The University of the Philippines Mindanao Growing and Developing Enterprises or UPGRADE, the Technology Business Incubator (TBI) of UP Mindanao participated the Incubator Management Training spearheaded by Ideaspace and the University of Cebu-BEEHIVE on 13-15 July 2019 at the PLDT InnoLab, Davao City. The training brought together all assisted TBIs by the Department of Science and Technology, including Ideya (MSU-IIT), AGILab (USeP), Navigatú (CSU) and CDO Bites (USTP), and UMasenso Hub (UM), and UPGRADE (UP Min).
The training organized to improve the management skills of the newly established incubators in Davao Region that includes UPGRADE, UMasenso Hub, and AGILAB. During the program, Ideaspace Foundation, Inc. Executive Director, Ms. Diane Eustaquio conducted a readiness assessment for TBI managers and their staff. Ms. Eustaquio also presented the incubator landscape of the country including their best and worst practices in years of operation.
Meanwhile, Ms. Brenda Valerio, Ideaspace Accelerator Manager, give a talk on Mission Model Landscape and effective experiential-based online and offline community management in gathering scalable startups. Ms. Valerio further discuss Ideaspace selection process in giving seed capital for early-stage startups. She also cited common problems with startup founder like founders clashing personalities, commitment issues, financial issues, and team breakouts.
On the second day of the training, Ms. Sheryl S. Estrella, UC-BEEHIVE Project Coordinator, imparted her experiences as a manager of a University-based accelerator. Ms. Estrella worded that university bureaucracy does not jive with accelerator’s activities due to its typical flexibility and fast-pacing characteristic. Accelerators and incubators are also working in a corporate environment where productivity matters than any procedure that clearly contradicts procurement procedures, especially in the government. Hence, for new TBI management, it’s normal to be called by the University official to justify or explain your activities, as these are new to your institutions. But she also added that with a clear explanation of benefits, it would not be hard to acquire support from university administration since incubators and accelerators are good in bridging research outputs to the industry which is part of the production mandate in most tertiary schools.
