Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom equips startups to help them grow further

In line with its commitment to support and empower startup communities, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation (PSPC) held the Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom, an online learning series under its global flagship enterprise program, which offers mentorship and guidance to equip them in growing their business.

Startup founders, MSME (micro, small, and medium-sized enterprise) owners, and entrepreneurs were mentored on Lean Startup Methodology in the first leg of the Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom. By focusing on such methodology, the Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom sought to help business owners accelerate their growth and reduce process waste in their operations.

“Shell LiveWIRE is here to be a partner, mentor, and strong support system for the young, growing, and driven business owners who are continuing to power the nation’s economy and development,” PSPC Corporate Relations Vice-President Serge Bernal said. “The Virtual Homeroom will equip them further to be a lean and mean team, teaching them effective methods to scale up their companies in the continuously evolving business landscape, allowing them to become leaders and innovators in their field.”

Mentoring startups and MSME owners during the Shell LiveWIRE Virtual Homeroom on lean startup methodology were ALLCARE CEO and Co-founder Cindy Burdette and UPROOT Urban Farms Founder and Chief Urban Farmer Robi Del Rosario. These industry mentors aimed to help startups and enterprises attain higher levels of success by imparting their knowledge, experience, and other learnings.

“Every day [in business] is a challenge and struggle. No entrepreneur goes into a journey fully prepared and knows which challenges to solve,” Ms. Burdette expressed. “My goal is to share what I have done so you don’t have to go through the same thing.”

The Lean Startup Methodology module of Shell LiveWIRE VIrtual Homeroom lets companies shorten development cycles while also testing their viability. Its principle holds that companies that invest their time to develop products and services in this method can help reduce market risks, costly product launches, and financial failures.

“[Lean Startup Methology] helps get your product to market and then lets you see how it is doing and how viable it is,” Mr. Del Rosario explained. And given the “crucial thing” that emerging startups deal with is limited funds, this early assessment of the startup offering can be fundamental to the development of the business.

Startups and MSMEs can obtain significant advantage in growth with the right capital, experience, and connections in their particular industries. However, among the reasons why some startups fail is due to the lack of expertise of the emerging leaders and workforce alike, thus highlighting the value of mentorship and guidance from a peer network and industry experts to help them.

Providing such valuable support, Shell LiveWIRE helps businesses with their needed resources to scale and grow to be resilient and sustainable. 

Shell LiveWIRE is offered across 15 countries to chosen startup businesses to enhance their systems and capacities as well as provide them opportunities to be included in the Shell Value Chain.

PSPC’s Mr. Bernal assured that “Shell remains committed to helping Filipino startups and enterprises adapt, innovate, and thrive.” — Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio