Lippo Group’s John Riady Takes on the Conglomerate Investment in the Technology Landscape

This article is a part of DailySocial’s Mastermind Series, featuring innovators and leaders in Indonesia’s tech industry sharing their stories and point of view.

Based on a journal entitled, “The Conglomerate Corporation” published on the digital library JSTOR, Conglomerate is defined as a business corporation producing products or services of several industries that are unrelated with respect to raw material sources, product development, production technology, or marketing channels.

Lippo Group is one of Indonesia’s largest and most diversified conglomerates. Dr. Mochtar Riady, Founder of the Lippo Group, transformed a small family business as a proprietor of a bicycle shop into one of Asia’s leading conglomerates with an ever-expanding global footprint. It is now a strategic and active investment holding company with investments in property, malls, hospitals, school and university, supermarket and department stores, hotels, food retailing, banking, media, broadband internet, and digital technology.

John Riady, the group’s successor, is currently leading the business as the Director of Lippo Group. He holds a number of positions within the group’s subsidiaries. Apart from being a licensed attorney in the State of New York, he also holds degrees from several top global universities in business and political majors.

Under John’s leadership, the Lippo Group is passionate about developing the digital economy, including transforming the group as a whole. In that case, Lippo Group made PT Multipolar Tbk. (MLPT) as the investment arm in the digital sector, considering that at least 40 technology companies have been backed by this fund.

However, John Riady does not necessarily let go of the conventional business tentacles that are the foundation of the Lippo Group. One of the four digital business strategies that John pioneered is to marry digital business entities with the Lippo Group ecosystem to strengthen the business in a sustainable manner.
DailySocial had an amazing opportunity to be able to virtually discuss the phenomenon of Indonesian conglomerate’s investment in the tech scene and translated it into below paragraphs.

Lippo Group is considered as one of Asia’s largest and most diversified conglomerates. With various business sectors under its auspices, why deciding to focus on the technology landscape?

Let’s begin with some background story. Lippo Group has started to invest in the technology sector since 2013. Eight years ago, our ex-Google friend introduced us to several unfamiliar names of early-stage companies, which today have become the leader in its respective industries. Back then, these companies have made an effective use of Google Ads, have good traction, and are rapidly growing.

Since then, we’ve started to invest in this type of business, including OVO, RuangGuru, Fave, Carro, TADA and others. We called them the first generation startups, including Grab, we were already part of them long before the company finally went public on NYSE.

Fast forward seven years later, all of these early-stage companies have become giant techs. In our early investment, the total valuation of all the startups in Indonesia should add up to 1 trillion Rupiah. To date, with all the funding and growth, Indonesia’s tech scene has multiply a dozen times at around $60 billion or almost a thousand trillion Rupiah. It is all happen within less than 10 years.

We believe this is just the beginning of this sector. The number can still multiply. As we see from China’s exchange, there are around 25% tech companies already listed. Indonesia, on the other side, is only at 1% or 2%. There is still room to grow.

In terms of Lippo, this is an industry where we should penetrate and explore further. Therefore, we came up with four strategies to keep up with the emerging market, which are early-stage investment, late stage, partnership, and collaborations.

First, we invest in early-stage companies. We focused on investing in digital companies from the start. That way, we can learn together with the founders.
Second, late-stage strategy, we invest in digital companies with pre-IPO (Intial Public Offering) status. Because after all, digital companies that have reached this phase have managed to survive, and subdue the dominance of hundreds of similar companies.

Third, we also partner with investors and global tech players. Especially the companies that have plans to expand to Indonesia. China’s biggest insurance company, Ping An, for example. We became local partners and created joint ventures. It is a similar case with Luno, US-based crypto exchange, we support their expansion to the country.

Finally, collaboration with other great tech companies to open new opportunities and value creation for our business. In addition, we’re undergoing digital transformation within our organisation, all three pillars would have positive impact on our development.

With various business sectors under Lippo Group’s auspices, and you holds a number positions within the group’s subsidiaries. How can you manage?

This is more likely about organization. Here’s an outline, we divided Lippo Group’s business into two. First, is Core Operations, where we have become the market leader. We have extensive knowledge and keep tabs on the operational excellence. Especially around medical and property business like malls, hotels, and hospital.

The other tribe is more like a strategic investment. The mindset that goes operational is important, but we need to get strategic. This space is for investment and partnership with founders, creating joint venture with overseas partners. Therefore, at the right time we are also ready to make asset divestment. We need to keep the cycle going in order to make our portfolio optimal and futuristic.

I, personally, am doing day-to-day work as the CEO of the first tribe, also being the Commissioner for several companies under its auspices. Unlike the operational-base job, the second tribe is more strategic.

But at the end of the day, it is people that determine our success. We aspire to be a talent-driven organization, and I am grateful for my colleagues and all the people who dedicate their lives each day to ensuring that we achieve our objectives and serve our customers well.

Have you ever encountered any challenges along the journey?

Our businesses are human-centered. We managed lots of companies in various sectors and different maturity stages. It takes a big effort to make this work. The only way to make sure this run well is investing bigger in the human capital management. This is frankly become the key of success for any organization. We often called as a talent-first organisation since we’re getting deep-serious about talent issues.

Take a hospital for example, with all the doctors and nurses. The same goes to property and hospitality business. Without people to design a well-being community and marketing, it is just an empty lot. These talents are building a better infrastructure. That is the key to a great organization.

Previously you’ve mentioned about Lippo Group’s first and second tribes? How can you explain the linkages between the two tribes?

There are some differences but there is also a connecting line. It is tricky, with companies in different maturity stages. There are opportunities and risks. The management would be different. At the early stage, the company’s growth might be hindered with too many regulations. However, as it started to grow, it requires good governance to maintain the company’s growth.

The thing is, all these companies are all providing solution to certain problems. Ultimately, these organizations are also generating profit by answering the challenges or issues of its consumers. The key is to stay true to the purpose. What will become the function and benefit for the environment and community around.

In terms of investment, Lippo Group has Multipolar and Venturra, can you elaborate on the positioning of each entity? How far the Lippo Group’s involvement to the portfolio companies?

Venturra is a part of Multipolar that focus on investment to the early stage business. Multipolar is more likely the holdings of all the Lippo Group’s investment.

In terms of involvement, it’s different for each portfolio. There are companies where we are deeply involved due to ownership portion or the company’s preferences. We may be act as Venture Builder with portfolios, such as OVO. However, there are companies where we only need to maintain and observe since they already an independent entity.

In a way, we believe in the open ecosystem principal. In order for a tech company to outgrow itself, it has to be open for collaboration. What Lippo Group does to its portfolio is all the way supporting, we’ll help with networking and positioning in the market.

What is your perspective about impact investment?

We did not distinguish impact with non-impact. I believe that every investment have to be impact investment. The key is to merge the purpose of our core organization and the profit. There used to be a dichotomy, an organization can make money in any way possible, and part of the profit will be shared for CSR, it could be related to business or not at all. Today, we are challenged to connect the two dots, purpose and profit. I think that is the tea, what is important is to stay committed to the core purpose.

I believe a successful company is a company that can make an impact in the life of community and environment. There is no such business without an impact. All investments should be impact investment.

As we already discovered that Lippo Group has been involved in various sectors in the digital landscape. What is your projection on the continuity of this industry for the next 5 years? What could possibly be the next rising sector? And how would you position the company in this scene?

There is still a huge opportunity lies ahead. Lippo as a Group will always look for the good founder with the full grasp of the industry, a good investment deal, and potential exit. For the next rising industry, from the early disruption is media company, then it goes to online shopping (e-commerce). Previously, we had ride-hailing in transportation, also in the health sector. I believe all of these sectors will reach the transformation and it is a positive thing. We need to support and optimize the potential.

Have you ever long for any other interest beyond the family business?

In business, I think people would be more likely to focus. We are still growing in the health business or property business, however, we need to maintain not only the growth but also the operational excellence. Growth can be many things. We expect to optimize growth in each of our companies and portfolios. The way to make it happen is to invest and collaborate with all the great men. According to our business concept, stewardship, we aspire to be a good stewards of what has been entrusted to us.

Applications of Gaming in Other Fields: Military, Health, and Education

The general perspective on gaming from society is quite polarizing. On the one hand, the US military sees the potential that gaming can bring and uses it as a tool to train their troops. On the other hand, the World Health Organization recognizes something called gaming disorder, despite the fact that gaming has been used to treat mental disorders. Many parents also often complained that games are the culprit behind their children’s laziness. However, games have been used as a learning tool in many modern education systems and classes.

Along with the skyrocketing popularity of games, more and more parties are interested in using gaming and its innovations in other fields, ranging from education, health, and the military.

MILITARY

Believe it or not, the US military has actually been sponsoring game developers for a very long time. For more than two decades, from the 1960s to the 1990s, the US military is highly active in funding technological developments in the gaming industry. In fact, the creation of Spacewar! — which is considered to be the first-ever game — was made possible thanks to funding from the Pentagon. Both parties are clearly benefiting from this relationship. From the game developer’s standpoint, they now have a larger financial resource to work with. As for the military, they will hopefully get a quality training simulation, as mentioned by The Atlantic.

Generally speaking, the military uses gaming for three main purposes: recruiting new soldiers, training existing troops, and dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced by veterans. America’s Army is an example of a game created to recruit young people into the military. This FPS game was created and released by the US Army in 2002 and can be played for free by anyone. In 2008, Richard Beckett — Chief of Advertising and Public Affairs in the US Army — said that America’s Army was used in various social activities, including LAN parties, which were part of US Army’s “Future Soldier Sustainment” program.

The US Navy utilizes Twitch in its recruitment process. | Source: Military

“Events like LAN parties are useful because we want the recruits to see the recruiters as regular folks, like themselves… and to help future soldiers to stay the course,” Beckett told Ars Technica. He explained that these social activities also act to keep the new military recruits to stay in the Boot Camp since they need to wait up to six months before being assigned. Social activities also create a sense of inclusion and welcome to the enlistees.

Along with the increasing popularity of game content broadcasts, the US military is also interested in exploring game streaming platforms. Currently, both the US Army and Navy have Twitch channels. The military’s goal in creating a channel on Twitch is not to treat it as some form of recruitment program. Instead, they want to use streaming as a means to increase exposure and engage with the audience, especially the younger demography. However, the existence of a Twitch channel from the US Army or Navy does spark several backlashes. For instance, many Twitch viewers seize this opportunity to ask about sensitive topics such as Eddie Gallagher or various accused war crimes committed by US soldiers.

Other than recruiting new soldiers, the US military also uses gaming to train their troops. Some games have been specifically made as a military training tool with specific functionalities. For example, the game DARWARS Ambush was created to teach infantry tactics, convoy operations, and the Rules of Engagement. According to a GamesIndustry report, by the end of 2008, more than three thousand copies of DARWARS Ambush had been distributed to the Army, Air Force, Navy, Coast Guard, and Marines.

UrbanSim and Tactical Iraqi are two other examples of games that have been utilized for military training. Both of these games focus on teaching foreign language skills and fighting rebels. War simulators such as Virtual Battlespace 2 allow military commanders to simulate scenarios that may potentially occur on the battlefield, such as ambushes, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosions, and medical evacuation.

DARWARS Ambus, a video game that simulates military training. | Source: Stripes

Lastly, the military uses gaming to overcome psychological traumas experienced by veterans, such as PTSD. In the journal titled Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Combat-Related PTSD, the Institute of Medicine states that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) with exposure therapy is the only type of remedy recommended for treating PTSD.

In exposure therapy, patients with PTSD will usually be asked to recall and re-exposing themselves to their traumatic experiences. Unfortunately, one of the symptoms of PTSD is the reluctance or inability to remember the traumatic event that caused the PTSD itself. This is where VR simulators come in. VR is perfect for exposure therapy since it can be utilized to recreate the source of the trauma. Thus, the existence of simulations such as Virtual Afghanistan has helped veterans overcome their trauma.

However, the US military’s decision to be active in the gaming industry also had its downsides. One of the most controversial military games that has been released is Full Spectrum Warrior. The game, launched in 2003, is available in two versions: a commercial version and a military-specific version, which can be accessed with a special code. Although the game won awards in the Best Original Game and Best Simulation Game categories at E3 2003, the US military eventually did not utilize it for training, deeming it to be too unrealistic. In addition, the cost incurred by the US Army to get and develop the game was also incredibly massive.

HEALTH

Of course, military veterans aren’t the only ones experiencing PTSD. Normal people like us also can also be affected by this mental disorder. Therefore, the existence of VR Exposure Therapy (VRET) not only benefits the military but also the healthcare industry as well. In addition to PTSD, VRET can also be used to treat other mental disorders, such as phobias or anxiety disorders. Similar to how the military uses VRET, patients with these disorders will be exposed to the source of their trauma or fear with the help of VR simulations. Since the virtual world can be carefully controlled (and is obviously not real), the patient’s therapy is ensured to be safe.

VR Exposure Therapy can be used to treat phobias. | Source: Digital Bodies

The use of games in the healthcare industry is not limited to the department of psychology. Games, especially VR, can also be used by health workers to hone their skills or learn new procedures, which should decrease the chance of human error when performing in real medical situations. According to a journal titled Gaming science innovations to integrate health systems science into medical education and practice, Health workers can use VR for many different purposes, such as learning to perform endoscopy or creating a simulation of an operating room.

Interestingly, mobile games can also help prospective doctors to learn new skills. The iPad game called PAtient Safety in Surgical Education (PASSED) can display various cases from the archive of sentinel (or unexpected) events and serious reportable events in the hospital. Medical students can use this game to gain knowledge or increase their awareness regarding patient safety.

Everyone knows that prevention is better than cure. Games, fortunately, can also improve the healthy lifestyle of many people in our society. For instance, Pokemon Go is one of the few games that incentivizes people to go out of their homes and walk. Nintendo’s WiiFit, which utilizes the Wii Balance Board, promotes exercise to its users. In addition to encouraging players to be more active in sports, these types of games can also be used to measure one’s physical abilities. As mentioned in the article called Innovation in Games: Better Health and Healthcare, health workers can, in turn, use this technology to see a patient’s physical progress, especially in patients affected by diseases that degrade motoric functions such as Parkinson’s.

Wii Fit encourages players to engage in physical activity. | Source: Ichi Pro

Games, of course, promote the element of a challenge, which is also perfect for curing or overcoming addictions. One example of a game created to help players quit smoking is My Stop Smoking Coach, released in 2008. The game can run on several platforms, including iPhone and Nintendo DS. Escape from Diab from Archimage Inc., released in 2006, is another example of a game that promotes a healthy lifestyle. This game focuses specifically on preventing obesity and type 2 diabetes.

EDUCATION

Games are often blamed as the culprit behind students’ reluctance to learn. Funnily enough, studies that investigate the use of gaming as a learning tool have been around since the 1980s. At that time, the researchers observed that various commercial games — especially games in the strategy, simulation, or RPG genres — had used learning theory to encourage players to study the elements of the game itself.

Of course, using gaming in education does not mean that all the topics in the curriculum must be “packaged” in games. According to a study titled Gaming in Education: Using Games as a Support Tool to Teach History, there are many benefits that games can bring to teaching and learning activities. Firstly, games can encourage or incentivize students to participate in the class and directly apply what they have learned. Secondly, games can also help students recall the topics or points taught in the class. Games can also improve computer and visual literacy. Furthermore, the competitive nature of games can also push students to think creatively when solving problems. Lastly, games can teach various important soft skills, ranging from critical thinking, interacting and collaborating with friends, and even sportsmanship.

Video games can improve students’ soft skills. | Source: Spiel Times

The journal titled Digital Games in Education: The Design of Games-Based Learning Environments discusses how games can motivate students and increase their focus. Indeed, games do, in some way, have some elements that teach players to fully focus on in-game tasks. These elements include clear goals, good feedback — both direct and indirect, and a fine balance between challenge difficulty and player’s skills. Apart from keeping students focused, all of these elements can also help students to be more interactive in class, which improves their educational achievements.

TECHNOLOGY

The controller is the primary input device for most consoles in existence. As the console changes, the controller inevitably also evolves. Despite the vast popularity of controllers, countless game companies continue to invent and experiment with new input mechanisms. In 2006, Nintendo launched the Wii Remote or Wiimote at the same time as the Nintendo Wii. One of the primary features of the device is scanning the movement of the user’s hand. Three years later, Nintendo launched the successor to the Wii Remote, the Wii MotionPlus, which can detect even more complex motions. Microsoft also launched the Kinect in 2010. Equipped with various motion sensors such as an RGB camera, infrared projector, and detector, Kinect can detect the motion of the user’s whole body.

Motion sensing technology has also been used in fields outside of gaming. In mobile applications, for instance, the gyroscope in a smartphone can be utilized to detect movements. One company that is interested in using motion-sensing technology is Limix. This Italian company invented and produces wearables called Talking Hands. This device can translate sign language in voice using a smartphone or Bluetooth speaker, as mentioned by HeadStuff. The existence of Talking Hands shows how motion-sensing technology can be used to help the disabled.

Games are also frequently the driving factors for today’s hardware development. Most games today and even in the future will require high-performance hardware. Due to the insatiable demands of gamers to increase the power of computing, hardware manufacturers inevitably have to fulfill these demands and create faster and more powerful technology. These high-performance hardware can also be utilized for other activities that require significant computing power, such as cryptocurrency mining.

GAMIFICATION

We have seen how the elements of gaming can be applied in four different industries. In reality, however, many in-game aspects are also applicable or translatable in non-gaming environments. Staple gaming elements like point systems, badges, the use of avatars, leaderboards, performance graphs, and teamwork. As a result, the term gamification emerged. If you are interested in seeing how gamification is put into practice in non-gaming fields, you can read more about it here.

The journal titled How gamification motivates: An experimental study of the effects of specific game design elements on psychological need satisfaction discusses how gamification can increase motivation based on self-determination theory.

According to self-determination theory, people are motivated to grow and change by three innate psychological needs: competence, autonomy, social connectedness or relatedness. Competence will be met when a person fully masters or feels proficient in a particular skill. The element of gaming that is suited for achieving competence is the awarding of points and badges. Leaderboards and performance graphs can also aid in this matter. In games, points serve as direct feedback or reward. If a player earns points after successfully performing an activity, the player will be motivated to continue doing the task in order to increase his or her points.

Many elements of gaming can be applied outside the scope of games. | Source: Deposit Photos

On the other hand, performance graphs can show a person’s progress or achievements after a certain period of time. For example, on the Duolingo app, each week, you’ll get a graphical report of how much time you’ve spent studying on the app over the last seven days. From that graph, you can clearly check if you are progressing at a rate that you want. Both badges and leaderboards can be used as an assessment of a person’s overall performance. Badges in games are usually given to players after they achieved a unique target or task. Leaderboards function to compare the performances between players. Ultimately, points, badges, leaderboards, and performance charts are useful visualizations of a person’s proficiency or mastery, which also create the drive for them to continue to improve.

The second psychological need that must be met in the self-determination theory is autonomy, which suggests that people need to be in control of their behavior and goals when conducting an activity. The need for autonomy consists of two aspects: freedom in decision-making and satisfaction with completing meaningful tasks. The use of avatars can be a way to fulfill the first aspect. Choosing an avatar — which represents the player and their personality — makes players feel that they have control over the decisions they make. The second aspect can be fulfilled with narration or stories. Stories are the essence of many games today. More often than not, tasks or missions in games mostly repeat the same formula. Go to A and complete a set of objectives, then go to B to complete a different set of objectives, and the process is repeated. After a few iterations of these, players can easily get bored. However, the presence of a story makes each mission unique and creates a different sense of accomplishment when a player successfully completes it.

The last component in self-determination theory is social connectedness, which is fulfilled when a person establishes some sense of belonging or attachment to a particular group. Games create a feeling of connectedness by frequently incorporating multiplayer elements. Players, therefore, have to work together with the group to achieve the goal. Single-player games can also achieve this by using NPCs as virtual entities.

Conclusion

Today, there is still an assumption that games are nothing more than a mere child’s entertainment. Interestingly, however, the gaming industry is currently bigger than the film and music industry. Our society also often argues that games impose many negative impacts. Contrary to their beliefs, many gaming concepts and elements have been utilized in various non-gaming fields. Even though gaming generally serves as a medium of entertainment, they also have other aspects that make them incredibly beneficial to us. Fortunately for many people in the pandemic, games were also the only thing that kept them happy, sane, and connected with their friends or family.

Featured image: Freepik. Translated by: Ananto Joyoadikusumo

Platform SaaS HR “Pegaw.ai” Resmi Diluncurkan, Layani Bisnis di Berbagai Skala

Bertujuan untuk menawarkan solusi yang komprehensif, produk HRMS (Human Resources Management System) yang didirikan dan dikembangkan oleh Phincon bernama “Pegaw.ai” diluncurkan.

Sebagai produk SaaS (Software as a Service), Pegaw.ai menawarkan berbagai paket modul berlangganan yang bisa disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan perusahaan dari perusahaan kecil, menengah, sampai korporasi.

Kepada DailySocial, Product Head Pegaw.ai Steven Sebastian mengungkapkan, platform tersebut mampu membantu pengelolaan SPT pegawai, dalam fitur ini perusahaan dapat merekap pajak yang berbentuk SPT 1721 A1. Selain itu juga memungkinkan pegawai untuk bisa mengakses secara mandiri formulir SPT tanpa merepotkan tim HR demi kemudahan pelaporan pajak pribadi tahunan.

Selain itu fitur-fitur yang juga ditawarkan oleh Pegaw.ai di antaranya modul Penggajian, Employee Self-Service (ESS), Pengelolaan Cuti & Lembur, Pengelolaan Struktur Organisasi, dan berbagai hal lain terkait kepegawaian.

“Pegaw.ai memahami bahwa proses migrasi dan integrasi data merupakan hal yang krusial bagi perusahaan, sehingga Pegaw.ai merancang fitur ‘Migrasi Data’ untuk dapat meminimalisir ketidakcocokan data pegawai yang dimigrasikan bahkan dari platform lain sekalipun,” kata Steven.

Sejak tahun 2020, Pegaw.ai ditujukan sebagai platform manajemen pegawai yang dapat menyederhanakan seluruh pekerjaan tim HR. Selain itu, fitur-fitur yang ditawarkan juga selalu disesuaikan dengan peraturan dan undang-undang yang berlaku di Indonesia.

Produk SaaS yang menyasar solusi HR cukup berkembang, beberapa startup bermain di ranah tersebut. Misalnya Fast-8 Group, mereka memiliki empat aplikasi untuk manajemen pegawai dengan fungsi yang spesifik, meliputi: Hadirr, Benefide, Gadjian, dan Pagawe. Pemain lain ada Mekari, selain aplikasi Talenta, terbaru mereka meluncurkan Flex untuk bantu perusahaan kelola tunjangan pegawai. Selain itu masih banyak startup lain yang mencoba mendemokratisasi sistem tata kelola personalia, di antaranya Catapa, Synergo, KaryaONE, dan lain-lain.

Pandemi akselerasi platform HR

Saat ini sudah banyak perusahaan yang mengimplementasikan platform HR tapi belum terintegrasi ataupun otomatis secara prosesnya, sehingga divisi HR masih memiliki kendala dalam pengelolaan administrasi (payroll, pajak, absensi, formulir SPT, dan lainnya). Saat pandemi kemudian menjadi momen yang tepat untuk menghadirkan platform Pegawai.ai kepada target pengguna.

“Pandemi ini justru menjadi inspirasi bagi Pegaw.ai untuk dapat membantu perusahaan untuk bisa mengelola administrasi kepegawaian yang otomatis dan komprehensif, serta mendorong perusahaan untuk bisa mengurangi integrasi manual,” kata Steven.

Dari strategi pemasaran, saat ini Pegaw.ai fokus melakukan edukasi dan pemasaran secara online ke perusahaan mengenai kebutuhan akan HRMS sebagai platform menyeluruh untuk kepegawaian. Aplikasi Pegaw.ai sudah dienkripsi menggunakan metode AES 256 atau The Advanced Encryption Standard, sebuah sistem penyandian blok (block cipher) yang sudah terbukti untuk melindungi informasi sensitif. AES memberikan keamanan tambahan dengan ekspansi proses penyandian.

Pegaw.ai juga memiliki sistem Open API, untuk kebutuhan integrasi ke aplikasi lain [misal yang sudah dikembangkan perusahaan]. Hal ini membantu sistem pengelolaan yang fleksibel dan seamless.

“Sebagai solusi HRMS, Pegaw.ai ingin menjadi pemain utama yang membantu perusahaan kecil, menengah, hingga perusahaan besar untuk bisa mengelola administrasi kepegawaian dengan otomatis dan komprehensif,” kata Steven.

Wahyoo takes Indonesian street food eateries to the next level: Startup Stories

Entrepreneur Peter Shearer started his career when he co-founded AR Group, a company that focused on augmented reality technology, in 2009. Then in 2016, when on-demand platforms like Gojek and Indonesia really took off in Indonesia, they inspired him to bring digital disruption to one particular sector: street-side eateries or wartegs.

Warteg is a casual and down-to-earth street food joint. You may find wartegs spread around near offices, campuses, construction sites, or residential areas in Jakarta, and other cities in Indonesia. A conventional warteg is usually simply furnished with one or two wooden benches. It offers an array of all-time favorite home cooked food at cheap prices in big portions to feed hungry workers, usually blue collars, during their break time.

Similar to grocery kiosks, the biggest problem of wartegs is that they don’t have proper operational and administration systems so they cannot track finances and make proper plans, hence their businesses become stagnant.

“Wartegs have been around since forever, but they are not well-developed. I tried to validate the idea of digitizing wartegs by discussing with the owners on how they run their business daily and their hopes for the business,” Shearer told KrASIA in a recent interview.

He officially established Wahyoo in 2017. The name Wahyoo comes from the Indonesian word “wahyu” which means “inspiration”. Shearer hopes his startup can become a source of inspiration and a channel of blessings for others.

Beginning with only 50 warteg partners, Wahyoo has since empowered more than 13,000 wartegs across Greater Jakarta.

“I believe that warteg is a part of Indonesian culture and it has great business potential with a huge market and high daily transactions. On average, one outlet can serve around 100 customers per day,” he continued.

Not just a place to eat, Shearer said that warteg could be an ideal advertising space for brands targeting the low-middle income market.

“There is a lot that we can do with warteg. Food has a long supply chain that we can support. For example, we’re working with startups like Sayur Box and Tani Hub to supply groceries, so we can ensure the good quality of food while supporting SMEs like farmers, vegetable vendors, and of course, warteg owners,” said Shearer.

Wahyoo supports warteg partners by providing them with a mobile app where they can purchase goods at competitive prices and have them delivered to their doorstep. They can also take part in various online and offline community events and register through the app. The app is also equipped with a help center feature so partners can ask for assistance when they encounter problems using the platform.

The startup also gives partners offline and online training and mentoring sessions through its Wahyoo Academy program, which aims to help partners manage business operations more professionally.

Peter Shearer, founder of Wahyoo, Photo courtesy of Wahyoo

The training consists of three modules, namely how to deliver the best customer service, how to prepare high-quality food, including creating a clean, neat kitchen and outlet so that diners can dine in comfortably, as well as how to manage their cash flow and bookkeeping so they can better manage their finances.

With these improvements, warteg partners are expected to attract more customers and increase their revenue.

In addition, they will also get further sources of income through advertisement placements. Wahyoo’s partners can also serve as sales and distribution channels for SMEs who want to market their products on warteg outlets, Shearer said.

According to Shearer, there is a unique method that is used by many warteg owners in running their business. “An owner takes turns in managing his outlet with his relatives or colleagues. For example, if I manage the outlet now, you will take it over after four months, and so on. It means that we need to train different owners repeatedly. This is a unique challenge that does not seem to exist in other sectors,” he said.

In addition, many outlets are owned by families who want to hand over the business to their children, but not every young person is willing to take the job as operating a warteg is complicated and is not seen as a cool profession by many. “By becoming our partner, they can manage the warteg operations more conveniently and young people are getting more enthusiastic as now they are part of the digital economy transformation.”

Wahyoo’s warteg outlet. Photo courtesy of Wahyoo

Wahyoo doesn’t charge any commission or fee to partners who want to join the platform. Shearer said that the company applies th e profit-sharing system for advertising and brands placements, as well as through partnership with companies and institutions who use Wahyoo’s outlet partners for customer acquisition, activation, and so forth.

The startup secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding in July 2019 from Agaeti Ventures, Kinesys Group, and East Ventures. Shearer said the Wahyoo is currently fundraising for its Series A round that is expected to close by year-end.

In the near future, Shearer plans to add more initiatives to help warteg owners become responsible entrepreneurs. He was inspired by the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and wants to apply those principles to Wahyoo’s partners. “We are collaborating with a number of organizations to help minimize food waste by recycling cooking oil waste into biodiesel. We’re also discussing with a company that wants to provide wartegs with cassava plastic bags that are environment-friendly.”

Going forward, Wahyoo wants to have at least 50,000 partners by the end of 2020. Shearer said that they will be focusing on Greater Jakarta first before expanding into other cities in Java island.

“Demand is high in this sector, we even got a request to expand into other provinces outside Java island. However, we will focus on grooming our partners for now and encourage them to actively utilize platforms. And hopefully, one day, we can reach more cities and empower wartegs all over Indonesia,” Shearer said.

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This article first appeared on KrASIA. It’s republished here as part of our partnership.

Bagaimana Ritase Mendisrupsi Pasar Logistik dan Pengangkutan di Indonesia: Startup Stories

Sektor logistik dan pengangkutan Indonesia tahun ini telah mencuri perhatian, dengan banyaknya startup yang menggalang dana dengan jumlah signifikan, menunjukkan bahwa industri ini digadang-gadang akan menjadi hal besar ke depannya dalam ekonomi digital negara ini.

Salah satu perusahaan pemula yang mendapatkan investasi dalam jumlah besar pada tahun 2019 adalah Ritase, sebuah platform yang menyediakan sistem transportasi digital B2B yang mempertemukan pengirim dengan pengangkut, yang bertujuan untuk menyederhanakan rantai pasok logistik serta menciptakan proses pengiriman darat yang lebih efisien.

Didirikan pada tahun 2018 oleh seorang pengusaha Iman Kusnadi beserta arsitek perangkat lunak David Samuel, perusahaan berhasil mengumpulkan US$3 juta dalam putaran pendanaan awal pada September 2018 dari Insignia Ventures Partners. Dalam waktu kurang dari satu tahun, perusahaan tersebut kembali mengantongi US$1,6 juta dalam putaran selanjutnya pada Februari 2019, dan US$8,5 juta dalam putaran Seri A yang dipimpin oleh Golden Gate Ventures pada bulan Mei.

“Dari segi traksi sudah bagus dan bisnis tumbuh dengan cepat, jadi investor percaya pada potensi perusahaan,” ungkap salah satu pendiri dan CEO, Kusnadi, kepada KrASIA dalam sebuah wa wancara.

Kusnadi memiliki pengalaman lebih dari 15 tahun bekerja di industri logistik, termasuk dalam posisi manajemen untuk raksasa logistik global seperti DHL dan APL Logistics. Ritase adalah versi rebranding dari perusahaan yang ia dirikan sebelumnya bernama Trucktobee, jelasnya.

Selain menghubungkan perusahaan dengan vendor truk, Ritase juga menjalankan sistem software-as-a-service (SaaS) untuk manajemen transportasi real-time, pemrosesan pesanan digital, optimalisasi rute, dan perencanaan beban, yang digunakan oleh vendor dan pelanggan.

Iman Kusnadi, co-founder dan CEO Ritase. Dokumentasi Ritase

“Misi utama kami adalah untuk mengatasi hambatan terbesar pengangkutan dan logistik: data yang tidak akurat. Truk seringkali beroperasi tanpa referensi data yang jelas, seperti jenis muatan yang dibawa dalam truk, atau lisensi pengemudi yang sesuai atau tidak. Oleh karena itu, kami mencoba mengembangkan infrastruktur digital untuk mengatasi masalah ini, sehingga semua pemangku kepentingan dalam ekosistem logistik dapat mengambil manfaat dari solusi teknologi kami,” ujar Kusnadi.

Ia percaya bahwa disrupsi dalam sektor logistik akan berdampak besar pada perekonomian Indonesia. “Misalnya, karena solusi kami dapat menurunkan biaya logistik untuk pengirim, hal itu dapat menyebabkan penurunan harga barang dalam jangka panjang. Sementara itu, harga yang lebih rendah pada akhirnya akan meningkatkan daya beli masyarakat,” tambahnya.

Menurut Kusnadi, bisnis di bidang teknologi logistik sangat menjanjikan. Ritase telah beroperasi selama kurang lebih satu tahun, dan sampai saat ini telah menunjukkan perkembangan positif.

Saat ini, perusahaan memfasilitasi lebih dari 40.000 pengiriman per bulan, dan telah bekerja dengan merek-merek terkenal internasional seperti Nestlé, Unilever, Japfa, Lotte, dan lainnya.

“Kami hanya memiliki dua klien pengirim pada kuartal pertama 2018, namun sekarang kami telah bekerja sama dengan 74 perusahaan besar, termasuk FMCG global dan merek ritel. Kami juga telah mendaftar 600 perusahaan transportasi kecil dan menengah, dengan lebih dari 11.000 truk individu,” ujarnya.

“Keuntungan dari model B2B ini [bisnis] sangat mudah. Kami bisa mendapatkan margin yang baik dan adil karena kami berurusan langsung dengan pemilik truk tanpa perantara, ”kata Kusnadi, menambahkan bahwa Ritase sudah menguntungkan.

Perusahaan juga telah menandatangani perjanjian dengan Kementerian Perhubungan Indonesia untuk mendigitalkan timbangan berat di seluruh negeri untuk meringankan muatan truk yang terlalu banyak dan dimensi yang berlebih. Mereka juga meluncurkan layanan “smart shelter” di Surabaya awal tahun ini, yang berfungsi sebagai tempat istirahat bagi pengemudi truk. Di persinggahan, pengemudi juga diberikan pelatihan digital singkat, terutama tentang cara memanfaatkan platform Ritase.

Garasi singgah truk di Surabaya. Dokumentasi oleh Ritase.

Perusahaan ini mengoperasikan platform pasar online yang disebut Ritase Shop (atau Ritshop), yang diluncurkan pada Mei 2019. Mereka menawarkan akses bagi mitra pengangkutan truk Ritase terhadap onderdil dan truk yang terjangkau. Kusnadi menyatakan bahwa Ritshop telah menunjukkan komitmen perusahaan untuk mendukung para pengangkut, kebanyakan dari mereka adalah usaha kecil dan menengah (UKM).

“Karena kami bermitra dengan banyak perusahaan angkutan truk, kami tahu bahwa kesulitan mereka untuk membeli armada baru dengan harga kompetitif. Karena itu, kami bekerja sama dengan perusahaan multi-finansial yang memungkinkan pengangkut membayar dengan mencicil. Selain itu, setelah membeli truk, mereka akan secara otomatis berintegrasi dengan sistem manajemen transportasi Ritase, yang diterjemahkan menjadi nilai tambah bagi mereka, “kata Kusnadi.

Pada bulan Oktober, Ritshop meluncurkan dealer truk bekas terbesar di Jabodetabek yang memungkinkan calon pembeli memeriksa kondisi truk secara langsung sebelum mengambil keputusan.

Meskipun sektor ini disebut-sebut menjanjikan, perusahaan yang mengembangkan teknologi logistik baru juga menghadapi banyak tantangan, terutama dalam hal perizinan dan peraturan, menurut Kusnadi.

“Pada awalnya, banyak yang berpikir bahwa kami adalah perusahaan logistik, oleh karena itu kami harus mematuhi peraturan normal untuk transportasi barang, salah satunya adalah bahwa kami harus memiliki armada sendiri. Jadi saya perlu terus menjelaskan bahwa kami adalah perusahaan teknologi yang menawarkan solusi untuk logistik truk,” katanya.

Kusnadi berharap bahwa pemerintah akan mendorong regulasi baru terkait hal ini untuk mempercepat pertumbuhan sektor teknologi logistik.

Melihat masa depan logistik di Indonesia, Kusnadi percaya bahwa akan ada lebih banyak pemain digital mendisrupsi ruang ini yang akan membuat kompetisi lebih menarik. “Semakin banyak, semakin meriah. Ini menunjukkan bahwa pasar sedang tumbuh, dan saya percaya bahwa kompetisi akan meningkatkan inovasi, yang sekiranya baik untuk seluruh ekosistem,” ungkap Kusnadi.

“Saya berharap bahwa Indonesia akan menerapkan seluruh proses logistik pintar dalam waktu dekat, dan kita dapat menyelesaikan tantangan logistik lintas wilayah untuk memfasilitasi perdagangan antar negara dengan lebih nyaman,” lanjutnya.

Ke depannya, Ritase ingin memperkuat kemampuan teknologinya dan menambahkan lebih banyak layanan bagi pelanggannya, untuk menjadi pemimpin pasar di industri truk Indonesia. Perusahaan juga memperluas penawarannya dengan memasukkan pengelolaan limbah berbahaya. Pada tahun depan, Ritase juga berencana untuk menawarkan layanan logistik kontainer antar pulau, serta layanan pembiayaan kepada para mitranya.

Apalagi, Ritase saat ini sedang dalam proses mengumpulkan modal baru. Ini akan selesai “segera,” kata Kusnadi.

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Artikel ini pertama kali dirilis oleh KrASIA. Kembali dirilis sebagai bagian dari kerja sama dengan DailySocial.

Offline Programs are Getting Tech Players More Customers in Indonesia

In a small 2×2 meter kiosk along Jakarta’s Radio Dalam street, Romana provides digital payment services to her customers by using the GrabKios platform. She offers several services, including phone credit top-ups, OVO credit-top ups, bill payments, and domestic remittance services for customers. The 37-year old has used GrabKios [previously named Kudo] since 2017.

Since becoming a GrabKios agent, Romana has been able to complete transactions totaling a maximum of IDR 20 million (USD 1,427) a month, compared to below IDR 10 million a month previously as a phone credit seller before joining GrabKios. Her income is largely derived from selling phone credit, and facilitating bill payments, as well as domestic remittances.

“The profit is not big, it ranges from IDR 500 to IDR 13,500 (USD 0.04 to USD 0.96) per transaction, depending on the service. Compared to other players’ products, GrabKios is much cheaper and easier to use,” Romana said.

She admitted that she did not have a banking account in the past and used to pay via Indomaret, an Indonesian convenience store chain, before she joined GrabKios. However, after becoming an agent, she opened a bank account, which has made it easier for her to perform transactions.

Meanwhile, Rofiatun, a mother of three, joined Tokopedia’s offline agent program Mitra Tokopedia in 2o18. Mitra Tokopedia empowers agents operating small kiosks or mom-and-pop stores by helping them use Tokopedia’s platform to increase their product sales. By becoming an offline agent, Rofiatun has been able to purchase products such as snacks and beverages at slightly lower prices for her kiosk.

“Although the product prices are quite similar or slightly cheaper than those from traditional distributors, I can use the profits for my children’s allowances. This way, I can help my husband who works as a Grab driver, to earn more income. Moreover, I can transfer money to my family, even in small denominations, on my own,” Rofiatun told KrASIA.

People such as Romana and Rofiatun, who belong to the middle-to-low income segment, may not have tapped digital platforms if these services had not directly benefitted their lives.

Indonesia is the largest internet economy and most populous country in Southeast Asia. The country’s internet economy is estimated to be worth USD 40 billion in 2019.

More than half of the country’s total adult population are now using mobile internet. Furthermore, according to the Global Digital 2019 report from We Are Social and Hootsuite, Indonesia is also among the top countries in the world by mobile internet usage. Its users are connected to mobile internet for approximately four hours a day, while the global average is three hours and 13 minutes.

However, few Indonesian users use mobile internet for productivity, the report said.

Empowering kiosk operators to reach more customers

Empowering warungs [mom-and-pop stores] and small kiosks has become a way for e-commerce and tech players to reach more customers, especially those who are from the middle-to-low income segment, and who mostly do all their transactions offline.

“The offline retail portion in Indonesia is still huge. Indonesia retail e-commerce is below 4% of the country’s total retail sales. The remaining 96% is still offline. Hence, we believe an agent network is the most effective model to capture this market,” said Agung Nugroho, chief executive officer and co-founder of GrabKios.

He added that using technology alone makes it impossible to reach middle and low income earners, who are less technologically savvy. Through warungs, the firm expects that technology will penetrate this segment.

Nugroho added that he is doing this because he believes in helping people through financial inclusion.

Kudo [before becoming GrabKios] was a pioneer in empowering traditional retailers since 2014, prior to merging with Grab in 2017. It was founded by Albert Lucius and Agung Nugroho. Today, GrabKios is available in 505 towns and regions, with 2.6 million users across Indonesia.

GrabKios approaches agent candidates through sales or marketing staff, so it is easier to earn the trust of the locals. Nugroho said that there are no specific requirements to become an agent, apart from the fact that candidates should have a warung or kiosk for selling products.

GrabKios equips the warung owner or agent with technology to help the agent’s customers order goods and manage transactions. Moreover, the agent program offers some additional business opportunities, such as airtime top-ups, bill payments, travel tickets, money transfers, and the registration of Grab driver-partners. The company claims that a warung’s revenue increases by as much as 30%–40% after adopting its system.

E-commerce unicorns have joined the fray

Many tech players are entering the middle and low income segment, which has room still to grow. Therefore, other tech companies including e-commerce unicorn players don’t want to miss out on the market.

SoftBank Group-backed Tokopedia and Shinhan Financial Group-backed Bukalapak entered the offline world last year. The platforms named their agent programs ‘Mitra Tokopedia’ and ‘Mitra Bukalapak’, respectively.

Tokopedia’s assistant vice president of new retail Adi Putra said that Mitra Tokopedia complements its existing consumer base, and expects to eventually serve the full range of customers that the platform can reach.

“We hope Mitra Tokopedia bridges the online and offline world for partners spread across various cities in Indonesia while preserving Indonesia’s neighborhood-based culture. Synthesizing both online and offline retail will result in powerful synergy, that will help achieve the mission of democratizing commerce in Indonesia through technology,” Putra told KrASIA.

As of October 2019, there are around 350,000 active Mitra agents for the platform. Putra said that Tokopedia’s 30 digital products will gradually be made available to Mitra Tokopedia partners, thus encouraging traditional retail players to contribute more to Indonesia’s digital economy.

Edward Buckingham, a professor of management and director of engagement at Monash Business School said that engaging with agents is an effective way for tech and e-commerce players to penetrate rural areas.

“The cost of logistics and transactions to reach them [rural areas] is high, but if they partner with local people or get them to become agents, especially those who have good social networks, it will be easier. The agent can become the bridge, and the solution between the informal and formal economies,” Buckingham told reporters on the sidelines of the Fintech Summit in Jakarta, in September.

Furthermore, tech players should be able to successfully prove that their business models are more efficient than that of other players. They also need to provide opportunities to their customers [agents] to use their networks to increase the latter’s standard of living.

However, Buckingham foresees that empowering agents will not be a long-term plan for tech players. He thinks Indonesians will be tech savvier in the near future. Hence, customers will not need agents as the middlemen for connecting with companies. They will eventually reach out to companies directly, hence tech players’ business models need to evolve.

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This article first appeared on KrASIA. It’s republished here as part of our partnership.

Melihat Pengembangan Teknologi Drone di Markas JD.com

Sebagai salah satu peritel terbesar asal Tiongkok yang fokus kepada inovasi teknologi, JD.com telah menciptakan tiga generasi drone buatan sendiri. Saat ini sudah dimanfaatkan untuk pengiriman barang dan telah digunakan oleh perusahaan sebagai kegiatan CSR.

Drone Center JD.com

Saat ini mereka telah memiliki 10 unit “Drone Center” yang tersebar di Tiongkok. Teknologi tersebut dikembangkan secara khusus oleh para engineer JD.com yang tergabung dalam “X-Department JD.com”.

Mereka telah mengembangkan drone generasi ketiga atau yang disebut Y3-Generation. Inovasi tersebut didesain untuk mampu mengirimkan produk dengan berat 10kg dan jarak tempuh 10km.

Selain Y3-Generation, JD.com juga telah mengembangkan teknologi drone dengan bahan bakar dan memiliki kemampuan untuk mengantarkan barang dalam radius 100km. Perangkat tersebut didesain serupa dengan pesawat ukuran kecil. Selama ini kerap digunakan perusahaan untuk keperluan kemanusiaan, termasuk di dalamnya bantuan bencana alam dan keperluan terkait lainnya.

Meskipun masih memiliki keterbatasan regulasi terkait wilayah terbang, namun saat ini pengiriman barang menggunakan drone sudah mulai banyak diterapkan oleh JD.com. Fokus mereka ke daerah terpencil atau yang sulit dijangkau dengan menggunakan transportasi darat.

Salah satu kegiatan yang dihadirkan oleh JD.com saat kunjungan media asal Indonesia ke kantor pusatnya di Tiongkok beberapa waktu lalu adalah mengunjungi Drone Center JD.com yang terletak di Suqian, Tiongkok. Perjalan yang menempuh sekitar 5 jam dari Beijing, mengantarkan awak media untuk meninjau langsung Drone Center yang dilengkapi dengan kawasan lepas landas, ruangan monitoring, hingga ruangan pelatihan untuk masyarakat umum yang ingin mempelajari cara tepat menerbangkan drone.

JD.com juga mengundang awak media untuk melihat proses pengantaran drone. Mulai dari Drone Center hingga lokasi khusus yang digunakan oleh JD.com untuk menampung barang sebelum mengirimkan ke alamat pembeli.

Uji coba drone di Indonesia

Drone generasi ketiga saat uji coba di Indonesia / DailySocial

Di Indonesia sendiri teknologi drone generasi ketiga milik JD.com sudah sempat diterapkan di kawasan Parung, Jawa Barat awal tahun 2019 lalu. Dihadiri oleh pejabat dan perwakilan pemerintah Indonesia, proses uji coba drone memiliki rute terbang dari desa Jagabita, Parung Panjang, Bogor ke Sekolah Dasar MIS Nurul Falah Leles dengan tujuan mengirimkan tas ransel dan buku-buku kepada para siswa.

Inisiatif untuk memulai penerapan teknologi drone sendiri muncul pada akhir tahun 2017 lalu. JD.com dan JD.id bersama-sama mulai berdiskusi dengan Direktorat Navigasi Penerbangan Kementerian Perhubungan Republik Indonesia dan AirNav mengadakan penerbangan uji coba teknologi drone untuk layanan logistik yang lebih maju.

Disinggung apakah saat ini JD.com masih fokus untuk menerapkan teknologi drone di Indonesia, perwakilan JD.com mengatakan perusahaan bersama dengan pihak terkait masih berupaya untuk meloloskan peraturan yang relevan. Setelah beres, nantinya bisa diaplikasikan oleh JD.com di Indonesia.

“Sejak tiga tahun terakhir fokus kami adalah bagaimana teknologi yang sudah diterapkan di Tiongkok, bisa diaplikasikan secara global termasuk Indonesia. Uji coba yang telah dilakukan awal tahun 2019 lalu merupakan percobaan pertama kami di Indonesia,” kata Group Strategy & Investment JD.com Xiao Yao.

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Layanan E-Commerce Kasur Premium “Mimpi” Perbarui Situs dan Tambah Produk Baru

Menggabungkan teknologi dan proses pengemasan yang praktis, startup e-commerce khusus untuk penjualan kasur premium Mimpi hari ini (08/18) meluncurkan situs dengan tampilan terbaru sekaligus empat tipe produk paling anyar. Kepada media CEO Mimpi Frank De Witte mengungkapkan, setelah hadir satu tahun terakhir, Mimpi dengan strategi dan riset yang dikembangkan, saat ini fokus menyasar wilayah Jakarta dan Bandung.

“Di awal kami berdiri, Mimpi banyak melakukan riset, mengumpulkan feedback sekaligus memperkuat teknologi kami untuk memastikan produk yang kami miliki memiliki target pasar yang tepat.”

Sebagai startup yang secara khusus hanya menjual kasur kualitas premium dengan harga terjangkau, Mimpi mengklaim adalah satu-satunya pemain online yang menyasar segmen ini. Kompetitor langsung Mimpi adalah perusahaan yang membuat kasur secara konvensional, yang saat ini telah memiliki bisnis besar di Indonesia.

“Kami menyadari layanan Mimpi yang hanya bisa dibeli secara online dan tidak memiliki toko fisik, bisa ‘mengganggu’ bisnis konvensional yang saat ini sudah ada. Namun Mimpi lebih ingin maju bersama dibandingkan menjadi kompetitor dari perusahaan tersebut,” kata Frank.

Secara khusus Mimpi menyasar pasar B2C dengan pilihan harga kasur mulai dari Rp2 juta hingga Rp11 juta rupiah. Untuk pengiriman sendiri Mimpi memberikan ongkir gratis untuk pembeli kasur Mimpi melalui situs.

Teknologi kompresi yang dikembangkan di Belgia

Untuk memastikan teknologi yang disematkan dalam kasur Mimpi terbaik, Frank menyebutkan teknologi tersebut secara khusus dikembangkan Mimpi di negara asal Frank De Witte, Belgia. Sementara untuk pembuatan kasur hingga gudang penyimpanan, semua ada di pulau Jawa.

“Untuk material khusus yang kami impor dari Belgia adalah cover saja, selebihnya semua proses pembuatan hingga pengiriman kami lakukan di Indonesia,” kata Frank.

Teknologi kompresi yang diunggulkan oleh Mimpi, mampu mengecilkan ukuran kasur. Kemudian dengan proses pengemasan, Mimpi memiliki kotak ukuran khusus yang diklaim sangat menarik dan praktis, sehingga mengatasi kesulitan saat pembelian kasur secara umum, yang biasanya membutuhkan transportasi dalam ukuran besar untuk pengiriman barang.

“Kami belajar dari packaging yang dihadirkan oleh semua produk dari Apple. Semua tampak sangat menarik, praktis namun berfungsi dengan baik,” kata Frank.

Fokus Mimpi di tahun 2018

Untuk memperlancar proses pengiriman, Mimpi menjalin kemitraan dengan logistik pihak ketiga yaitu DHL dan Shipper, startup agregator perusahaan logistik. Untuk pembayaran Mimpi menyediakan pilihan transfer bank, kartu kredit hingga melalui Midtrans.

Untuk ke depannya Mimpi juga berencana untuk bermitra dengan layanan e-commerce seperti Lazada, Tokopedia hingga Bukalapak untuk penjualan. Namun saat ini semua pembelian hanya bisa diakses melalui situs Mimpi. Saat ini Mimpi masih menjalankan bisnis secara boostrapping, dan belum memiliki rencana untuk melakukan fundraising.

“Fokus kami saat ini tentunya melakukan kegiatan pemasaran, mengedukasi calon pembeli terkait dengan keuntungan dari kasur kami dan menambah jumlah penjualan,” tutup Frank.

Pemanfaatan Tepat Teknologi Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning dan Bot

Gelaran Social Media Week Jakarta 2017 hari ini (14/09) menghadirkan Founder & CTO Dattabot Imron Zuhri untuk memaparkan perkembangan teknologi artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning dan bot yang saat ini sudah semakin banyak diadopsi oleh startup secara global. Dalam presentasinya dikemukakan banyak hal menarik, sebagian besar mengerucut kepada bagaimana teknologi AI, machine learning dan bot bakal menggantikan pekerjaan dan peranan dari manusia.

“Dari pengalaman sendiri, saya baru saja memberhentikan pegawai saya yang semua pekerjaannya sudah bisa digantikan dengan mesin dan otomasi. Mereka adalah quality control (QC), server support dan administrator,” kata Imron.

Alasan Imron melakukan pemberhentian tersebut adalah secara pasti, tepat dan akurat teknologi AI, machine learning dan bot sudah mampu melakukan tugasnya dengan baik dan memberikan hasil yang efisien. Bahkan menurutnya hasilnya jauh lebih baik dari pada pekerjaan yang dilakukan oleh manusia.

“Bukan hanya tenaga teknikal seperti itu yang nantinya bakal tergantikan, posisi jurnalis saja saat ini sudah bisa digantikan dengan machine seperti yang telah dilakukan oleh Associated Press dan beberapa media lainnya,” kata Imron.

Cara tepat menerima perubahan cepat dari teknologi

Terdengar cukup miris mendengar fakta bahwa teknologi yang saat ini sudah banyak diadopsi mampu menggantikan pekerjaan rutin manusia, misalnya layanan pelanggan yang digantikan oleh bot. Namun demikian cara terbaik untuk bisa menerima semua perubahan tersebut adalah beradaptasi dan memanfaatkan dengan baik teknologi untuk mempermudah pekerjaan.

“Sisi positifnya adalah teknologi seperti AI, machine learning dan bot terbukti membuat pekerjaan lebih baik dan membantu bisnis untuk berjalan lebih cepat,” ujar Imron.

Perubahan tersebut pada akhirnya bukan hanya memberikan dampak dari sisi fungsi, namun secara organik akan menciptakan lapangan pekerjaan baru dan ekonomi pun akan berubah seiring dengan perubahan dari teknologi tersebut.

“Meskipun sudah terbukti, namun teknologi tersebut tidak akan secara langsung mengubah dan mengambil alih posisi dan fungsi yang ada. Semua akan berjalan secara perlahan dan dibutuhkan waktu yang cukup lama,” kata Imron.

Ditambahkan oleh Imron untuk bisa mengejar dan berdampingan dengan teknologi tersebut, harus sudah diubah mindset saat ini, terutama untuk perusahaan yang masih memperhatikan pemasaran dan bagaimana menjual lebih baik produk mereka ke pasar. Jangan terlalu fokus kepada keyword tapi cobalah untuk memanfaatkan context.

“Manfaatkan teknologi yang ada dengan menerapkan cara-cara baru yang sudah tersedia dan tentunya lebih mudah digunakan, demi mendapatkan result yang lebih optimal,” tutup Imron.

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Tips Bagi Perempuan Yang Ingin Sukses Berkarir di Bidang Teknologi

Artikel berikut ini diharapkan bisa membuka pikiran Anda para perempuan Indonesia yang bersemangat untuk menjadi penggiat startup, engineer, entrepreneur dan pebisnis lainnya di bidang teknologi. Teknologi sering dibilang sebagai dunia yang menakutkan bagi sebagian perempuan (dalam kaitannya dengan bisnis dan persaingan), namun sedikit demi sedikit banyak perempuan yang mulai membuktikan kiprahnya di dunia teknologi, bahkan sukses membangun perusahaan berbasis teknologi.

Pada dasarnya teknologi memiliki keunggulan untuk dioptimalkan oleh siapa saja, apa pun latar belakang Anda, baik itu dari bidang keuangan, jurnalistik, musik, desain, seni, kuliner dan berbagai pengalaman lainnya. Teknologi juga mampu menjadi bagian improvisasi untuk inovasi dari passion yang Anda miliki.

Berikut ini adalah beberapa tips yang bisa Anda coba sebagai perempuan yang ingin mengetahui lebih jauh keuntungan bekerja di dunia teknologi. Rangkuman ini diambil dari pengalaman pribadi para pemilik startup dan engineer perempuan di dunia, seperti CTO Minted Niniane Wang, Founder ThinkUp Gina Trapani dan lainnya.

Diskriminasi gender bukan alasan untuk bertahan

Saat ini masih banyak startup hingga perusahaan teknologi yang mempekerjakan programmer perempuan hanya untuk memberikan suasana yang sedikit berbeda di antara dominasi para programmer dan engineer laki-laki. Ketika hal tersebut terjadi kepada Anda, dan perusahaan yang mencoba untuk merekrut Anda menghiraukan kemampuan Anda sebagai seorang engineer, coba sikapi dengan bijak dan carilah perusahaan lain yang benar-benar menghargai kemampuan Anda.

Menjadi satu-satunya perempuan di perusahaan tempat Anda bekerja tentunya merupakan hal yang istimewa, namun demikian hal ini juga bisa berdampak negatif dalam hal perlakuan serta kebiasaan di perusahaan tersebut. Temukan perusahaan teknologi yang mengedepankan kultur perusahaan yang baik, saling menghormati dan beradab. Anda sebagai perempuan berhak untuk mendapatkan perlakuan yang baik dari para atasan, rekan kerja dan lainnya.

Ajak perempuan lain untuk terlibat dan ciptakan peluang

Bosan melihat kompetisi seperti hackathon atau acara lainnya yang didominasi oleh peserta laki-laki? Kenapa tidak membuat acara atau kompetisi yang diperuntukkan khusus untuk perempuan? Bukan hanya Anda akan melihat lebih banyak perempuan yang tertarik untuk mencoba, namun Anda juga bisa menambah wawasan serta ide-ide baru dari para perempuan yang memiliki pengetahuan lebih di dunia teknologi.

Inisiasi kegiatan yang lebih banyak melibatkan perempuan

Salah satu kegiatan yang wajib untuk dihadiri oleh pelaku startup dan engineer adalah menghadiri acara workshop atau seminar bertemakan teknologi. Jangan heran jika acara tersebut kembali akan didominasi oleh pria, untuk mengakalinya cobalah dekati pihak penyelenggara, dan lontarkan ide-ide segar seputar narasumber perempuan yang layak untuk dihadirkan. Selain bisa mengundang lebih banyak peserta perempuan, siapa tahu suatu saat nanti Anda juga bisa terinspirasi lebih dan berbalik menjadi narasumber sebagai gambaran sukses perempuan di dunia digital.

Mau belajar dari orang lain

Jika hingga sekarang Anda merasa belum memiliki cukup pengalaman, pengetahuan hingga kepercayaan diri untuk memulai usaha di bidang teknologi, namun Anda meyakini bahwa bisa sukses di dunia tersebut, cobalah untuk mencari mentor yang Anda rasa cocok dengan kepribadian dan tentunya visi dan misi. Carilah pakar, rekanan sukses atau ahli yang berhubungan dengan minat Anda, gali lebih banyak pengalaman yang dimiliki oleh mereka dan tentunya ciptakan hubungan baik dengan mereka.

Berpikir positif

Sesulit apa pun tantangan serta kendala yang Anda hadapi cobalah untuk berpikir positif, teruslah untuk belajar dan koreksi semua kesalahan yang ada. Tunjukkan kepada semua bahwa Anda seorang perempuan yang mampu memimpin, bekerja dengan baik dan tentunya menciptakan pekerjaan yang tak kalah hebat dengan para pria.

Memulai dengan persiapan yang matang

Sebelum Anda menunjukkan produk kepada publik, pemangku kebijakan dan investor, persiapkan dengan benar bisnis model, pitch-deck dan kebutuhan presentasi lainnya. Kenalkan diri Anda dan produk yang ingin ditawarkan kepada jurnalis, media dan kanal publikasi lainnya. Cobalah lakukan latihan di kalangan terbatas terlebih dahulu sebelum akhirnya Anda siap untuk melakukan pitching kepada pihak terkait.

Teruslah belajar

Dunia teknologi kerap mengalami perubahan yang cepat, teruslah belajar dan lakukan adaptasi dengan cepat terhadap perubahan yang ada. Jika diperlukan ada baiknya untuk Anda menambah pengetahuan seputar teknologi secara lebih intend untuk memperluas wawasan dan tentunya menambah kredibilitas Anda sebagai perempuan yang cemerlang di dunia teknologi.