His name was Steve Jobs.
\n\n\n\nHe didn\u2019t need a college degree to change the world. Nor was he crazy. But he was different, or rather, he thought differently. Before his name became synonymous with one of the most recognizable brands the world has ever known, he spent many of his hours cold-calling businessmen and corporations to help put up capital for his baby, the personal computer, if not developing it.
\n\n\n\nWhat could have happened to Steve Jobs (and to the world) had he gotten a college degree is anyone\u2019s guess. For what it\u2019s worth, we could all still be using our old Nokia phones running on Symbian OS. It makes you wonder what could have happened to Steve Jobs had there been an organization that was able to see his potential instantly and help him take off faster than he did.
\n\n\n\nWhen Mercury Labs CEO Rom Agustin decided to forge a partnership with the University of Southern California-Viterbi School of Engineering and the Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition (MEPC), he was not just trying to fulfill a corporate social responsibility. He was paying it forward.
\n\n\n[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE1K3YqkiQY]
\n\n\n\n\u201cThis endeavor means so much to me because I see in it many parallels in my life. Before I tried my luck at ISP, consulting, and the BPO industry and succeeded, I started out as an Oil and Gas systems engineer where I learned to be systematic, to trust the process. But it\u2019s really tough for start-ups to build everything from scratch without any support,\u201d said Agustin.
\n\n\n\nThe MEPC is an annual competition that aims to inspire, empower, and support innovators to turn their ideas into feasible business models — real products, companies, and solutions. It was founded by Fariborz Maseeh with a $1-million endowment and run by the University of Southern California – Viterbi School of Engineering. This year, 15 finalists will try to address challenges in topics spanning energy, health, safety, education, and our environment. As one of the major partners, Mercury Labs, through Rom Agustin, pledged $10,000 in marketing services to the winner of the competition.
\n\n\n\nRom is also excited to serve as one of the judges of the competition, which will have a winner by April 2017.
\n\n\n\nThat comes from someone who made up for not getting a lot of good breaks along the way by believing he could accomplish anything he put his mind into. And he did.
\n\n\n\nFrom a single-employee company 12 years ago, Mercury Labs now employs more than 800 people in its five offices in North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia, and has catered to hundreds of Global 2000 companies from over 20 countries in the world. Rom wasn\u2019t only the architect of company; he was pretty much the carpenter, foreman, and engineer at the same time. When pressed about his success, he said \u201cIt\u2019s equal parts smarts and relentlessness. One cannot work without the other.\u201d Fortunately, that\u2019s the same potential and mentality he sees from the participants at MEPC.
\n\n\n\n\u201cI am sure our sponsorship at MEPC will go a long way. I am aware some of the previous winners have gone on to establish noteworthy companies. It\u2019s an honor to be part of this institution and to have an impact in other people\u2019s success,\u201d Rom Agustin said.
\n\n\n\nMercury Labs CEO Rom Agustin decided to forge a partnership with the University of Southern California-Viterbi School of Engineering..
\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":69352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_callbox_draft_pusher_loaded":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[662],"tags":[1165,829,1166],"class_list":["post-17712","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-updates","tag-callbox-ceo-rom-agustin","tag-rom-agustin","tag-rom-agustin-and-southern-california-viterbi-school-of-engineering"],"acf":{"cb_acf_post_contact_cta":"","cb_acf_post_contact_desc":"","contact_utm":"","contact_utm_button":"","cb_acf_post_offer_type":"","cb_acf_post_offer":"","cb_acf_guest_post":{"author_avatar":"","author_bio":""},"featured_case_study":"","blog_faq":{"title":"","faq_list":null},"cb_acf_hero":{"h1_title":"","headline":"","description":"","image":"","video":"","video_header":false,"cta_link":"","cta_link_hs":"","cta":"BOOK A MEETING"},"has_contact_form":false,"dark_themed_form":false,"has_review_section":false,"top_level_page":false,"featured_services":{"section_title":"","section_description":"","featured_service_cards":{"card_1":{"title":"","description":"","button":null},"card_2":{"title":"","description":"","button":null},"card_3":{"title":"","description":"","button":null},"card_4":{"title":"","description":"","button":null}}},"leadgen_apac":false,"leadgen_au":false,"cb_asset":"","cb_web_property":"MAIN","cb_acf_relational":{"case_study":"","cs_industry_image":""},"cb_acf_testimonial":"","cb_regional_pages":null,"cb_acf_ctas":{"contact_form":"","banner_image":"","goto_form_button":"BOOK A MEETING"},"cb_acf_post_alt":{"alt_post_title":"","alt_post_image":"","alt_post_excerpt":"","alt_post_image_url":""},"form_redirect_url":"","cb_banner_announcement":null,"hubspot_form_guid":"6c1dda45-65a3-49f4-9de6-7bc157f6abbb"},"yoast_head":"\n