Gerakan Bawah Tanah - Mr. GBT

I just got back from  InnovFest 2014 reception (dinner). One of the frequently questions I got was if I were from a business incubator. I said I am not. I am just a technopreneur and a mentor for several startups. Then, I keep on thinking, do we really need a business incubator? Business incubators are similar to incubators used for premature babies. They are used to give those babies fighting chance against the world. The same thing for business incubators. They help startups. If you have a baby, would you dream to have your baby going through incubator? Probably not. You want your baby to be healthy and can face the world. But, I have a feeling that if somebody (you) starts a start-up, he (you) would like to get into an incubator. Strange. What do you think?

Tomorrow, Monday, I am giving a presentation about (my) failed startups in an entrepreneurship class (EE, ITB). I started many tech companies since early 90s. These days I do mentoring for startups (and thinking of starting up); on and off campus. Thinking of what I am going to talk. Hmm... I just tell them stories how I started my first ones in Canada and why they failed; the (inventions) ideas are to early. Then, I will talk about my startups in Indonesia; what works and what doesn't work. Let's see if we can have a good discussion. I hope I can inspire them to become entrepreneurs and at the same time they can avoid mistakes that I made. See you in class.

I noticed that Path is gaining popularity in Indonesia at the expense of Facebook. The funny thing is, Path is not well known in the US. This just to show you that you'll never know why things happen in other parts of the world (in other culture). Time and time again, I tried to encourage IT companies to put their foot in Indonesia. To smell the coffee here, as the saying goes. But these companies are locating elsewhere. The closest is Singapore. Heck. What are you doing? You won't get the cultural thing if you are not here. You don't have to trust me. But don't go crying if your market share is declining in Indonesia.

I am watching "maicih" twitter account. Interesting. Here's an example of an Indonesian entrepreneur, selling hot (potato?) chips, using twitter. The chips are popular and very hot. They scales to measure the hotness. They have moving vehicles (cars) and selling those hot popular chips in various streets in Bandung (and now other cities). If you want to buy their chips, all you have to do is look at (or follow) their twitter account. You'll know where they are. As for me, the chips are to hot for my stomach. I'll pass.

There has been a new development in tech start-up companies in Indonesia. Online media companies are taken by big companies. The recent take over is detik.com by Chairul Tanjung. Wow! (Some people think that this might be related to politics; as preparation of Indonesian election. Electronic media is important in Indonesia!) The investor scene is also buzzing. Here's an example of Indonesian tech investors . When I have more time, I'll write more on these. In the mean time, let's get the party going on. Woohoo ...