19-year-old Filipino gave up scholarship to be an entrepreneur

Jolo Balbin is the founder of Commute.ph, a website that crowdsources travel directions. We first met him at Startup Weekend Manila. This article is an edited version of the original on his blog.

I graduated last year. Then I worked as an intern in a company in our school. They provided me with a scholarship for my graduate studies in which I pursued immediately after my university education. They also provided me an allowance that is greater than most entry level jobs, no tax.

I quit after six months. No allowance, no scholarship.

I was almost at the end of my graduate studies. I was working my thesis proposal. Luckily, my father funded my enrollment for me.

So why did I quit? Simple. I think I’m wasting my time. It’s not what I like to do.

What I like is startups. Creating one. Founding one. Yeah, my last goal before ending my last teenage year is to be an entrepreneur.

After I quit, I immediately took action. I joined Startup Weekend Manila. I pitched an idea, and eventually met people. I gathered connections, feedback, and advice. We also formed a team there and executed on the idea that I pitched. It was KomyuTips back then. But the mentors said that it’s not a good name. We then changed it to Commute.ph.

Yes, I’m one of the co-founders of Commute.ph. I think I achieved my goal. I’m a 19-year-old startup founder.

People may say that I’m too young, or that I don’t have any experience. Yes, they are right. But that’s why I started early. If something goes wrong, I can just start again with knowledge that I learned from the previous stint. With my youth, I can iterate more than those people who started later than me.

I also really don’t need to earn money yet. I can still live at home, eat there, work there. I also don’t have a family yet to support.

Guyi Shen, the founder of LobangClub, told me that there is no right time to start a company. When you start young, you don’t have anyone to support, but you lack experience. When you start old, you have experience, but you also have a family to support.

You pick the path that you prefer. For me, I use my age to my advantage.

Being a teen founder sounds amazing to anybody’s ears. I think there’s a big difference when you start as a teen than in your early 20’s. I think it’s more inspiring. I also think that I can use my age for marketing. Every company advertises their unique feature. For Commute.ph, one of its unique feature is that it was co-founded by a teenager. I think that wows people.

In just a few days, I will leave teenhood. I will be 20. I just wish an article will be written about Commute.ph. Even though, there is one thing for sure. I successfully achieved my goal.

I’m a 19-year-old founder.

So why did I chose to start young?

I just want to.

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