Raid The Fridge: GRIT

Define The Constraints, Defy The Constraints

Come join this week’s Raid The Fridge edition and meet two entreprenuers who wear “constraint” well: RJ LEDESMA and HENRY MOTTE-MUÑOZ.

Listen to RJ and Henry share their entrepreneurial journeys: from finding their passion, to getting started, and how they’ve dealt with constraints along the way as they grow their businesses.

Ever heard of Mercato Centrale? That glorious food market held in BGC every Friday and Saturday that has become the springboard for many successful food businesses? That’s just one of the many enterprises RJ runs - we certainly look forward to him sharing his wealth of learnings and insights.

Curious about social impact startups? Is it charity rebranded, or a new solution for age-old social problems? How do they even marry profitability with social mission statements, and still successfully fundraise from investors (just like any other tech startup)? Let Henry enlighten you – he promises to be candid about the mistakes he’s made, the risks, the down periods, and the grit needed - because the impact makes everything worthwhile.

So do join us: say hello to RJ and Henry, swap updates with old friends, and make new friends. We're re-stocking the fridge, do help us empty it.

Best,
The Kickstart Team

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About RJ Ledesma
On any given day, RJ Ledesma is hosting an event, taping a segment for Bloomberg TV Philippines (Bright Ideas!), overseeing the operations of his food markets, and writing his weekly column for The Philippine Star. He is a best-selling author, two of which became finalists in the National Book Awards.

While children of the 80's would fondly remember him as "Joey," RJ has gone beyond TV commercials: he has co-anchored news programs for ABS-CBN, did some TV acting, and hosted educational and lifestyle TV programs. Offscreen, RJ is kept busy being an entrepreneur: as co-founder of the wildly-successful food market Mercato Centrale, and as Executive Vice-President at his family's real estate company. He also serves as Honorary Vice-Consul of Monaco to the Philippines.

RJ earned his Bachelor's degree in Applied Economics & Business Management at De La Salle University. He proceeded to Massachusetts Insitute of Technology to earn a Masters in Science in Real Estate Development - where he became the first Asian to deliver a graduation speech.

About Henry Motte-Muñoz
A Filipino-French citizen, Henry grew up between Europe and the Philippines. After graduating from the London School of Economics with a Bsc in Economics and Economic History, he joined Goldman Sachs' M&A practice in London, focusing on healthcare. He then joined Bain Capital's Private Equity team in London, where he spent four years working on various industrial LBOs in Europe and Asia.

He attended Harvard Business School on a company scholarship, and graduated with distinction. His HBS Social Enterprise Institute Summer Fellowship in Manila led him to co-found Bantay.ph, an anti-corruption NGO, where he remains on the board. Seeing large gaps in the education market, he created Edukasyon.ph in 2014, an online college and career counsellor that is currently piloting in its first market - the Philippines . The platform is a one-stop shop for universities and students providing information on careers, to help bridge the worlds of education and employment.

He is the only Filipino who made it to the Class of 2015 Asia 21 Young Leaders, a network of professionals from across Asia Pacific operating in the private, public, and non-profit sectors. Henry was also chosen as one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 for 2016. The list features the best entrepreneurs, innovators, and business leaders in Asia across ten industries.