Video Post: Tropical MBA World Summit

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Things have really been ramping up over here in Asia lately.  I really had no idea what to expect when I came out to Manila.  All I really knew about it, was that I worked with a bunch of people who live here, and that the city is basically a dirtier, less fun version of California.  Well, whoever told me that was a LIAR.  Ok maybe not about the dirtier part.  That said, I’ve had a blast here working with the team and Dan in particular.

From the Boat in Subic Bay

The culmination of this was fun was when we headed up to Subic Bay a few days ago with Sean #2, the owner of Badladz resort in Puerto Galera.  Sean is playing a key role in the Tropical MBA Second Semester which is going to be getting underway very shortly down at his resort.

We dubbed the event the Tropical MBA World Summit.

Essentially it was an excuse to have some fun and get out of the city for awhile…and borrow a friend’s yacht…aaaand 620hp sports car.

This trip is one of those times where you realize just how many benefits there are to living in a place like the Philippines.  Access here is incredible.  There are only so many intelligent expats around, and they tend to stick together.  In the states, you won’t often find a 55 year old executive hanging out with a entry level 24 year old.  Here I have just as many friends who are twice as old as me, as I do ones that are my age.   It seems like interests reign supreme.  Age and social class doesn’t matter, if the shared interests are there, you are often automatically friends.

Subic Bay Yacht Club

During the trip I met and hung out with some of the most successful guys in the country.  IN THE COUNTRY.  You can’t say that when you are in the United States.  Sure I hung out with Phil Knight for about 10 minutes one time, but I don’t really think that counts.

This whole Tropical MBA thing was a big question mark for everyone when it first began.  I didn’t know what I was getting into, and Dan had no idea if the concept would work.  Well after discussing business plans for Outsource to the Philippines, Location 180, and our other ventures, I can safely say the whole concept works better than anyone could have anticipated.  The number of high quality applicants for the second semester proves this.

This is a brand that has huge potential and I see the future focusing on two key things:

1. Outsourcing to the Philippines. To say that there is opportunity in this country would be selling it way, way short.  We are going to see a shift in the way business is done over the next few years, and we plan on being a big part of it.
2. Structured Business Development. The barrage of emails we’ve seen from extremely talented people regarding semester 2 shows us that people want to learn how to do what we are doing.  We’ve scaled numerous businesses through outsourcing, and we realized the only thing we like doing more than that, is helping others to do the same thing.  So with that in mind, we are considering doing something really unique (read: awesome), that would take the program to a whole new level.

The world summit has given us the opportunity to start fleshing out ideas that had always been there, but were never fully conceptualized.  I now leave Manila with a hell of a lot of work to do, and a lot of excitement for the direction things are headed.

For as many benefits as there are out there to remote working arrangements, sometimes you really need to see people in person.  Spending the last few weeks here has not only helped me build a stronger bond with everyone in the organization, but it facilitated discussion that isn’t always possible over the phone.  For a further look at the kinds of things we were up to in Subic,  you can check out a video Dan is making.  It should be live tomorrow.

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