What’s next for legendary entrepreneur Jose Magsaysay, Jr. of Potato Corner?

Among entrepreneurs, there are few who are as famous, successful, and relevant to Filipinos as Jose “Jomag” Magsaysay, Jr. of Potato Corner. I’ve been lucky to have Jomag as my business partner and mentor in my business, Mercato Centrale, as well as in my podcast. To many Filipinos — myself included — he is a legend.

The story of how he co-founded Potato Corner and grew it into a business that is present in every corner of the Philippines is the gold standard of how to achieve greatness in entrepreneurship through franchising. Potato Corner was founded in 1992 and today has over 1,300 branches around the world. And since its founding, he hasn’t stood still. What is he busy with this year? What is the second act for this iconic Pinoy entrepreneur? And what can other entrepreneurs learn from his mentorship?

Aside from Potato Corner, Mr. Magsaysay is involved in numerous other businesses — as founder, investor, board member, or, at times, as mentor. In fact, in entrepreneurial circles, he has become known as something of a “partner ng bayan” (partner of the community or country) I recently spoke with him on the RJ Ledesma Podcast where he talked about many of the things he is busy with today — what he calls his “Jomag version 2.0” phase. One hour was too short for all the insights he shared. You can watch the interview in full or check out the highlights below.

‘DM ME’
I’ve had so many entrepreneurs approach me and say, “RJ, can you introduce me to Jomag? It’s so inspiring what he’s been writing about entrepreneurship.” Today, he has evolved from a singularly focused founder into a thought leader and enabler of promising young entrepreneurs. He is currently the entrepreneur in residence at the Asian Institute of Management where he works closely with many future business leaders.

So first, let’s get the question on everyone’s mind out of the way: How do you get in touch with Jose Magsaysay, Jr. if you have a winning business idea?

“Message me,” he says. “DM me, and then tell me who you are, what your business is, what challenges you’re going through. And then if your business looks interesting to me, I will reply back, then we’ll talk.”

Yes, entrepreneurs. Jose Magsaysay, Jr. is on Facebook writing about entrepreneurship in a series called “Business As It Really Is.” Getting in touch with him is literally as easy as sending a direct message.

Keep in mind though that he is, in his words, “biased towards food and platform building or ecosystem building.” Good luck on your pitches!

ON MENTORSHIP
In one Facebook post, he talks about the road less traveled. This has been the guiding principle of his entrepreneurial journey — and it continues to guide him as he forges new paths, including his foray into mentorship.

“Sometimes I take the road less traveled,” Mr. Magsaysay, who describes himself as an extreme introvert, says, “And then sometimes I’d rather walk alone because if there’s somewhere that is interesting to go, I go. And if I’m in a pack, I have to follow the pack sometimes. And that makes me uncomfortable.”

He shares that his typical day is now full of mentoring moments. Talking about his mentorship on Facebook, he says, “It continues my road to mentoring and sitting as an independent director for some corporations. I’m enjoying it. And who knows, this might be the new path that I will go to, but I still don’t know.”

For now though, he is enjoying his role as mentor ng bayan. “I think everybody needs a mentor,” he says. “Until now, I still have a mentor. And it really helps. It focuses me.

“From my point of view, I can see problems that others are doing. Sometimes you cannot see your own problem. It takes somebody else to see your problems. That’s what I do now and help founders in.”

BUSINESS AS IT REALLY IS
On his Facebook page, he gives priceless advice to business owners. In very broad strokes, he talks about three things in particular:

• Platform Thinking

• Structural Dominance

• Scar Tissue Leadership

Within each topic is a wealth of learning. For example, for Scar Tissue Leadership, he explains how leaving Potato Corner in the past was a challenging experience but also one that taught him how to start new businesses.

“Every time I left Potato Corner,” he said, “I did something different. One of those times I ended up running Mister Donut, and then one time I was able to put up a new company… ’Yun ang naging runway ko, ’yung mga (those became my runways, the) periods of resignations… That’s when I was able to start some businesses.”

For more on Scar Tissue Leadership, Structural Dominance, and Platform Thinking, head over to his Facebook page where he talks about these topics in detail.

I’d like to end this week’s column with a quote from Jomag that shows how you never know what you’ll learn from this master entrepreneur. This chaotic creator who has been called “the antithesis of order” will be teaching you about building platforms one moment, then dishing life wisdom the next.

“Humility is very important,” he says. “Whenever I enter a room, I never sit in front. But the thing is, they bring me in front and it’s a big difference you know. When I talk I’m usually the last to talk kasi (because) I’m able to think about what to say. Tapos (then) when I broke my neck, had five cranial surgeries, I had a lot of time to think. That alone time is very important for me. When you’re always thinking about who am I, what do I do. That’s helped me.”

RJ Ledesma (www.rjledesma.com) is a Hall of Fame Awardee for Best Male Host at the Aliw Awards, a multi-awarded serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and business mentor, podcaster, an Honorary Consul, and editor-in-chief of The Business Manual. Mr. Ledesma can be found on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. The RJ Ledesma Podcast is available on Facebook, Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts. Are there entrepreneurs you want Mr. Ledesma to interview? Let him know at ledesma.rj@gmail.com.