Shell LiveWIRE Philippines

We find it challenging but motivating every time we attend the Shell LiveWIRE Acceleration Program.

The experience has been very helpful in running my own business where every topic was very informative and clearly discussed.

Great line up of speakers as the program tries to equip participants with knowledge on every part of the spectrum.

Last year (2020) had been a very fruitful year for Nanotronics despite the covid condition! Our customer based has grown 43%, adding 3 new clients from existing to include a fellow attendee from the Shell Livewire acceleration program from the community program. In relation to this, we have provided R&D support using our nanomaterial product to this (new) client in order to augment their capability in providing new product offerings to both local and foreign markets. Furthermore, we are able to penetrate a top global FMCG and its converter in the local market to offer our nanomaterial product in their current packaging applications while simultaneously allowing us to access new markets in Japan and in Europe. With the grant the we received from the Shell Livewire, it allowed us to resume production operation and achieved 2021-to-date revenue exceeding our previous 2019 performance!

Being part of Shell Livewire helped us learn about a lot of the gaps in our execution and how to address them. The list of the mentors were impressive, and it was great to hear from professionals who were in the same space, and those that were in industries that we would need knowledge on, like fundraising and legal. The financial support was also very helpful in allowing us to grow our company faster. That helped us hire 4 new team members by the end of 2020. Having an established global brand in Shell as one of our supporters also helped us build credibility to get more customers and investor interest. We're very thankful for the opportunity to be part of Shell Livewire. We hope that the program gets to help more startups and entrepreneurs in the future. Thank you and congratulations to Shell Livewire for a successful first batch!

"The most important part in your business is your product. I believe in the power of branding, but your product must be good, you must tell a good and beautiful story behind your product. And then you can work on your branding." Reese on the importance of Branding to R2R.

"Culture somehow is linked with identity. If you have identity, you have self-awareness. And if you have self-awareness, it is easier to decide - you know when to say yes, you know when to say no.” Ruel on the importance and definition of Company Culture.

"Art is something that is beautiful. Design is something that has purpose... If you want something to work, it has to be beautiful and for something to be beautiful, it has to work." Dae on the difference of Art and Design

“No one really has the authority to hire when you’re starting your business. Don’t see it in the perspective that “I don’t know how to hire” but think of it as more of like you are introducing yourself to a friend. I'm sure you're wise to choose a friend. You've been tested and you've learned already. It's just like that. You are choosing the right people that you can easily get along with, someone whom you can ask for favors and someone whom you can work with. Brian’s thoughts when asked how to hire people when you do not have the authority in hiring people

“I always compare operations to a house. And when you have a house, what do you think is the most important part of building a house? The foundation. So, the foundation of your operation is always your process. " Cristina’s definition of operations and the importance of it.

“Disrupt your market with better everything. It could be your product, tech, or user experience. For us it was a better community. In your industry, just look at what can you do better than others are not yet doing? Or if there is a certain status quo or standard your industry is used to doing, you could provide something better.” Consortia’s suggested way to get your growth hacking journey started.

“So if I say, create your playbook around your point of view, then you have to convert who your influences are. Who in your market can help you get there? And who is the face of your business when you’ve determined your point of view? So, it’s not so much around choosing the specific digital media that you want to go in, but it’s about focusing on one or two places and dominating your space within that specific area that you want to talk to.” Carol’s recommendation on the strategy to use to connect with your chosen market

“Your vision has to have meaning. It needs to be meaningful. It has to be something that you hold dear, or something that has a big impact to society. At the end of the day, you need more than money to really move forward and to inspire people.” Vohne’s thoughts on the importance of having a meaningful vision when starting a company

“People always assume things. And I don’t like how people assume and just jump into conclusions. I told them to communicate even more. So, when you have something that you don’t understand, just ask the person because it will save a lot of time and headache. And in hindsight, even though we are here as a business, we need to value the team’s feelings. We need to develop our emotional capabilities.” Gabriel’s tip on having more communication and less assumption inside their team.

“I think one way to keep harmony in the team while maintaining productivity and innovation is to create a culture where everybody respects each other, and there are ways to resolve disagreements without being disruptive. You can set guidelines or frameworks. What works for me is that I set an example through my behavior – Never lose your temper, for example. Maintaining an even keel. Looking at facts and issues rationally and logically, and not through the lens of emotion." Richmond's thoughts when asked what his tips is on how to keep the team aligned.

Associate Director – Corporate Planning, St. Lukes Medical Center “As psychologists have already said, keep score. If you keep score, you play harder, you try to make the best moves because you have a scoreboard. And this is what accounting wants to do. They use this different information to know how you are doing in your business." Jethro's definition of accounting and the importance of it.

"We always need have to have a solution-seller mindset in terms of knowing the pinpoints. We need to create connections with them. We need to know what needs to be solved. And in terms of building up our business, we need to know that there is a community that would benefit from what we are doing. It’s not just all about profit but helping more and more people.." Josh's takeaway from his experience with Zagana Inc.

"It’s this love and passion for the current Idea. This is something that my partners and I have experienced. You put a lot of effort in trying to build your product. You didn’t sleep, everyone grinded, and you were putting in a lot of effort. So, to let go is one of the biggest challenges. My tip is to decide with numbers, back up your decision with user validation – which is very important, and to get logical partners. It’s hard to talk numbers and decide about user validation when you don’t have logical partners." MC's take on the biggest challenge when doing the pivot.