TRAILBLAZING FILIPINO MARTIN GONZALEZ HOLDS BOOK TALK AT PHILIPPINE CONSULATE IN SF
San Francisco, CA – 30 May 2024 – A recent talk at the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco focused on a book that offers unique insights into why building startup teams is more challenging than building technology.
Titled, “The Bonfire Moment,” the book was penned by Filipino Martin Gonzalez and his co-author Joshua Yellin. Both are pioneers of Google’s Startup Accelerator, which has been training the world’s top growth-stage startups. The Bonfire Moment is now a bestseller on USA Today booklist, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on the C-suite network booklist.
“Startups make the mistake of believing that the biggest risk to their success is the product, timing, or failure to raise funding. Research shows it’s the people,” Gonzalez said during the talk. He offered a piece of advice for Philippine startup founders: “Be an avid learner and study how other entrepreneurs have succeeded in the Philippines despite some constraints.”
Consul General Neil R. Ferrer, represented by Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona, lauded Gonzalez for his work and underscored the relevance of the event in line with the Consulate’s goal of nurturing the Philippine startup scene and forging connections between Silicon Valley’s innovation hub and the Philippines’ emerging startup ecosystem..
“The Bonfire Moment offers invaluable strategies for cultivating high-performance teams in startups, with insights that resonate beyond the startup world. It highlights the centrality of people to any organization’s success. I congratulate Mr. Gonzalez, who was born and raised in the Philippines, for the book’s success.” Consul General Ferrer’s message read.
The event featured a fireside chat with the Consulate’s public private partner in supporting Philippine startups Dynamico Space CEO and co-founder JR Calanoc and a simultaneous Zoom call attended by a few startups in the Philippines. Filipino American startup founders, Bay Area-based VCs, and angel investors graced the book talk, fostering a dynamic exchange of ideas and experiences.
Gonzalez is the creator of Google’s Effective Founders Project, a global research program that decodes the factors that enable startup founders to succeed. He is a frequent lecturer at Stanford University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and INSEAD, and has advised leaders across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been recognized as a Fellow by the Aspen Institute’s First Movers Program and as a Thinkers50 Radar awardee, both for his contributions to shaping the future of management and leadership. He studied organizational psychology and behavioral science at Columbia University and the London School of Economics. END
The Bonfire Moment author Martin Gonzalez at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco
The Bonfire Moment author Martin Gonzalez (right) in a fireside chat with Dynamico Space CEO and co-founder JR Calanoc.
Martin Gonzalez talks to guests of his book talk at the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco on 30 May 2024.
Economic Officer Consul Vanessa Bago-Llona (leftmost) and Economic Assistant Jennifer Sto. Domingo (rightmost) with University of the Philippines Engineering R&D Foundation Inc. (UPERDFI) Chairperson Alex Sy Sun Eng and Dr. Minette Chan.