CELEBRATING at the end of the first ever YouthHack event. DEONDRE NG

YouthHack is an organization we started last year with the goal of helping students learn more about startups, technology and entrepreneurship.

Also last year, YouthHack Manila held a technopreneurship challenge in which over 100 students got the opportunity to listen to experienced entrepreneurs and to pitch their own ideas to a panel of judges.

This year, we’re holding the YouthHack Manila Startup Challenge on July 25 and 26 at Xavier School. Our goal is to give students the opportunity to turn their ideas into reality.
Here are the top 10 comments about YouthHack from last year’s participants and speakers.

1 “I think YouthHack accomplishes a couple of important goals. First, it gets students familiar with the hacker and creator culture of Silicon Valley, where many of the products we use on a day-to-day basis are created by people of similar age. Second, we open their eyes to the world of technology entrepreneurship. The Philippines has a nascent startup ecosystem, and for this system to thrive, we need the best and brightest young people to choose to build companies, rather than just join them.” — Paul Rivera, CEO of Kalibrr

New world

2 “YouthHack Manila opened my eyes to this whole new world. While being a science high school student taught me to utilize technology as an agent for the mitigation of our country’s most pressing problems, the event educated me on the basics of creating a product that would be both useful and appealing to the masses. It made me realize that engineering and entrepreneurship must work hand in hand for the common goal, that is, to serve the Filipino people.” —Philippe Bungabong, Philippine Science High School Main Campus ’19

3 “The YouthHack initiative is definitely a glimmer of hope in pushing forward the talent of the youth by Filipinos, for Filipinos, and beyond. Through technology, high school students are empowered to use their know-how in creating initiatives that solve compelling challenges in society. It is great to see YouthHack expanding beyond our shores. It makes me proud to know that this positive influence in society is a homegrown endeavor.” —Goldy Yancha, community development associate director of IdeaSpace

Life-changing

ASES President Jaime Young giving a talk on pitching. DEONDRE NG

4 “YouthHack was a life-changing experience. It helped us think of everyday problems, which we could solve with technology. I also didn’t realize it was possible for such a small group to create such massive change; and from that day on I decided to dedicate my life to technology startups.” —King Alandy Dy, Applica cofounder and CEO

5 “YouthHack made me realize that I have to have more skills so that I can give more. The organization inspired me to further develop these skills and use them to solve today’s problems. My experience with YouthHack also gave me the opportunity to empower the youth so they can recognize their potential to transform this world.” —Joaquin Astilla, UP Diliman ’19, BA Film
A different view

6 “Previously, I barely had any knowledge of startups and the implications of technopreneurship, but luckily, YouthHack opened my eyes to that field. Learning how technology and science can reshape and improve the country and the world through these startups gave me a different view of how businesses could be run.” —Marla Abao, Philippine Science High School Main Campus ’19

7 “YouthHack helped me realize that there are limitless things we can do with our imagination. All we need is the drive to pursue our dreams and see how far they can take us. YouthHack also taught me that there’s no such excuse as being too young to change the world. The world needs young people like us, and we should not be afraid to venture out.” —Renzo Gaviola, Ateneo De Manila University ’19, BS Management Engineering

Catalyst

8 “YouthHack, in a weird way, evolved in such a way that it has lived up to its name. We see kids literally hacking their youth and making the most of different opportunities to build cool things and make an impact.” —Jaime Young, Ateneo De Manila University;
ASES Philippines president

9 “YouthHack was the catalyst which brought me to the local start-up scene. It was the first time I felt sheer joy in turning an idea into reality. Although the event was just a weekend, the experiences and the networks I built have become the bases of many of my endeavors today. This is definitely an event worth participating in!” —Monty Ngan, Xavier School ’16

10 “I was able to mentor the teams, and I observed that they truly represent the characteristics of Generation Z. These students are born as digital natives, and their business ideas use high-tech communications, a tech-based lifestyle and optimized adoption of social media. When these Gen Z kids reach the workplace, they will disrupt it to fit their own vision of the world, and YouthHack is an excellent platform to test their skills. According to research, 72 percent of high school students want to set up their own business, so there is no better time to prepare them than today.” —Jojy Azurin, serial entrepreneur and codirector, Founder Institute

You can register for the YouthHack Manila 2015 Startup Challenge today by visiting to manila2015.youthhack.net or https://www.facebook.com/YouthHackMNL.

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