I’ve often been asked: "Is it possible to build something meaningful in the Philippines without living there?"
I used to wrestle with that. Now I think it's the wrong question.
Instead, I invite us to ask: how might we close the distance, not just in miles, but in trust, in understanding, in opportunity, between the Philippines and the world?
That’s what this issue explores.
— Christeen
A PROBLEM WORTH SOLVING
How might we close the opportunity gap between Metro Manila and the rest of the Philippines?
The Philippines is not one country. It’s two.
Metro Manila (the National Capital Region), 14 million people in 619 square kilometers, generates 31.2% of national GDP and absorbs the overwhelming majority of foreign investment, doctors, broadband connections, and economic opportunity. The remaining 99 million Filipinos, spread across 17 other regions, share what remains.
The gap shows up everywhere: in wages, in who has a doctor, in whether the road to your house is paved, in whether your child is stunted. And at the extreme end of that gap sits BARMM, the Philippines' fastest-growing region at 3.43% annually, the only region accelerating in population growth, and its poorest. More children are being born into BARMM's 32.4% poverty rate every year, not fewer.
Here are the numbers I can't stop thinking about:
On poverty: NCR's poverty rate is 1.8%. BARMM's is 32.4%, an 18x gap. Zamboanga Peninsula, home to 3.94 million people, has a 22x family-poverty gap versus NCR. 17.54 million Filipinos lived below the poverty line in 2023, concentrated in Mindanao and the eastern Visayas (PSA, 2023 Full-Year Poverty Statistics).
On children: BARMM's under-5 stunting rate is 1.55x NCR's. MIMAROPA's child wasting rate is 3.5x NCR's. UNICEF estimates 95 Filipino children die from malnutrition every day, costing the country over USD 3.1 billion annually in lost productivity (DOST-FNRI, 2023; UNICEF Philippines, 2024).
On healthcare: NCR has one physician per 14,200 residents. BARMM has one per 49,400, a 3.5x gap across land 59x the size of NCR (DOH/Statista, 2023). Only 41.4% of BARMM households have PhilHealth coverage, versus 76.1% in NCR.
On infrastructure: NCR has 100% household electrification. BARMM sits at 44.9%, more than half still off-grid. Nationwide, 93% of barangay roads remain unpaved (DOE, 2022; NEA, 2024; DPWH, 2023).
On connectivity: Home internet access is 68.7% in NCR, 21.2% in Zamboanga Peninsula, and 27.7% in BARMM (PSA-DICT National ICT Household Survey, 2024).
The Philippines doesn't have a people problem. It has a geography-of-opportunity problem. And that is something business can help fix.
How might we build companies that close these gaps, not just document them?
AN EXPERIMENT WORTH TESTING
What if a sales job could be a launchpad for a future entrepreneur?
Last year we launched Dream Bigger Squad with a simple belief: Philippine talent is ready for more than what the traditional outsourcing industry has offered it.
Instead of building another BPO doing call center or back office virtual assistance work, we went in a different direction: a team exclusively focused on full-cycle, business-to-business sales for the US market.
Three reasons why we made that bet:
First, my cofounder Joe had deep expertise in US B2B sales. We built to our strengths.
Second, we believe that the human skills at the heart of complex B2B sales — listening, building trust, navigating multiple decision-makers, closing — are exactly where AI falls short. The World Economic Forum projects salespeople will be among the fastest-growing roles through 2030. AI is replacing simple, transactional sales. The consultative, relationship-driven work we do is different.
Third, and most importantly: we believe sales is a foundational skill for any aspiring entrepreneur. Every founder needs to sell. DBS is our attempt to give talented Filipinos a front-row seat to how that works in one of the world's most competitive markets, and we hope it becomes a launchpad for future Philippine entrepreneurs.
One more thing that matters to us: our team is fully home-based, hired from anywhere in the Philippines. Not just NCR. We are actively looking for high-capacity, high-character, ownership-minded sales professionals from provinces and cities that don't usually get a seat at the table for this kind of work.
And here's what excites us about sales as a vehicle specifically: there is no income ceiling. Commission-based, performance-driven income means a Filipino who is great at their craft can out-earn almost any fixed-salary role, and start building the financial safety net that makes bigger risks possible later. What if a sales career could give someone enough margin to eventually say yes to starting something of their own? What if earning well today created the conditions for creating opportunity for others tomorrow?
We are less than a year in. It is not easy. There are real highs and lows. But we are grateful to have genuine momentum, a growing roster of clients, and a team that keeps showing us what they are capable of.
Is the DBS hypothesis, that a sales role today can seed an entrepreneur tomorrow, going to work? We honestly don't know yet. But we think it's worth finding out.
Are you a US company looking to expand your B2B sales capacity? We would love to talk. Visit dbsquad.co to learn more and get in touch.
Are you a driven, ownership-minded sales professional based anywhere in the Philippines? We are hiring Revenue Builders right now. Visit dbsquad.co/careers to apply.
A BUILDER WORTH KNOWING
Isis Umali is Building a Home for Every Filipino Creator
The word likhaan in Filipino means "a place to create in." That's not just a brand name. It's a mission statement.
Isis Umali is the CEO and co-founder of Likhaan, a marketplace connecting Filipino artists, makers, and craftspeople with buyers worldwide. Their 18-82-1 campaign says it all: digitize creators across all 18 regions and 82 provinces into one platform. Not just Metro Manila. Not just gallery-represented artists. All of them, weavers from Iloilo, T'boli craftspeople from Lake Sebu, furniture makers from the provinces.
The timing matters. E-commerce now makes up 67% of the Philippine digital economy, the highest share in Southeast Asia, growing at 16-17% annually. But most of that wave flows through global platforms not built with Filipino creators in mind. Likhaan is building the home they've been missing.
Today: 200+ creators, shipping to 195 countries, featured on CNN Philippines and BusinessWorld, winner of the 2023 CNN Philippines Final Pitch, recipient of a ₱1M StartUp QC grant and a Dream Bigger Accelerator alum.
What Isis is building is not just a marketplace. It is cultural infrastructure.
Filipinos are among the most naturally creative people on earth. But for too many Filipino artists, makers, and craftspeople, creativity is a passion they eventually have to set aside because the market is never accessible to them.
What if it were?
How might we ensure Filipino creators can earn sustainably from their craft before our cultural heritage disappears with the generation that carries it?
Learn more at likhaan.com
A PRACTICE WORTH CONSIDERING
Start with protein
About a year ago I started eating a protein-heavy breakfast. The shift in my energy, mood, focus and even weight was noticeable almost immediately.
The science backs it up. Active adults need significantly more protein than most people realize — roughly 1 gram per pound of ideal body weight per day. A 2024 randomized controlled trial found that a protein-rich breakfast improved both satiety and cognitive concentration compared to a high-carb breakfast of the same calories (Dalgaard et al., Journal of Dairy Science, 2024). Spreading protein evenly across meals every 3 to 4 hours, rather than loading up at dinner, makes a meaningful difference.
A few easy ways to start: Eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, or a protein shake in the morning. For Filipino households, bangus, tilapia, tinapa, tahong, and tokwa are excellent options. Aim for at least 30 grams at breakfast.
The question for you this week: What does your breakfast actually look like? What might change if you started your day with 30 grams of protein?
Reply and tell me what you think. I read every response.
How Might We? is published every other Friday. To share this with someone building, hiring, investing in, or dreaming bigger for the Philippines — forward this email.