Why are there very few startups in the Philippines?

I saw this question on a Facebook group.

There are a lot of Filipino programmers, and yet few startups are created here in the Philippines, what do you think is the reason behind this?

The question makes sense, why are there very few startups in the Philippines when we have a lot of talented programmers?

Many people said the Philippines have no sufficient access to capital. This could be true. But I don’t believe this is the biggest reason. There are a lot of bootstrapped startups around the world.

Our very own Codalify and SociableKIT are bootstrapped.

For me, the main reason why there are very few startups in the Philippines is entrepreneurship is very different from programming.

In programming, you can have an output in a short amount of time. The output is often precisely what you’ve written in the program. Fixes can be done within minutes, hours, or days.

Entrepreneurial or startup success can take a very long time. The mindset is also very different. Your first few businesses will fail. The output of your work is often not what you want. You’ll need to do a lot of pivots and creative thinking.

You will need to solve the technical problems and the people and business issues. You’ll also need to deal with government regulations.

But let’s not lose hope. We have programming skills. We need to improve our business and people skills. Our mindset must change drastically. It will take time. But I believe we’ll get there.

How about you? What’s your opinion on this? Why are there very few startups in the Philippines? Let us know in the comments section below.

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