Kickstart Startup Mixer: SHARE!

It's been a great year for Kickstart and the local startup scene in general. New teams, strong launches, new rounds of funding: good reasons to get together and share stories and high-fives!

It's not a great year-end for many of our countrymen, though, and we can't get over how bleak Christmas will be for kids who've lost their homes, schools, families, and friends.

Now, we got 3 great reasons to come to the Kickstart Startup Mixer this Thursday, 05 Dec, 6pm:

1) Debate whether it's a boom, a bubble, or something else ... with actual economists

Yes, this is a reference to that Forbes article, and the slew of articles it spawned: everyone's got an opinion, but some opinions are rather more informed.

To enrich our discussion, Mr. Calixto "Toti" Chikiamco* will share his thoughts about the current state of Philippine economics and respond to the Forbes article. He is an author, startup founder, economist, and President and co-founder of the Foundation for Economic Freedom.

Romeo "Romy" L. Bernardo will join us in the audience. He is a board member of The institute for Development and Econometric Analysis and Undersecretary of Finance during the Aquino 1 and Ramos administrations -- it'll be enlightening to hear his views, too.

2) Startup Santa Shoeboxes

Let's send some Christmas cheer to kids who've been affected by Typhoon Yolanda. Pack nice** gifts in a shoebox, tuck in a personal note of encouragement, wrap up the box, and label it for gender and age. We'll work with reliable agencies to get them to kids who need the cheering up, and we'll report back.

**for obvious reasons: unused, age-appropriate, not fragile, nothing sharp or pointy, and non-perishable.

3) See your old friends, and make new ones

Swap business cards, war stories and big ideas. Learn about who's doing what. Show off your battle scars. And have a bite and a drink on us.

• Speaker bio: Calixto Chikiamco is an author, startup founder, political economist, President and co-founder of the Foundation for Economic Freedom, and a board member of the Institute of Development and Econometric Analysis (IDEA). He’s the founder and CEO of MRM Studios Inc., a digital musical services company, and Mobilemo Inc., an enterprise mobility start-up. He finished AB Economics Summa cum laude from De La Salle University and Masters in Professional Studies in Media Administration from Syracuse University in New York.

See you at our December Kickstart Startup Mixer. Let's make friends, swap stories, share insights, and spread the joy!