Rules that can be structured around produce complexity, not control.
Startup · Topic
Philippines Company Stories
In-depth business case studies of Philippine companies, conglomerates, founders and industries.
- 55 guides
- 11 subtopics
- Updated Aug 26, 2026
Latest in Philippines Company Stories
Electronics: The Biggest Export That Earns the Least
An export figure dominated by imported content describes activity, not earnings.
The Philippine Startup Puzzle: Great Market, Missing Capital
Market size does not attract capital. Demonstrated returns do — and the exits have not happened yet.
Maya: Why a Payments Company Went and Got a Bank Licence
Same customers, same app, same data — and different economics depending on which licence you hold.
GCash: Banking Tens of Millions Without a Single Branch
The barrier to inclusion was physical, not technological. Software was never the problem.
Manny Villar: Selling Houses to the Market Nobody Wanted
A buyer who cannot get credit is not a customer. Arranging the loan is what creates the market.
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The Zobel de Ayalas: Eight Generations of Getting the Next Move Right
Institutions outlast businesses — but only if the institution is not defined by any one activity.
Tony Tan Caktiong: Studying the Giant, Rejecting Its Recipe
Global standardization is a strength in operations and a weakness in taste. He exploited exactly that split.
John Gokongwei: The Outsider Who Attacked Everyone
The demand that appears when a price falls far enough is invisible to the incumbent who assumed it did not exist.
Henry Sy: The Founder Who Built When Everyone Else Stopped
Counter-cyclical building is decided in the boom, by declining the leverage that would prevent it.
Filipino Seafarers: A World-Leading Industry Licensed From Abroad
An industry can be world-leading and fragile at once, when its licence is issued in another country.
Inter-Island Shipping: The Philippines’ Most Expensive Road Network
Geography sets a floor on logistics cost, and it falls hardest on the provinces least able to absorb it.