The Bonfire Moment: Philippine book launch
After a highly successful launch in the US this past May, The Bonfire Moment will be launching in Manila on August 1st by author Martin Gonzalez.
The Bonfire Moment is a must-read for startup founders and leaders under startup-like pressures, based on unique insights from Google's Startup Accelerator. It became an instant national bestseller (USA Today), hit #1 on Amazon, and was named one of the top 10 New Management Books of 2024 by Thinkers50 (dubbed the "Oscars of management thinking" by the Financial Times).
The book has received praise from notable figures in the global startup ecosystem, including:
Garry Tan, CEO of YCombinator: “The Bonfire Moment is an important read for anyone wanting to create something from nothing.”
Kim Scott, bestselling author of Radical Candor: “...the compassionate yet clear-minded mentors you’ll need in the toughest moments of your leadership journey.”
Steve Chen, YouTube cofounder and CTO: “...should be required reading for all entrepreneurs. The Bonfire Moment has created a science where previously there was only art.”
Bill Coughran, Partner at Sequoia Capital: “a must-read for every leader.”
The Bonfire Moment: Bring Your Team Together to Solve the Hardest Problems Startups Face shares unique insights from pioneers of Google’s Startup Accelerator on why building teams is harder than building tech—and a proven way to develop a tight team that’s ready for the intense challenges of startup life.
At this invitation-only event, Martin will share key insights and stories you won’t find within the book. You’ll also hear from Minette Navarrete (President and co-founder of Kickstart Ventures) and Roland Ros (the celebrated founder behind Kumu, the social entertainment tech sensation).
Attire: Startup casual
Light dinner and drinks will be served.
Discounted copies of the book will be available (courtesy of Fully Booked).
Martin is the creator of Google’s Effective Founders Project, a global research program that uses people analytics to uncover what makes the best startup founders succeed and shares their success formula with the world. He has run leadership courses for thousands of tech startup founders across seventy countries in the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Europe. He is a frequent lecturer on entrepreneurship, organization design, and people analytics at Stanford, Wharton, and INSEAD.
Martin is a principal of organization and leadership development at Google. He works with Google’s senior leaders to shape team culture, develop their people, and expand their leadership, so they can build cool things that matter. In his ten years there, he’s worked with leaders across Google Research, DeepMind, Technology & Society, Responsible AI, Pixel, Fitbit, YouTube, Search, Maps, Android, and Chrome, to name a few.
In 2023, The Aspen Institute recognized him as a First Movers Fellow, honoring his pioneering work at Google. In 2024, he was featured on the Thinkers50 Radar List, a prestigious recognition dubbed the "Oscars of management thinking" by the Financial Times, which highlights emerging thinkers expected to significantly influence future management thinking.
Prior to Google, he was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and a product manager at Johnson & Johnson.
Martin has studied organizational psychology and behavioral science at Columbia University and the London School of Economics, and Integrated Marketing Communications at the University of Asia & the Pacific. He’s a serial immigrant, having lived and worked in New York, Jakarta, Singapore, Taipei, and Manila, where he is originally from. Today he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Bea, and three kids: Noelle, Jaime, and Andrea.