Q1: You ventured into manufacturing bread immediately after college in the 1980’s. After two decades, you launched the first two of a series of innovations, namely the Walter Sugar Free Bread in 2005 and the Double Fiber (wheat plus apple) Bread in 2006. What was the turning point for the sudden change of direction? The market was getting crowded with […]
Entrepreneurship
Q1: Prior to Francorp, you have worked in Unilever for over a decade handling brands in 4 different countries. You have also studied in Manila, Singapore, Vancouver, and Oxford. How are you applying international lessons learned to Francorp? A: A major lesson I’ve learned working in Unilever and studying Innovation & Strategy in Oxford is that to truly grow global, […]
Q5: You have launched the BDJ Beauty Box. Is this your response to seasonality in your planner business A: We launched BDJ Box, our online beauty discovery service for women, in our desire to help our 30,000 plus members to explore their own definitions of beauty. Feeling beautiful and relating it to confidence has been an increasing concern of our […]
Q1: Why is Private Equity (PE) better than getting bank loans, crowd sourcing or getting friends/relatives as partners? A: PE has its strengths and draw backs and ultimately it is up to the Sponsors/ owners of the business to assess whether they see a fit with an outside party investor and their overall strategy and funding requirement. If the Sponsor is simply looking for low cost credit […]
Q1: What is IdeaSpace? Why was it set up? What is its vision? A: IdeaSpace is aimed to help grow a Philippine economy through science and technology. We were set-up by the First Pacific Group of Companies to foster a spirit of technopreneurship in the country and encourage more young people to consider becoming entrepreneurs, engineers and scientists. The goal […]
Q1: You introduced two new product categories in the Philippines, Green Cross Rubbing Alcohol in 1952 and Zonrox Bleach in 1954. They are popular products now. What made you think there would be a big market for those products in the 1950s? Back the 1950s, I knew there would be a big market for alcohol because of my experience at […]
Q1: Your company deals mostly with generational transitions. What are some issues confronting family businesses that are usually overlooked by families? To their credit, most of the family business leaders we meet think a lot about succession. The vast majority are very interested in having what they have built continue into the next generation. More than anything else, the senior […]
Q1: Your mother was such a big influence on you as a child. She was a furniture designer with laborers at the back of your house. She made you construct your own toys. How did you feel then as a child growing up in such an environment? Everything I do today is an extension of my creative childhood. I took […]
Q1: Congratulations on the 20th anniversary of Gingersnaps! What was your inspiration when you first launched a fashionable children’s wear and maternity wear business? We always loved kids, so it came very naturally for us to do something that involved kids. At that time, there was an absence of fashionable children’s and maternity clothing. We wanted to change the way […]
Q1. Your company is owned and managed by a group comprising of five friends (including a brother). How has this worked out for all of you — in terms of business relationships and in terms of personal bond. Have you worked together in a previous organization or association before incorporating? Jimmy Thai: Johnny and I informally worked together in a family business, […]