February 2017 - Forbes Indonesia
This month's cover story on Nadiem Makarim and Go-Jek holds some valuable lessons for Indonesia's business community. For one, it is simply a classic and impressive story of the power of the lone entrepreneur to persevere when faced with limited resources and modest success--it was four years before Nadiem saw Go-Jek really take off. It also demonstrates the potential of Indonesia's vast market to create major tech firms, demonstrated by Go-Jek now sporting a billion dollar valuation, earning it the right to be called a unicorn.
Thirdly, Go-Jek is about technology's transformational power to reshape what had been an large, but informal, industry of ojek drivers into a huge important business that created enormous value for its investors, its drivers and users, and, ultimately, the economy. In prophetic words, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt in 2012 favorably compared Go-Jek's potential to that of Amazon, during a GEPI event in Bali in which Go-Jek also won an award. Finally, Go-Jek's rise is about the advantage of bucking the conventional wisdom. Ojek drivers were generally held in low regard--yet Nadiem was able to see their true value as, collectively, a fast, reliable and cheap mode of transportation and logistics.
Thus Go-Jek, and now others such as Grab Bike and UberMoto, have raised the status of ojek drivers, demonstrating that, if networked through apps and smartphones, that they can operate with efficiency and reliability. The profile of Nadiem and Go Jek is just one of a series of articles within the E-conomy package in this issue, the second annual coverage on this subject. The articles cover both entrepreneurs and the investors backing them.
One surprising theme that runs through many of these profiles is how often these startups are actually close to be profitability, or even already making money. They defy the stereotype that startups must be money losers for years before red ink turns black. They are filling untapped niches, such as Asmaraku, which helps users access intimate goods and services that would otherwise be shunned and out of reach due to social and cultural restrictions. The package also features imported articles that profile Uber and other tech successes from around the world, and, in a related subject, includes the celebrated 30 under 30 list, many of whom are employing new technology to create value in some aspect of their businesses and careers. Enjoy.
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