Pam Belen - The Hustle Behind Umpisa

Update: 2025-12-01

Description

This week on Hustleshare, Ron Baetiong sits down with Pam Belen, Founder and CEO of Umpisa, to unpack how a CPA-turned-tech-founder is on a mission to make the Philippines recognized globally as a tech hub. Pam shares her journey from accountancy to winning a startup weekend in San Francisco, the fundamentals that keep Umpisa profitable and sustainable, and why Filipino founders need to stop putting bamboo ceilings on themselves.

Ep Timeline:

00:03:07 – Pam's hustle: leveling up the Philippines as a global tech hub

00:10:13 – Origin story: from Alaminos, Laguna to leadership roles early on

00:16:18 – The skills that matter: treating people with respect, optimism, and sports discipline

00:21:27 – Why accountancy fundamentals are critical for every founder

00:30:41 – The pivot: from Big 4 accounting to Winston Damarillo's startup world

00:38:42 – Why Filipino founders must work in high-growth startups first before going all in

00:48:05 – The trigger to take the leap of starting her own company

00:56:38 – Finding the right co-founder: Dennis, the CTO who worked with Pam for 2 years first

01:02:54 – How Umpisa grew methodically: revenues, cashflow, execution, and the right people

01:10:14 – Growing and evolving as a leader and as an organization

01:22:31 – Mentors who shaped Pam’s entrepreneurial journey, in and out of Endeavor’s Scale Up

01:29:04 – How to achieve Umpisa’s ultimate goal

"If you're going to have a co-founder, you have to make sure that you've worked with the person. At least give it a year, maybe two years. Because you won't know how the person deals with pressure unless you've been through it together."