Winning Dreams

Winners of the 3rd HSBC Young IT Entrepreneur Awards pitch their business ideas to a global market

By Trina D. Dela Rama

All it takes is one great idea to make a successful entrepreneur.

This is what Joey Concepcion, chairman of RFM Corporation and presidential consultant for entrepreneurship, emphasized at the awarding ceremony of the 3rd HSBC Young IT Entrepreneur Awards.

Launched in the Philippines in 2003, the awards has been staged annually in Hong Kong and Malaysia for the past five years and in Thailand since 2004 to promote ingenuity and enterprise skills among young people. The competition invites teams of university students to submit an innovative and viable business idea involving the use or application of information technology (IT).

This year’s Philippine competition played host to over a hundred entries, trimmed down to five teams in the final round. The five teams, composed of students from the Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of Asia and the Pacific, and Cebu Normal University, formally presented their full business plans to a board of judges at the Makati Shangri-la Hotel on 9 March 2005. Aside from Concepcion, the teams had to pass the scrutiny of Luli Arroyo, director for strategic development of the Foundation of IT Education and Development; Warner Manning, CEO of HSBC Philippines; Roberto de Ocampo, president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM); and Sandy Prieto-Romualdez, president and CEO of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Much was at stake. The winners of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards received special trophies; “self-development” funds of P150,000, P125,000 and P100,000, respectively; and a chance to interact with winners from Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand at the regional grand finals to be held at HSBC’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong in June 2005. The grand prize winner was also awarded a six-month scholarship to AIM’s Venture into Entrepreneurship program and a one-week study tour at the University of Washington in Seattle, USA.

In the end, the following winning ideas proved to be a cut above the rest.

eMusikero

Carrying the name A&K Corporation, the team of Ateneans Aaron Ho, Karlo Mortel, and Steven Ng bagged the Gold Award with their entry “eMusikero,” an online retailer that allows Filipino music lovers to find, purchase, and download legitimate music from mainstream and independent Filipino artists. Read more

A World of Opportunities

An interview with A&K Corporation’s Aaron Ho

Do you think eMusikero can serve as a paradigm for new business solutions in this century? The main paradigm driving eMusikero is that behind every threat lies an opportunity. In the context of the music industry, the big record companies have traditionally perceived the Internet to be a threat because of rampant digital piracy.  Read more

WOW Travel

The E-Biyahero team, composed of Darren de Jesus and John Legisma of Ateneo and Crystal Lee of the University of Asia and the Pacific, won the Silver Award with their business plan “WOW Travel.”  Read more

ParkMe

Team Competent of Jenica Go, Jor-el Soyangco, and Johann Trinidad, all from Ateneo, placed third in the HSBC Awards with their entry “ParkMe,” a short messaging service (SMS)-enabled parking reservation service that aims to decongest commercial districts and encourage a culture of punctuality. Read more