Continued from last week
According to my college professor, to become a successful entrepreneur you need to start by working your way up the corporate ladder. He said working for a big company gives you the chance to learn without the high cost of failure and develop skills such as emotional intelligence that will help you deal with different kinds of people and egos in the professional workspace.
Unfortunately—or as it turned out, fortunately—for Jet Yu, he never had a chance to work for a company. “I’ve never worked for another company, not because I didn’t want to, but because I simply didn’t get the chance,” Jet recalled.
“Applying for a job wasn’t something ‘normal’ for students of our school, and while most of my classmates already had job offers months before graduation, I didn’t receive any offer.”
What Jet had was a struggling food kiosk and a few other small businesses on the side, and the clerical experience he’d learned from working all those summers at their family business.
“Managing a food kiosk was difficult and very time consuming, and the only way to run it more efficiently was to open five other branches, which I had no plans of doing. I figured I could sell the kiosk, and start another business—the only question was what?”
He sold his kiosk at a small profit for around P200,000, and at age 23, Jet Yu put up Prime Philippines. “Prime Philippines began with a business plan, one employee, a lot of prayers and an accidental client. I met this Taiwanese developer who had a nine-story building here in Quezon City. The property had been operating for two years already but only had less than 10 percent occupancy, which was very bad performance. He entrusted me with the project, and thankfully we were able to deliver and sell the available spaces. After that, he recommended us to his friends and that was how we were able to grow the business.”
In 2014 Prime Philippines brokered the biggest transaction in Quezon City with a project that was worth P500 million.
Jet says he chose the name “Prime” to promote the country as a prime destination. The company provides innovative solutions that maximize real-estate assets through high return on investments. Prime Philippines also performs real-estate documentation services, optimized real-estate solutions and sound decision-making through in-depth market insights and extensive consultation services, brokerage/leasing solutions that complement space requirements to ensure maximum profitability and productivity, as well as cost-efficient management strategies backed by top-notch research that will yield maximum profit for commercial properties. The company has since grown from one employee to nearly 50, with a satellite office in Davao City as it aims to make Davao the Central Business District of Mindanao. He attributes his company’s competitive edge to his young work force. “Prime is made up of 2 percent baby boomers and 98 percent millennials. If you look at it, a lot of strategists in the real-estate industry still practice traditional ways. Our mission is to challenge the tradition and invent better real-estate solutions tailor-fit for millennials which comprise the biggest market share.”
His other venture, GreatWorks, is the first coworking space in Quezon City. It aims to give small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs a more viable option than renting office spaces in the more expensive Makati area.
Jet’s reputation and expertise led to a stint in the second season of the show Final Pitch where he became the youngest investor judge of the show. As an angel investor, Jet says he’s always on the lookout for businesses that foster and sustain Filipino ingenuity and innovation. For instance, he supported a team that pitched an application that simplifies the intimidating concepts behind stock investment so that common folk know when and how to invest in different companies, increasing support via quantity, thereby stimulating the economy. He is also keen on pursuing ideas pioneered by Filipinos that have a high impact on society and finance projects related to developing property technology.
Looking back, Jet says giving up on video games helped him focus more on achieving his goals. “Anything that has nothing to do with my goal, I put it out. I listen to webinars instead of the latest pop hits. I have a vision wall and I don’t post much on social-media sites. I wake up at 5 in the morning and plan for the next day every night instead of going to a party. It’s never too late for people who graduated without honors. You just need to continuously change for the better. Focus on what you want to do and believe in learning by doing.”
GOOGLE MADE ME DO IT: JBL LINK SERIES WITH GOOGLE ASSISTANT
THERE are two things that made the opening scene of Scream (the TV series remake) so memorable for me—Bella Thorne in the pool and then telling her phone to “Play Music.”
Honestly, I lost interest in the series at seven minutes 28 seconds, or that moment when Bella had her throat slit, but I couldn’t forget how awesome it would be to just speak into your phone and make it do stuff. Well, thanks to Alexa, Siri and Google Assistant, we have taken one step closer to realizing our sci-fi dreams of controlling the tech in our lives via voice commands. Now that we have smarter phones, I guess it’s just logical to have smart speakers next—and it
seems every audio manufacturer nowadays is releasing a product with at least one built-in voice assistant because, let’s face it, deny all you want, but it’s fun to shout instructions at something and always get answers.
Last week Harman International finally brought in the JBL Link series to the Philippines, making them the first brand to officially launch Google Assistant-powered speakers in the Philippines.
The JBL Link is a hands-free, voice-activated speaker series with built-in Google Assistant that allows users to stream music, ask questions, manage everyday tasks and easily control connected smart devices around the home—this, by simply using voice commands. By saying “Ok, Google” or “Hey, Google,” the device can help perform tasks like play a favorite song, find delicious recipes for dinner parties, or even check traffic before leaving the house.
At the launch held at The Manila Hotel’s Presidential Suite, Larry Secreto, Harman Lifestyle Audio, Philippine country head, said the JBL Link series is comprised of outstanding wireless smart speakers that truly bring world-class innovation right into the home of the consumers.
The JBL Link series is currently available in four models: the Link 10, Link 20, Link 300 and Link 500. For uninterrupted music anywhere you go, the Link 10 and Link 20 speakers are made highly portable with IPX7 waterproof rating and comes with five and 10 hours of playback time, respectively.
The Link series’s larger members, the Link 300 and Link 500, meanwhile, are both made to be a reliable music source at home. These speakers can be connected to your smart appliances through the Google Home app.
The 300 and 500, along with other JBL speakers, can all be connected through any home Wi-Fi network for a multiple speaker setup for a powerful, louder, multiroom listening experience.
For a more personal experience, there’s also the new JBL Everest lineup comprised of the Everest Elite 110 GA, Everest 310 GA and Everest 710 GA.
Also powered by the Google Assistant, all three of the in-ear Everest Elite 110GA, on-ear Everest 310GA, and over-ear 710GA allow users to have easy and convenient control over the connected device’s notifications, music, phone calls, SMS messages and other smartphone functions. The revamped Everest lineup also come with a touch-sensitive ear cup and earbud, allowing one tap access for Google Assistant.
The Everest Elite 110GA, Everest 310GA, and Everest 710GA promote long hours of playtime with a stamina of eight hours, 10 hours and 25 hours, respectively. The JBL Link series and JBL Everest lineup will initially be available in JBL showrooms, kiosks and leading appliance stores.
Teen celebrities take their connection to the next level
WHEN it comes to local love teams, MayWard—Maymay Entrata and Edward Barbers—probably has the most active online supporters. Ask any entertainment blogger and they’d tell just how many likes and shares their posts get whenever they post something about the showbiz couple.
A product of a reality TV show, MayWard knows too well the importance of social media and a reliable Internet connection. The love team’s accounts are filled with their travel adventures, behind-the-scene moments of their gigs and TV appearances, and daily discoveries that show off their fun-loving and carefree personalities. Instagram remains to be the duo’s main social-media platform, with Maymay boasting 1.8 million followers, and Barber amassing 1.2 million followers. Recently, they also got onboard the Tiktok craze, using the app to take short videos and edit them with special effects before uploading them for millions of followers.
Maymay revealed that most of their social-media activities are done during their downtime; for example, backstage while waiting for their stage appearances, in transit for their many shows locally and abroad, or at home during their rest days—where they depend on their PLDT Home PrepaidWi-Fi. For them the prepaid WiFi service powered by Smart makes it more accessible for younger people like them because there’s no contract or lock-in period. They are also able to control how much they spend since you only have to load it up when you need to use it.
Available at PLDT Stores and retailers nationwide, the PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi comes with free 10GB data valid for seven days for a one-time fee of P1,995. Because it is prepaid, there are no monthly bill payments, lock-in periods, or even uncontrolled data usage. Even better, PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi lets you surf for as low as P15 for 1GB via Home Boost 15, which comes with 1GB valid for one day for only P15. You can enjoy Home Boost 15 as an add-on to promos like Home Boost 50 or up for greater savings.
To know more about PLDT Home Prepaid WiFi, visit www.pldthome.com.