The mentors included GoDaddy Asia Marketing Director Tina Shieh, Odd Job Bob CEO & Co-Founder Mikko Tung, Ligo Vice President for Advertising Macky Tung, Ligo Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mark Tung, Rappler Entertainment and Lifestyle Editor Bea Cupin, and Owner of Acasa Manila, Maggie Wilson who also hosted the show.
The top 4 contenders — MINDOCEO, Staffz, The Loop Store PH, and AO Innovations Tech — learned about building an online presence for the business, setting up a website, business operations and marketing, and storytelling. Their final pitch was made to an international panel of judges, which was comprised of seasoned business veterans: Lyrna Esmeralda-Hewitt, President & Co-Founder of Bona Fortuna Farms, Inc; Carlo Buenaflor, CEO of Biggs, Inc; James Carroll, President of GoDaddy International; and Jodi Valenta, Vice President of Global Marketing at GoDaddy.
“We looked forward to hearing innovative ideas and solutions that fit actual market needs and clarity in the approach to fulfilling those needs,” says Carroll. “The contestants more than delivered. We were very impressed with the creativity, skill, and passion that we witnessed in their presentations.”
The judges followed a scoring system that graded each of the Top 4 Contestants’ final pitch on a variety of stringent criteria, including originality, the potential for growth and profit, and feasibility of plans. At the end of this rigorous process, Staffz emerged as the Project GO winner represented by the 25-year-old Pearl Janine de Guzman.
Staffz is an outsourcing solutions portal and one that also includes advocacy. The roster of skilled workers that carry out SEO, copywriting, and graphic design services for their clients are all underprivileged youths trained in these specialized skills by the core team of Staffz. This business model allows them to offer cost-effective services to small and medium enterprises around the world, while also opening more inclusive job opportunities to those who may not otherwise have them.
While De Guzman and her collaborators are careful to remain grounded in the reality that it is not a simple task to end poverty or change the world, they run Staffz with the optimism that they can make a genuine impact in the lives of others.
Derek Wong, Vice President and Head of Production at KC Global Media Asia, has this to say: “AXN is proud to crown Staffz as the first-ever winner of Project GO. With their truly innovative and empathic business model, Staffz is set to turn even more dreams into reality, which resonates with what Project GO has aimed to do from the beginning.”
Catching up the full season of the show, I can understand why Staffz became the Project GO winner. I also enjoyed the Bootcamp that the top 4 contenders had to go through. You’ll also learn from the show. The full season of Project GO is available to stream for free on AXN Asia and GoDaddy Asia’s YouTube channels. For more information and exclusive content on Project GO, audiences can visit the official website at www.axn-asia.com/ProjectGO or follow AXN Asia on Facebook and Instagram.