I'm in 150 greatest Indonesia Startups list. What does it look like?

I could not believe that I will the one who was chosen to attend a conference by two big companies. They paid all of the accommodation for two people, one team one startup. Definitely, I wasn't going alone. My tech guy and I went together with other three local startups flew to Jakarta with faith that we could win 3 billion IDR from angel investors. 🤣💰

Thinkubator Conference (that's what they call it) was begun with a speech by Luhut Pandjaitan, The Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs Republic of Indonesia. He basically asked Anthony Tan, The Grab founder, to host such a “Startup Idol” event. Gladly, Mr. President has given his authorization to do so. He believes this initiative would increase both newcomers and the country economy.

Thinkubator Conference held at The Hall Kota Kasablanka, Jakarta.

So, what is Thinkubator exactly? Basically, it’s a competition where Indonesian startups, were selected by Grab venture capitalist team, have a chance to get mentored and funded in order to scale up or expand their businesses. Statistically, there were over a thousand startup participants registered. In the conference hall, on the other hand, only 150 teams that each might choose two out of four workshops at the same building with three notable speakers sharing their expertise. The conference was held at The Hall Kasablanka, Jakarta. Thinkubator, which sponsored by Grab and Transmedia, also invited Grab Co-founder, Tan Hooi Ling, as well as Ruang Guru CEO, Belva Devara, as main speakers on the stage.

Tan Hooi Ling (Grab Co-Founder) inspired 150 startup teams in managing mistakes and risks.

Ms.Ling stated that we, as a startup team, neither do want to play too safe nor too risky. Finding the sweet spot within one of those is the best practice to move forward and minimize failure. “A mistake is not bad, not learning from the mistake is bad,” she said.

“Reflect, rest, and reset,” she added. A team should give some time and space to reflect what’s exactly happening to your business. Then, fix the problem gradually to overcome it. Ms.Ling also emphasized the important thing to practice a healthy lifestyle: eat fresh, work out, and have enough sleep. These activities will trigger your endorphin that makes you agile and swift.

Belva Devara (CEO Ruang Guru) talked about how Ruang Guru transforms education equality with technology.

Mr. Devara, talked about how his online education business which has acquired more than 40 percent users across the country. The intensive user penetration also gets supported by Mr. President Joko Widodo as well as the Indonesia government. He humbly told that a startup shouldn’t chase money as the objective; instead, solving any real problems is the real deal out there. “If you focus on money, you’ll lose in this game,” he added.

Mr. Devara also stated that as one of the startups' founders, you are forced to understand the essential skill sets and any aspects within the organization such as technology, capital, sales, and branding. In the end, you’ll be managing lots of talents under your supervision. He suggested visiting any event like Thinkubator to continually learning and mastering what you need.

My tech guy and I (left to right) enjoyed the coffee break session

Mr. Deveara was the last speaker in the conference session. The event ended up with an announcement about the top six teams that are ready to get funded by investors. Unfortunately, my startup wasn't on the lists yet 😅. Anyway, the couple of months startup that I've managed should be ready for the next kind of event. There will be a lot of things to do: acquiring more customers, analyzing sales performance, making sure our apps work appropriately on user phones, etc. While we waited at the Thinkubator workshops, my tech guy and I have inspired and a chance to work on action items that we agreed to execute.

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