http://www.quora.com/Venture-Capital/What-are-major-VC-funds-investing-in-hi-tech-in-South-East-Asia
Joshua Kevin, I'm a writer based in Indonesia for Tech in Asia. Arranging Startup Asia conference across Asia.
In Indonesia, the most active VC would be
East Ventures (http://east.vc/) with more than 20+ portfolios.
Other VCs including
Nusantara Ventures, TechinAsia Profile
GDP Ventures (invested in Kaskus), TechinAsiaProfile
InvestIdea (2nd Link)- focuses on accelerating early-stage web/mobile application and technology companies in Indonesia. We do seed and startup funding
TechinAsia News > New fund Investidea thinks ‘social commerce’ will win in Indonesia
Merah Putih Incubator, TechinAsia Profile
Batavia Incubator, TechinAsia News
CyberAgent Ventures (Series A), Companies, TechinAsia Profile
Disclosure: I'm an ex associate/employee for East Ventures
In Thailand
Khoakla.com - run by one of the biggest banking in Thailand, KBank.
VNet Capital.
Stang holding.
---
innov8.singtel.com - relatively new VC funds targeting high-tech start ups in countries where Singtel group operates.
----
I want to add Kusto and GREE venture into the list
----
Minh Bui, Southeast Asia eCommerce Marketeer
In
a Southeast Asia scope, there are some players actively investing in
Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam. To name just a few
Cyber Agent from Japan, ArdentCap based in Thailand
Golden Gate in Singapore
Global Brain, Jungle Venture, Recruiting Partner from Japan too, but they're more focusing on travel, or deal bigger than $1M in SG or ID
Cyber Agent from Japan, ArdentCap based in Thailand
Golden Gate in Singapore
Global Brain, Jungle Venture, Recruiting Partner from Japan too, but they're more focusing on travel, or deal bigger than $1M in SG or ID
Ingredients to create a Tech Startup in Indonesia
http://www.quora.com/Startups-in-Indonesia/What-are-the-ingredients-to-create-a-tech-startup-in-Indonesia
I find Andy Zain's presentation at Startup Asia Singapore 2013 insightful:
Sharing Session: An Introduction to Indonesia's Startup Ecosystem
------------
1. Sheer Determination and Commitment.
2. Understand how Indonesia, as a market, is different from any other country (human behaviour, what do they want/need, lifestyle, education level etc2). I have seen plenty of startups with founders that failed to understand this point, ending up targetting the wrong target market or carrying out wrong marketing scheme for their product.
3. Find the right VC to invest and guide you along the way. Understand that the value a VC can add to your company is much more than the funds they will be investing.
4. Finally... (This seems obvious, but trust me it is apperantly not for some) is that your goal is to create a sustainable business first and foremost.
-------------
Derianto Kusuma, Co-founder of Traveloka.com
I'm assuming the question is about creating a tech startup in Indonesia that could be successful, right? (Since most unfortunately aren't, and some others are probably not very profitable, treated only as a lifestyle activity)
I think the basics should be the same with creating startups anywhere else: Finding what you love to do first / problems you're passionate to solve and then build a startup (not the other way around, which is a common mistake), finding a great founding team, being relentlessly resourceful, building something the market wants, being balancedly idealistic and pragmatic, etc. (throw in some Paul Graham / Eric Ries / Steve Blank / others' wisdom here)
In Indonesia specifically, there are some challenges (a much harder online market to monetize, much smaller pool of great talents, complicated bureaucracy), and some advantages (much less competitor density in technically more challenging domains). But I think those are simply the properties of the landscape that a viable strategy needs to take into account. It's probably equally hard to figure out the properties of the tech startup landscape in some other countries and really grok it to make a startup works.
Indonesia's internet landscape is often likened to China in the ~2005 or US in the ~2001, basically the time after some kind of burst where entrepreneurs become more pragmatic, but enthusiasm is once again high backed by markets that are actually growing though slowly, where a lot of opportunities to build basic internet services are wide open. As a developing country, it seems those who prove to be successful are usually those able to navigate the "unusual" characteristics of the market for creating viable products (in a way foreign players cannot afford to do), and endure the long journey towards market maturity by being always ready and adaptive, not by being slow.
Creating a startup is sometimes as simple as committing to do it (which is hard), renting out a place, buying tables and chairs, and start churning prototype version 0.1, then version 0.2, 0.3, and so on sustained with barely enough sleep, until the market gets it or until we get the market. Hiring, funding, scaling up are next, and will come naturally after the basics (making what people want) are solved and validated by the traction you get (some lucky ones obtained seed funding before their prototypes got built).
To create a successful startup in Indonesia is another matter. With not much history of successful Indonesian startups to learn from (except from online media startups whose valuations top only at around $100 mio), probably no one has a definite answer. Many previously known successful entrepreneurs in traditional domains have failed, or not yet succeeded in the online domain. Highly planned research and execution probably don't help much.
----
I don't know any killer ingredient either but from my 1-year experience building a startup, my take is: We're all still figuring it out. We start from not knowing the market at all (or a little) and the market not really knowing what product it needs, except that it can judge whatever experiments being thrown at them (and reject most of them). And the startups and the markets with less than ideal surrounding ecosystem and supports gradually converge to some solutions that "just work". This only happens when startups launch often enough to get frequent enough feedback on what works and what doesn't, learn, and improve.
So the best way to move forward in this early market is probably to figure it out faster and earlier than anyone else by getting good at recognizing your own mistakes faster and iterating faster than anyone else. It's truly a sprint-paced marathon to realize your vision of a piece of the future.
I'd bet on passion, perseverance, and humility.
----------------------------------
David Wayne Ika, Continuous learner at Merah Putih Inc. Blessed husband & father
Most companies fail not because bad product, it's lack of customer and market development.
Forget business plan. BP only works for existing business, existing market, existing customer segment.
Startup, especially Tech Startup will be in search mode in the first 6-12 months.
BP is basically bunch of series of guesses/ hypothesis that is yet to be proven. So it's meaningless really. I'm mot saying completely ignore BP , you need at least understand the 9 component in business canvas. That's important to simulate and validate your business. Just don't put some imaginary number on business plan:)
I'm a partner in one tech incubation in Indonesia and also CEO of one tech company, so i can share both views as investor as well entrepreneur.
Few pointers to your question:
- Have an excellent founding team and co founder.
People comes before product. Great people will help you fail less. Lousy team, great product will not take you anywhere. So always put co founder/ team building high up on your to do list. Believe me, i've seen many product fail, companies close not because bas product. It's people. And even you think you've got the right people, retaining them is a whole another strategy - Validate early and fast, test your assumptions fast to outsider.
Do you have product market fit? Not in your little meeting room with bunch of sketches on whiteboard. Go out, see whether the problem you try to build the solution actually exist. Ask yourself whether your product can be the solution; and lastly but most important whether any customer segment big enough market size that will be willing use (and pay) for your product.
The longer you build and release, that's simply means you burn more money during the process, and possibly building something that no one want to use - Good culture, build management/leadership skill early
I have more to share, but for now i will emphasize this point. Building the right culture and people management/ leadership is one key attribute that many startup ignore. At the end of the day, you're not just doing a project, you're supposed to build company. Hence sooner or later, management, leadership is key. Many investor thinks that builder/ starter are not the same w/ growing. So to get investor really believe in you, gotta prepare to manage and grow. Starting and growing takes different skill sets and mentality. - Get good mentors, advice, investor
Iron sharpen iron. You're only as good as group of friends / people you surround yourself with. Choose wisely. - As Derianto Kusuma mention before, adding humility will take you far. In order to learn stuff, you must be willing to be taught. While perseverance is great, as long we don't get mixed up with stubborn and delusional.
---------------------------
Benny Tjia, CEO Bornevia
What you have to prepareStrong will, idea that solves problem, perseverance, vision, and confidence that always reminds you that whenever you're a step closer to failure, you can still find your way back and focus on what you are building because you know you solve problems.
Do I have to clearly state my startup goal first?
Yes. What is your goal? do you want to work full-time on your startup, or just do it as a side-project because everyone else does it and work full-time elsewhere? that's why goal is important. If you pick the first option and dont have enough funds to support yourself while you're building traction for your product, then you're in trouble. you may need an investor to support you. But hey, to get funded you need to clearly state your goal right? well what is your goal? If you pick the second option; I can't recall many who have succeeded in doing so, but I know few who have. But again it depends on your goal and ability of course. If you're so confident that your goal is to drive your company to be the a multimillion dollar company, then who wouldn't want to work full-time there? that's why goal comes first.
How do I get my initial capital?
Simply, by having your pitch deck ready. But before that you really should study your idea, the market, finish the prototype, etc2. In the end. Connect with existing tech entrepreneurs in Indonesia. Usually they know investors who can give you capital. It's way easier to approach somebody who can get you an initial capital through someone they are already familiar/have done business with.
What positions should be filled first?
There's no right or wrong answer on this one, but IMO, an ideal startup team would be a 3 people with one doing business, marketing, sales, etc. Two guys doing product design, development, engineering, UI/UX, IT, with one of those two having a graphic design experience.
How many years of working experience in a tech startup is needed?
Depends. Really. Facebook co-founders can get away without ever having work experience before, but can you? Of course it depends on the product you build. If you're building a product that solves your own problem (just like Facebook), then who needs work experience for that? It's a different story though when your mindset when creating a startup is to single out a problem that other people are craving a solution for and then build a solution for that in return for big money; Let's try an idea here; What about a startup that builds a PaaS (platform as a service) technology where you can easily host your web app there and modify & tweak the number of cores used by the remote server running your whole app through a single web-based interface and bills you monthly automatically based on particular subscription package? How many years of experience do you think it takes to be able to build that? :P
No comments:
Post a Comment