Why Tech in Asia?

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Each and every day, you wakes up and go to work, there should be a question of: Why do I work for my current employer? Why am I working on the current job? What is my purpose? Have I got something worthwhile out of this company? Those questions should be in your mind and if most of the answers lead you to a negative feeling, I’d say you should quit your company and start a fresh/a new.

This brings me to the question: Why Tech in Asia?

  1. To write and have my opinions/articles be seen by 1, 10, 100, 1.000.000 of people. I love English, and I love to read so that leads me to learn writing and there is no better place than an online media to do that. Although we’re a blog, we do keep the journalism ethics intact. And to simply have your writings published and seen by thousands after the publish button is clicked is just a satisfying feeling.
  2. Putting Indonesia startups on Tech in Asia map, if not the whole tech world map. If you realize, most of our news are coming from China, Japan, and Indonesia would probably come third most of the time. This is a concern for me and really pushes me to write more and cover more stories so that when people browse Tech in Asia, you will see stories about Indonesia and especially about startups from the country.
  3. I meet extraordinary and inspiring entrepreneurs & leaders almost every day. This is probably a chance that not every 19-years-old in Indonesia can get. I have met countless entrepreneurs whether it’s from my very own country or even abroad. I talked and chatted – either casually or seriously – with people who I never imagined to even meet with in the first place.
  4. To learn the successes, and the failures, of building a start-up on a first hand basis. Writing about startups has really involved me in a way where I get updated with what is happening with the startups here, although I’d want to write only the successful stories, failures always be there and as they say the majority of startups fail anyway. It really helps me to learn from them directly or indirectly.
  5. To simply build my network from ground up. Before I get involved in the startup scene, I basically just a normal university student with a dream of getting some decent job with the decent pay. I know almost no-one in the industry, but now I’d say after around 18 months blogging and networking on events, networking nights, and conferences, things have changed dramatically and network will help me when I build my very own startup later. Since the world has more and more working towards a globalization and more connected, without a right connection, even if you have great ideas or skills, you won’t get that far.
  6. To mature, on a more accelerated basis. Most of people in my age with rich parents (I’m not stereotyping, but if I do, I apologize) would probably just party hard and live the life like you will be in university/college all your life. But fortunately, I don’t have that privilege. Working in a startup really made me mature in an accelerated way because it forces you to do that. It shapes your mindset and push you to make hard decisions in a timely manner. Which leads me to number 7.
  7. To work in a startup environment. If you ask me several years ago, “would I work on a small company with less than 10 people and making less than millions of dollars?” I’d say “I’ll think about it” or maybe “Naaaah” – but nowadays I’d suggest to my friends to do that. Why? Working in a corporate structure is really old-fashioned and not really nurtures your entrepreneurial instinct, at the same time there’s always bureaucrazy and your boss will have to report to another boss. In startup, you really feel that your contribution matters, a lot, that if you keep winning, your company wins too. You will be more exposed, you will see that people appreciate your work directly instead of congratulating your boss. (P.S. I have never worked in a corporate world so I might be biased, I’m open to any million dollar paycheck vacancy so I can feel it though!) – yet at the same time I know that working in a startup is not for everyone, the challenge, the stress, and the pay might not be the same. But if you really want to build your own company, where’s better to learn than at a startup?
  8. To work for and with amazing people. When I met Willis for the first time, and first couple of months, we fought a lot. Seriously. But now I’m just simply amazed (have always been) at his work rate, his ambition, his contribution to the ecosystem, his maturity, and his none-bullshit way of thinking and speaking. I learned a ton of things from him, both good things, and bad thing such as playing Diablo 3. He’d look like a zombie most of the time yet even if I did mistakes, he would patiently tell me and told me what I should’ve done. The editors are just really the 3 people that I really look up to, although so far we only have met for work stuff, I really really do wish that the whole team can spend 1 week on a beach playing and drinking beers.
  9. It all leads into two things: Passion and Purpose. I know that passion is probably one of the most-used words lately, but it really does affect the way you work. If you are passionate about it, you will see that the work you produce is just better and people will see it too. Working with a purpose and a goal always important, and I always have a purpose of getting inspired and inspiring people. I want to see more and more upcoming young entrepreneurs from this country, whether it’s in tech industry or not. The country needs these people badly. And I hope what I’m doing would help that, bit by bit.

There isn’t a number 10 because 10 is a symbol of perfectness and startup is simply a right example of imperfectness. Hence the reason we build it day by day, scale it, fund it, so that it can work for thousands of people out there and affect their life one way or another.

I’m not gonna lie or at the same time boast, but I have been offered jobs from several companies, both foreign and local, where he/she is also working on something exciting and some of them offered a higher payroll and bonuses. I’m flattered and it really shows me that money will follow great works, but for now, I’m not thinking about money yet (I do need it, yes) but more towards what I can contribute to the ecosystem and really leave a mark before I continue to my next adventure.