After postponing for months due to busy work schedule, I finally spent some hours setting up this blog and writing the first couple articles during my 4th of July holiday. The focus of coolfounders is Internet business and startups in Indonesia and all of their potentials. With more than 240 million population, Indonesia is a country with the fourth largest population in the world after China, India, and the United States. Even though there were only 30 million Internet users in Indonesia as of December 2009, the number of Internet users in Indonesia is growing really fast, especially the number of users who use their mobile phone or 3G to access the Internet. According to the presentation by Andy Zain and Andi S. Boediman called “Monetizing the Indonesian Internet and Mobile Market”, in five years, half of the Indonesian population or 120 million people will have access to the Internet (most of them through their mobile phone). Compared to the population (not Internet users) of Singapore (4.8 million), Malaysia (27 million), South Korea (48.6 million), Thailand (67 million), Vietnam (86 million), and Philippine (90 million), it is clear that the number of Internet users in Indonesia will be significantly higher then the number of Internet users in those countries.
This huge potential is becoming more attractive if we also take into consideration Indonesia’s stable, high real GDP growth. In 2009, when most of the countries in the region had a negative or almost zero real GDP growth (Singapore -2.10%, Malaysia – 2.20%, Thailand -2.80%, Philippine 0.90%, South Korea 0.20%, Japan -5.30%, and the United States -2.40%), Indonesia managed to protect itself from the global economic recession and achieved a positive growth of 4.5%. Indonesia’s real GDP is estimated to continue growing by 5.9%, 6.2%, and 6.3% in 2010, 2011, and 2012 respectively (more detail information about Indonesia’s key economic data can be found in the Indonesia Internet Industry Data section of this blog). Undoubtedly, Indonesia is a very potential, huge market for Internet business. Internet business in Indonesia has just started and there are still a lot of problems to solve. Many Internet business models can be developed and implemented in Indonesia. Sarah Lacy, a writer at TechCrunch who recently visited Jakarta, also sees this untapped opportunity in Indonesia (her articles can be read here and here).
Indonesian young entrepreneurs have also noticed this opportunity and recently, many of them launched their Internet startups. Sanny Gaddafi, my co-founder at AutoSally, is one of the pioneers of Internet startups in Indonesia. In 2004, he launched his social networking website, FUPEI, which is currently the largest local social networking website in Indonesia. Other startups such as Koprol, Urbanesia, and GantiBaju even had raised money from East Venture, a VC based in Singapore. However, many Indonesian webpreneurs, including myself, still need supports in terms of training, mentorship, and funding from more experienced Internet business players. As one of the graduates of the Founder Institute in Palo Alto, CA, I am lucky enough to get support and mentorship from the program, especially from Adeo Ressi, the founder of theFunded.com and Founder Institute, in running AutoSally.
With this blog, I would like to introduce Indonesia and its potentials for Internet businesses to entrepreneurs and investors abroad, especially in countries such as the United States, Singapore, and Japan. In addition, I want to help Indonesian startups to expose their potentials to international market. Last, I would like to share my experiences running a startup in the United States and many valuable lessons I learned from the Founder Institute.
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