Dennis Velasco: The Reality of the Trust Gap and Building a Tech Startup in Southeast Asia - E692

About this episode

Dennis Velasco shares his journey from Silicon Valley to the Philippine startup scene, discussing the challenges and strategies in overcoming the trust gap in B2B markets.

Dennis Velasco , founder of Prosperna , provides a raw and definitive account of transitioning from Silicon Valley leadership roles at Salesforce and Xero to the front lines of the Philippine startup ecosystem. In this episode, you will learn the structural mechanics of the "Trust Factor Gap" in Southeast Asian B2B markets and how Velasco navigated a $300,000 personal investment across multiple failed ventures before finding product-market fit. We explore the high-stakes reality of moving a family across the globe to build a legacy and the specific tactical shifts required to scale a Philippine-based SaaS company to meet Western market expectations. Core Themes Explored: The Silicon Valley Straitjacket: Why high-salary careers in the US can prevent founders from achieving true creative autonomy. The B2B Trust Deficit: Strategies for overcoming the "scam" perception by utilizing physical office culture and extreme customer commitment. Unit Economic Reality: Why Philippine startups must expand to global markets sooner to survive local price sensitivity. The Pandemic Pivot: How Prosperna transitioned from real estate listings to a dominant AI-powered e-commerce platform for SMEs…

People in this episode

Host: Jeremy Au

Guest: Dennis Velasco

Topics covered

• Trust Factor Gap
• B2B markets
• Philippine startup ecosystem
• SaaS company scaling
• AI-powered e-commerce
• Global market expansion

Keywords

• trust gap
• Philippine startups
• B2B
• SaaS
• AI e-commerce
• global expansion
• entrepreneurship

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Salesforce, Xero, Prosperna

Places: Philippines, Silicon Valley, Southeast Asia, Manila

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