[Feature] Architect Gene Go on Why Givers Gain

Architect Gene Arthur Go did not stumble into entrepreneurship. He grew up inside it.

With a career rooted in family, partnership, and a green vision, the BNI Leader and GSN+p Managing Partner shares lessons every young professional can borrow. (Illustrator: RIZ)

As the eldest son of a contractor who once studied architecture at UST, Go learned early how projects come together and where they fall apart. The path to practice felt prewritten, and he admits the family influence was strong.

“I guess you could say I was brainwashed,” he says. A beat later he clarifies with a smile: “brainwashed in a good way.”

That mix of realism and generosity threads through his career. After school, Go never took the corporate detour. “I’ve never worked for anyone... except for my dad.”

That immersion gave him the confidence to launch GSN+p in the mid-1990s with two college batchmates, each investing twenty-five thousand pesos and pooling complementary strengths.

One partner handled design, another technical delivery, while Go took the business front. “You have to clearly define roles,” he explains. “It keeps the partnership healthy.”

Building Credibility, One Restroom at a Time

GSN+p’s first break was not glamorous. McDonald’s Philippines tapped the team for restroom enhancements, not full store builds. Go and his partners benchmarked restrooms in high-end restaurants, presented a collage of best practices, and delivered an upgrade that impressed.

“We tried to earn design autonomy by solving real problems,” he says.

Guided by his belief that “Givers Gain,” Gene Go introduced JunkNot Creative to McDonald’s Philippines, turning decommissioned tables and chairs into classroom furniture for students across the country. (Image: McDonald’s Philippines)

That mindset led to bigger mandates: reimagining underused party rooms as multipurpose spaces that could also serve as meeting venues. Utilization went up, client trust deepened, and a decades-long partnership was born.

That same discipline now shapes the firm’s corporate and hospitality projects, from Coca-Cola offices to Hotel H2O and Azalea Hotels.

Sustainability as Spreadsheet, Not Slogan

Go has become one of the industry’s strongest voices for sustainable design. During the pandemic he earned credentials under the Philippine Green Building Council, determined to match ideals with technical know-how.

He frames sustainability in pragmatic terms: “We paid about 120,000 pesos per kilowatt for solar years ago. Now you can get it for 40 to 50,000. Panels self-clean and stay efficient longer. Clients are more open today. Going green used to be an extra. Now it is a competitive requirement.”

He pushed those principles into practice through unexpected partnerships. A connection he facilitated between McDonald’s and social enterprise JunkNot Creative led to decommissioned tables and chairs being upcycled into classroom furniture for Ronald McDonald House Charities.

“When I saw the video of students using those desks, I knew I did something good,” he recalls.

The BNI Mindset: Givers Gain

Outside the drawing board, Go credits his leadership in BNI Philippines for sharpening the instincts he had practiced all along.

The group’s philosophy, “Givers Gain,” has become his operating system. “If you help others without expecting anything, value comes back in ways you cannot script,” he says.

On NegoShow, Architect Gene Go reveals how small wins, sustainable design, and the BNI principle of “Givers Gain” shaped his three-decade career. (Source: DWIZ 882 YouTube)

He has since been recognized within BNI for generating billions in closed business, but for him the true reward is culture. “Your network is your net worth. When trust is high, doors open.”

He now extends that philosophy through a podcast aimed at younger architects, named Kabuhayan at Kabahayan. Topics range from how to price properly and pay taxes to leveraging AI tools.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

“You cannot be an employee forever. At some point you need to be your own boss,” Go amplifies.

Go is generous with advice that is as practical as it is unglamorous:

• Pay yourself a salary. “Time is a currency,” he says. Founders must not subsidize their business with unpaid hours.

• Track cash and taxes. Separate statutory obligations and make discipline non-negotiable.

• Design for utilization. Idle space is a liability. Multipurpose planning is a profit center.

• Partner on purpose. Clearly defined roles keep both partnerships and projects resilient.

• Give first. Referrals and trust compound faster than cold calls.

He also shares templates and checklists freely with legitimate practitioners, hoping to shorten learning curves he navigated by trial and error. “We have a responsibility to run sustainable businesses. That includes paying people on time and paying taxes,” he says.

Integration, Not Balance

When asked about work-life balance, Go is blunt: “There is no balance. Integration is more realistic.”

He brings the BNI mindset into both the company and the home, aligning family and team around the value of relationships. For him, success is less about chasing a skyline and more about building networks that last.

The through line in Gene Go’s career is pragmatic generosity. Start small, solve real problems, invest in people, and leave every place better than you found it. Or, as he likes to remind fellow entrepreneurs: “Like weight loss, you cannot just buy a gym membership. You have to use the platform. It will be painful… You also have to enjoy the ride.”

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