Last week, The Independent Investor sat down with Indonesian tech leader Pandu Sjahrir on an episode of Ask the Expert. Over the past two decades, he’s led the charge for Southeast Asia’s growth through his roles as the former Chairman of Sea Indonesia, Board Member of Gojek, Commissioner of the Indonesia Stock Exchange, Director of Toba Bara, Chairman of the Indonesian Coal Mining Association, Managing Partner at Indies Capital, and Founding Partner at AC Ventures. But despite all these hats, Sjahrir says he’s only getting started.
“I actually just started my career,” Sjahrir said. “20 to 30 really was just learning the fundamentals. 30 to 40 was trying to be better at what I’ve decided to do, which is investing. 40, now, is the start of my career.”
Here’s what we’ve learned from the Indonesian tech trailblazer.
1. A problem is just an opportunity for collaborative innovation
For Sjahrir, a problem only sets the stage for innovators to come together with creative solutions. Like the Philippines, Indonesia struggles with its archipelagic nature—which poses more than a few logistic obstacles. Despite this, Indonesia has managed to foster a thriving ecosystem through partnerships across sectors. “It’s super cool what’s going on in Indonesia right now.”
“If you look to the next three or four years, the things that could improve this—number one is digital infrastructure—5G rollout, data centers—and number two is mobile trust,” he said.
2. Innovation must be championed by the public sector
One such opportunity for innovation was COVID (although to call a global pandemic a ‘problem’ would be a massive understatement). In 2020 tech innovators like Sjahrir worked alongside the Indonesian government to find innovative tech solutions that would especially aid the less privileged. “In Indonesia, if you get COVID, you can receive your medicine within the same day. For free,” Sjahrir says.
This highlights another thing that has been key to Indonesia’s exponential growth: government support—which without it, the Indonesian tech ecosystem would not have been able to respond to the COVID crisis the way it did.
“One thing I can say about Indonesia is that the focus of the president is quite strong,”Sjahrir says. “There is a lot of government support with respect to whether it’s fiscal incentive, whether it’s through licenses—to ease all this. That’s why you’re seeing a lot of risk capital coming into the country because you can see that the macro is very supportive.”
3. Don’t invest in a superstar—invest in a team
And speaking of collaboration, Sjahrir believes that business is always a team sport. “The mistake I’ve done is actually investing in a superstar founder, but not knowing who they can talk to,” he says.
Team quality is one of if not the most important factor of Sjahrir’s early-stage assessment process. “When I built my teams, it’s really not a superstar mentality… it has to be a team mentality,” he said. “You gotta be humble. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Once you turn to arrogance and believe your own story, that’s the start of your downfall.”
“It’s easier said than done. It’s a fine line, but you have to walk that fine line.”
4. With great power comes great responsibility—to take great risks
Leveraging his family’s powerful background in coal-mining, Sjahrir is more than familiar with the energy industry. But he’s decided to veer his group towards another path: the still largely underserved sector of renewable energy. “We’ve already committed that we want to become net zero carbon by 2030. So what are we doing? We’re moving into renewable energy,” he said. “We’ve got a 300 mega-watt floating solar power plant in Batam that, insha’Allah, we’re building soon. We have a hydro business. We’re also building wind power plant businesses. Just recently we announced a joint venture with Goto, with Gojek, which should be the largest undertaking of building a two-wheeler electric vehicle ecosystem called Electrum. That’s a 50-50 JV where we consolidate the company. And now we’re looking at carbon credit.”
“This is probably very risky for a lot of people, but I said we just got to do it. If it’s not us who are privileged enough to be in a position where we are in, who else is gonna do it?”
5. A socially motivated initiative is a win for everyone
When asked if there were any boxes he needed to tick before investing in a venture, Sajhrir responded, “My box is pretty simple, is it a business that creates a lot of value for society? If [it is], you’ll make money.”
One such venture is Aruna, a platform Sjahrir invested in that more directly bridges fisherfolk and their products’ final destination, often restaurants or groceries. According to Sjahrir, these products usually have to pass through the hands of around six different brokers. Through Aruna, fisherfolk receive a much higher margin.
6. Life is a long-term game…
The glamorized ‘hustle’ often portrayed online might get one caught up in the exciting highs and lows of entrepreneurial life. But Sjahrir warns of early burnout. “Doing entrepreneurial work is a very lonely journey. A lot of effects on your mental health,” Sjahrir says. “Life is a long-term game. You gotta make sure your physical quality, your physical health, your mental health—all of that is always up to date and always strong.”
7. … So keep your priorities straight.
In all things you do, Sjahrir says, you have to keep your narrative simple. “If it’s not simple to you, then you won’t know what you’re doing. That’s your compass,” he said. Despite his countless roles, Sjahrir navigates his career with ease, because he’s taken the time to figure out his priorities and simplify his narrative. “That’s sacrosanct to me.”
“And also it’s my daughter’s birthday today,” he said. “That’s probably most important. I woke up at 5:30 am. She woke me up saying ‘Hey, it’s my birthday.’ I said ‘I got it chief, it’s your birthday.’ It’s by far the most important day today.”