Clay Cup Manila 2026: The First GTM Engineering Competition in the Philippines
Recap of the Clay Cup Manila nomination event — four competitors, a 20-minute GTM challenge, live judging from Marco Strohm Katgbak and Joshua Macaldo, and two representatives heading to the global Clay Cup bracket.
On April 6, 2026, we ran the Clay Cup Manila nomination event at LOFT Spaces in Eastwood, Quezon City. Four competitors. Two judges. One 20-minute challenge. A live Zoom audience watching every build unfold in real time.
The Clay Cup is the world's first Go-To-Market engineering competition. Manila had a spot on the bracket. This is how we filled it.
Watch the Clay Cup Manila 2026 Nomination Event
What Is the Clay Cup?
The Clay Cup is a global GTM engineering competition run by Clay. Each city runs its own local qualifier to find its best two builders, who then move forward to the global bracket.
Our job in Manila was simple: identify who goes.
The Challenge
Every competitor received the same prompt at the same time.
"Clay just opened its London office to support European expansion. You are the GTM engineer. Build a dream 100 list, find the buying signals, and surface one decision maker at each account."
Twenty minutes. No second attempts. No assistance.
It reads cleanly. In practice, you have to think through your data sources, structure your Clay table, layer in enrichment logic, surface the right signals, and identify decision makers — all while the clock is running and the room is watching.
The challenge is not about knowing Clay. It is about thinking clearly under pressure. You can have the tool memorized and still freeze when the stakes are real.
Twenty minutes to build a dream 100 list for a brand-new office expansion. That is the kind of prompt that separates people who know the tool from people who can actually think with it.
The Competitors
Four builders entered the bracket:
- Vince Paclipan — present, energetic, and locked in from the first minute to the last
- Mariel Camba — sharp thinking and composure throughout
- Felipe Nino Clave — clean execution and strong reasoning under time pressure
- Ranky May Aro — methodical, precise, and clearly thinking two steps ahead
Same brief. Same timer. Same opportunity. What separated them was how they thought — not just how fast they moved.
Build Time
When the timer started, the room shifted.
Keyboards moving. Screens filling up. The camera rolling. The Zoom audience watching live.
Twenty minutes is long enough to build something real and short enough to expose every hesitation. The best builds were not the most complex. They were the most intentional — clear ICP logic, smart signal selection, and enrichment that actually told a story.
The Presentations
When the build time ended, each competitor walked the judges through what they built — and why.
This is where the real evaluation happened.
Showing a Clay table is easy. Explaining the reasoning behind each column, each enrichment choice, each filter — that requires a different level of clarity. The competitors who stood out did not just defend their work. They made you understand it.
Showing what you built is not the same as explaining why you built it that way. The best performers did both — and that gap was clearly visible.
The Judges
Marco Strohm Katgbak and Joshua Macaldo judged the event.
Marco is a revenue operations expert who evaluates systems the way a builder thinks — from structure and logic, not just output. His feedback cut to the architecture of each build: what held up, what had gaps, what the logic was actually saying.
Joshua Macaldo is the GTM engineering standard in Manila. He has been building with Clay longer than most people here have known it existed. His notes went deep — into signal logic, enrichment choices, and the decisions competitors made under time pressure.
They paid attention during the builds, asked the right questions during presentations, and gave feedback that was specific, clear, and genuinely useful. Not generic encouragement. Real notes.
The Winners
Ranky May Aro and Felipe Nino Clave will represent Clay Philippines at the global Clay Cup.
They earned it. Not just because of what they built in twenty minutes, but because of how they explained it after. Clear thinking. Strong instincts. The composure to perform when it counted.
They are not just the best competitors from this round. They are carrying Manila's name into an international competition.
The Team Behind It
Events like this do not run on their own.
Louise Gabrielle co-hosted and ran everything on the logistics side — sourcing the prize bags for the winners, managing the operational details, and keeping the whole event together behind the scenes. None of the visible parts work without the invisible ones.
Kyle held the mic and kept the room engaged. An emcee sets the tone. Kyle set a good one.
JC, one of our team members, managed the Zoom live feed and kept the tech stable throughout so the remote audience had a clean experience from start to finish.
Every smooth event has people making invisible contributions. Louise, Kyle, and JC made this one work.
What's Next: Sculpt by Clay
Ranky and Felipe are now representing Clay Philippines at Sculpt by Clay — the global GTM engineering competition where the world's best Clay builders compete on the same stage.
I will be coaching them.
My approach is straightforward: we are not chasing the result. We are going to focus on the process — on getting sharper, on learning the craft, on building the kind of systems thinking that compounds. Winning at Sculpt by Clay would be great. But walking away as a better GTM engineer than you came in? That is the real prize regardless of outcome.
That is what the Clay Cup 2026 is for. And honestly, that is what Clay Club Manila has always been about.
The community started because the Philippines needed a place to get serious about GTM engineering. What happened at LOFT Spaces on April 6 is one more proof point that the builders here are ready — not just to compete locally, but on a global stage at Sculpt.
Want to follow along as Ranky and Felipe represent the Philippines at Sculpt by Clay? Follow Lead Assassin on LinkedIn for updates on Clay Cup 2026 and all upcoming Clay Club Manila events.
FAQ
What is the Clay Cup 2026?
The Clay Cup 2026 is a global GTM engineering competition run by Clay. Cities around the world hold local nomination events to identify their best builders, who then compete at Sculpt by Clay — the global finals. The Manila Clay Cup 2026 nomination event on April 6, 2026 selected Ranky May Aro and Felipe Nino Clave to represent the Philippines.
What is Sculpt by Clay?
Sculpt by Clay is the global GTM engineering competition and conference hosted by Clay. Clay Cup city qualifiers around the world feed into the Sculpt bracket, where representatives compete to be recognized as the world's best GTM engineers. Manila's Clay Cup 2026 winners — Ranky May Aro and Felipe Nino Clave — will represent Clay Philippines at Sculpt.
What was the challenge at Clay Cup Manila 2026?
Competitors had 20 minutes to solve one prompt: "Clay just opened its London office to support European expansion. You are the GTM engineer. Build a dream 100 list, find the buying signals, and surface one decision maker at each account." They then presented their builds to the judges, explaining their reasoning and decisions.
Who won the Clay Cup Manila 2026 nomination?
Ranky May Aro and Felipe Nino Clave won the Clay Cup Manila 2026 nomination round and will represent Clay Philippines at Sculpt by Clay. They were selected based on the quality of their builds and the clarity of how they explained their decisions to the judges.
Who were the judges at Clay Cup Manila 2026?
The judges were Marco Strohm Katgbak, a revenue operations expert and GTM systems architect, and Joshua Macaldo, a GTM engineer and Clay creator based in Manila.
Where was Clay Cup Manila 2026 held?
The event was held at LOFT Spaces in Eastwood, Quezon City. It also streamed live on Zoom for remote attendees.
Who organized Clay Cup Manila 2026?
The event was organized by Lead Assassin and hosted by Ericson Dalusong and Louise Gabrielle. Kyle served as emcee and JC managed the live Zoom stream. Lead Assassin is the founding organizer of Clay Club Manila, the first GTM engineering community in Southeast Asia.