There’s something about listening to a 20-something dream about becoming a CEO by age 30 that brings out extremes in people.
Franco Mesina is a classic example, and he is probably used to getting the full range of reactions from admiration to rejection. The far right side of the spectrum — pessimism from other people or even outright rejection of his dreams — don’t seem to have any effect on him.
Even before he graduated from college, Franco has already set up a water-refilling station business with his dad. But while the business flourished, he had no plans of stopping there. With his girlfriend Abby, he stumbled on a business opportunity when they met an importer/exporter of equipment for water refilling stations. They convinced the businessman to take a chance on them, thus the birth of a new company with a business to business (B2B) strategy, aiming to be a major supplier of good-quality equipment for water stations and institutional clients all over the country.
The way Franco declared his goals of becoming a CEO of a nationwide water company by age 30 – that’s less than 10 years from now – makes one think that meeting the big businessman who gave him and his girlfriend a break was not a happy coincidence. He looked like someone who make things happen with sheer determination.
Franco and Abby are now busy with three fledgling companies – a supplier of water refilling station equipment, Icylicious (snow cones from clean water) and a packaging company. If you want to vote for Franco and Abby to be one of eight groups of business owners who will get advice from Willy Arcilla for one year, just comment on this article ☺
Read about contender number one, No Slipping Inc.’s Wilson Sy, here.
Read about the first plenary session in my two blog previous posts here and here.
Click here to watch a video of Franco and Abby.
March 12th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
A vote for future CEO Franco!
Goodluck!
March 12th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
I hope he gets picked to be one of the companies for the talk. he has big dreams and he should be given an opportunity to bring it a step closer into making it a reality
March 12th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I vote for encouraging 20somethings in business. It is admirable to break out from an employee mindset and dedicate to entrepreneurship at so early an age.
Good luck!
March 12th, 2008 at 11:33 am
With his determination and the knowledge from experts, I know he achieve his dreams in no time.
Goodluck!
March 11th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
What I really like to see is Filipino-made equipment that’s better than imported equipment. We have lots of innovative Filipino inventors. What’s lacking in our country is the partnership between entrepreneurs and inventors. Our inventors are excellent scientists but lack commercial skills. Our entrepreneurs are more interested in trading than technology.
This year, I’m supporting inventors and technologists. It’s a break from my real estate and stock investing.