How Foreign Investment Restrictions Will Affect Indonesian Online Retail Industry

Following last week’s revelation that the Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) has extended the interpretation of the Negative Investment List, which restricts foreign investments, to cover companies that conduct online trading, we contacted a number of industry figures to seek their opinion or understanding of this new implementation.

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Indonesia’s Ministry of Trade May Have Banned Foreign Investment for E-Commerce Companies

The Ministry of Trade apparently has issued a new directive which extends the negative investment list from offline businesses to online business, according to Remco Lupker, president of Ambient Digital Indonesia, on his blog post tonight. This, he says, effectively cuts off foreign investment for anything to do with direct sales to consumer. Lupker also outlined the effects it may have on the local e-commerce companies and how they can manage to comply with this new policy.

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[DS Notes] What’s the Difference Between Tony Stark and Elon Musk? One of Them is Real

The co-founder of PayPal is currently building a spaceship to Mars, runs an electric sports car company with a companion environmentally friendly refueling corridors across the United States, a cheaper and more efficient electricity system for homes, and is now aiming to send humans in high speed tubes across cities. Elon Musk is doing exactly what fellow PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel wishes he could get from other startup founders, something beyond the mundane and frivolous, something that changes the world. A world in which everything is efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly is an idealistic one but Musk is making it happen.

Read about Musk on PandoDaily.

[DS Notes] Will Foursquare Finally Get it Right?

With hundreds of partners and billions of data points, Foursquare has become the default reference for apps relying on points of interests, venues, and location in general. However, despite having raised over a hundred million dollars since its inception in 2009, the company has yet to make a meaningful revenue. CEO Dennis Crowley is adamant that the company will be profitable by the end of the year and has a plan to generate up to $20 million in revenue for 2013. However, Yelp! generated over USD 46 million in Q1 2013 alone with a much more limited roll out and a smaller user base. How does Foursquare plan to stay afloat outside of raising investment rounds?

Read all about Crowley’s vision at FastCompany.

Independent Artists Can Now Submit Their Songs Directly to Ohdio

Indonesian online radio Ohdio today has opened itself to independent Indonesian bands who wish to have their songs broadcast on its service. In a blog post, the company is calling for bands to submit their songs directly for consideration. While Ohdio already has a deal in place to feature many local artists and bands, the company wishes to feature as many acts as possible and provide the widest range of songs for its listeners.

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How @pulkam Helps Indonesians Rediscover The Spirit of Eid al Fitr

Every year around the end of Ramadan, millions of Indonesians make the trip back to their home towns to celebrate Eid al Fitr with their families and relatives. For many who don’t or can’t, they often enjoy listening to stories and photos shared by their friends. Over the last five Eid al Fitr celebrations, @pulkam has served as a central source for Eid travelers to share their stories and experiences and to deliver various information to assist travelers during the festivities. It also has grown and embraced technology like no other travel information centers in Indonesia.
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Stickers Are Not the Only Way Mobile Messaging Apps Make Money

On Thursday MessageMe became the latest mobile messaging app that joins the sticker craze as it introduces a number of free and paid sets of stickers. The week before, TenthBit’s Couple also added stickers for its users. With Path and Facebook joining the sticker craze this year, it looks as if the prevailing way to monetize messaging apps is by selling stickers instead of charging to use their services. But evidence shows that there are other ways.

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[DS Notes] WhatsApp Crosses 300 Million Monthly Active Users, Adds Voice Mssaging

WhatsApp today updated its mobile messaging app to add voice messaging capability across multiple platforms. As the most traditionalist among all mobile messaging companies, this addition is quite a leap as the company had been maintaining a comparatively limited set of features. Voice messages are recorded by holding the microphone icon on the app and gets delivered as soon as the finger is lifted. To AllThingsD, CEO Jan Koum revealed that WhatsApp now has 300 million monthly active users who share 325 million photosphere day, dominating the messaging landscape in dozens of countries.

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