.”
But if you dig deeper, it can also be to “capture memories” or “create content for business” or “to feel good about myself" depende sa end goal nila.
And pag alam mo yung deeper need, mas maiintindihan mo how to design innovative products that can help them accomplish that job. Mas maiintindihan mo rin ‘yung PAINS (challenges nila in using existing products/services in the market) and GAINS (benefits they want).
Which brings you to the..
📌 LEFT SIDE OF THE CANVAS.
Dito na papasok ‘yung ideas mo on what products and services to create, ano yung features niya and how they will help the customer REDUCE PAIN and EXPERIENCE BENEFITS.
✅ BASIC FINANCIAL MODEL
For this, you really just have to understand the cost and revenue structure of your business. You need to start with hypothesis ulit and ASSUMPTIONS para malaman mo if feasible ba yung magiging business mo (i.e. based on your business model, are your potential revenues greater than your potential costs).
📌 Revenue - a.k.a. INCOME. How much your customers pay.
📌 Cost of Sales or Goods Sold - How much did it cost you to serve that customer (e.g. unit product cost, transaction fees, etc.) Sometimes this is a.k.a. “variable cost.” These are costs you incur only if may sale na naganap.
📌 OpEx - Operational expenses a.k.a. “overhead.” How much you pay per month regardless whether may sales or wala. (e.g. rent, utilities)
📌CapEx - Physical assets like building, equipment, etc.
📌Taxes - You don’t have to worry too much about this at the start but you have to get an idea kung magkano yung income tax na kinakaltas on your profit to see if feasible ba ung margins mo.
📌Profit-Loss Statement - This statement shows you your PROFIT/LOSS based on your business model projections. Based on this, you can make adjustments sa plan mo para maging profitable ung business.
📌Cash Flow Statement - From the term itself, it summarizes cash flow per period of time. It shows you how much cash you have on hand and if magiging enough to pay for expenses. Di kailangan problemahin sa umpisa but eventually you need to understand this to get an idea how much funding you need and when.
📌Balance Sheet - This statement shows assets, liabilities, and equity. Di rin ’to super kailangan intindihin at the very early stages lalo na if idea stage ka pa lang.
DISCLAIMER: I’m not a CPA nor a CFA. Consult one na lang. 😊
✅ DESIGN THINKING PROCESS
This is a NON-LINEAR and ITERATIVE PROCESS when it comes to understanding users and designing solutions for their problems. Related ’to sa BMC and VPC na namention ko at the start. Remember when I said kanina that everything is an “experiment?” Eto na yung isang process na yun.
📌 You EMPATHIZE to understand the users’ needs. This is commonly done via interviews and surveys.
📌 Then you DEFINE THE PROBLEM. Ano yung tinatry nilang iaccomplish and the challenges preventing them from reaching their goal?
📌 Then you IDEATE. Yes, alam ko you started with an idea. But the thing here is your first idea is rarely the one that will work. So go back to the drawing board and think of ideas to solve the problem you found out.
📌 PROTOTYPE. This does NOT mean na you code agad. Maraming ways to prototype - like creating a landing page, a drawing, a wireframe, or whatnot.
📌 TEST. Once you have prototype, test it. Go back to the user. Then repeat all steps. 😝
✅ LEAN STARTUP METHODOLOGY
This is closely related and similar ’to sa previous one in terms of NON-LINEARITY and ITERATIONS.
But Design Thinking is focused on PROBLEM-SOLVING.
The Lean Startup Method is basically for testing and validating everything that has to do with your product or company. Testing your core assumptions about your business and the value you’re creating.
For this, instead of “prototype”, you actually start building a product called the…
✅ MINIMUM VIABLE PRODUCT.
Sa old readers ko, familiar na siguro dito kasi I advocate for the “MVP” principle talaga even outside the startup field. (Watch my video on YouTube about getting things done.) Pero anyway, eto na yung technical usage niya haha.
Ang principle lang nito is this - first version pa lang, nagagamit na dapat agad ni customer.
You develop the product and iterate but for each version, the customer is already able to accomplish his job to be done. Hindi lang “perfect” pero if the pain is great and you’re really solving a problem, they will really find value in it na agad.
Dito nahihirapan ang “PERFECTIONISTS” kasi gusto pulido na agad.
But if yung customer feels inconvenience na talaga with existing solutions — if you can provide even a slightly better experience, dapat magsimula na dun. And as the customer uses it, you get more insights that will allow you to get to version 2, then version 3, etc.
Bottomline, BUILD YOUR PRODUCT WITH YOUR CUSTOMER. Their insights are important.
✅ ACTION-PRIORITY MATRIX
Lastly, eto yung isa sa recently kong na-learn na frameworks. Parang different version lang siya ng Eisenhower Matrix.
Instead of dividing the tasks according to their importance and urgency, you divide the tasks according to their IMPACT and EFFORT.
So QUICK WINS yung mga bagay na malaki yung impact pero minimal effort. This means you should prioritize this.
MAJOR PROJECTS naman yung big impact pero big effort rin. Eto yung mga dapat pinaglalaanan talaga ng oras. For me, I do time blocks for these types of projects, and they usually span across weeks to finish.
Be careful to balance between the two. Usually kasi, mas long-term yung impact ng Major Projects so you have to give them time too and hindi lang puro sa Quick Wins.
That’s it!! Hope this post helps you get started on your startup dreams!
