Young, ambitious, successful and hungry for more.

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business, entrepreneur, indonesia, young

Most of Indonesia’s young entrepreneurs live under the radar. Their success stories are rarely published in mainstream media. It’s quite a shame, actually. Their stories could (and should) be a major catalyst to build a generation of young Indonesian’s that values dreams, optimism and hard work.

The success story of Firman, the 10 year old scavenger boy

A while ago, I was checking out one of my businesses…….

It was almost midnight. It was cold. The rain was pouring down very hard. My mind began to wander off on how this rain had affected my sales. Until suddenly, my thoughts were disrupted when I caught a glimpse of a shadow. My eyes became transfixed on this little person.

What made me notice him was that he was picking and sorting out trash from the trash bin. In the rain. In cold weather. Almost midnight… His name is Firman. He’s 10 years old. He is a scavenger boy.

Doi Moi

Aaaahh Vietnam. The country where the American Army fled humiliated several decades ago. War torn, this country was somewhat like what Iraq is now, besides the fact that Vietnam is a Communist State. The ruling party tried to enforce communism post-war. But the economic slump the country endured shortly after prompted the ruling party to try a new initiative; Doi Moi. Simply, Doi Moi is a bunch of economic initiatives that allow a somewhat free economy to coexist side by side with a communist government.

So how is Vietnam doing now? It is doing very well. To quote from the book, Microtrends (Mark J. Penn and E. Kinney Zalesne):

• The number of citizens with income of less than $1 a day dropped from 51% to 8%
• In Vietnam’s two largest cities, the middle class population doubled
• Personal entertainment spending has coubled since 2003
• The Nation’s economy grew at a rate of 8,3% a year in 2005. Making it one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

Ironically, all of this occured in a country where income taxes are high, power shortages ar the norm, corruption is widepsread, IP rights are not enforced, income in rural areas hasn’t risen as high as in the urban regions and the court system is in the mercy of the communist party. It may be a long shot, but a Gallup poll may explain the forces behind the country’s economic growth.

The poll states that Vietnam is one of the most optimistic countries in the world. 90% of it’s people are sure that the following years will be better than the present years. This has also been shown by the staggering amount of entrepreneurial activity the country has witnessed. As you all might know, optimisim and entrepreneurship go hand in hand. From the food industry (Check out the Pho 21 restaurant chain) to the technology industry (Vietnam is dubbed the next India), Vietnamese entrepreneurs are on their way to pull their country to success.

There are a lot of lessons that Indonesians can learn from the Vietnamese. The most important is probably on optimism. Oh come on people, if a war-torn communist state can be optimistic, why can’t a rich democratic country like ours be? I believe that whatever our current condition is, as long as we keep the flames of optimism burning, we can achieve whatever we want. As the wise like to say; where there is a will, there is a way.

Joshua Klein: The amazing intelligence of crows

This awesome TED presentation by Joshua Klein demonstrates how human beings can cooperate with undesired parasitic animals (rats, cockroaches, crows) to create a better living environment, both for the animals and for the human beings. Klein demonstrated the ways he cooperated with the crows.

Klein built a vending machine for crows that dispenses nuts (crow’s food). After a series of trials, he has succesfully trained the crows to insert coins into vending machine to be able to get their treats; just like human beings inserting coins to a vending machine to get their treats.

This simple yet ingenious experiment has proved that human beings can train undesired animals living in urban settings. He explained the possibilities of this unique partnership; training these animals to clean up the city, do a search and rescue mission, the possibilities are endless. The main point of this presentation is that we can create an environment where human beings can live side by side with these undesired animals with mutual benefits. We can even come up with several business ideas with this kind of thinking.

Visit TED for more mind opening, inspiring videos

J.K. Rowling on Failure, Imagination and Friendship

In her Harvard 2008 graduation speech, J.K. Rowling tells us a about the benefits and importance of failure, imagination and friends. This is hands down one of the best speeches i have ever heard. The speech was very very very moving and I just had the sudden urge to write what I’ve learned from it (although its 3.30 in the morning, and I haven’t slept).

Failure

J.K. Rowling failed miserably in life in her twenties. She was divorced, poor and a single parent. Failing at almost every aspect of her life, she had hit rock bottom. But this experience changed her:

“…failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me.”

she then decided to do what she really loves; writing.

“Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”

Failure made her realize that she needed to do what really mattered to her, to be who she truly is, and focus on it. Failure also taught her more about what she is capable of. That has made all the difference.

Imagination

What she meant by imagination is the ability to empathize; to imagine how it feels like to be in another person’s shoes.

“Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people’s minds, imagine themselves into other people’s places.”

By exercising this innate gift ,

“…if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages,…”

you will have a bigger impact on society

“…then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better.”

furthermore, having imagination can change the world

“We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”

Friendship

The friends she was with on her graduation day some 21 years ago had sticked with her till this day; through tough times and happy times. Friendship is priceless.

She closed this wonderful speech by quoting a Roman philosopher, Seneca;

“As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.”

A Guide To Find What Your True Passion Is

In previous posts, I have wrote about WHY you should do what you love, HOW to do it in spite of what others say and I have even shamelessly copied a speech from someone WHO has done it. But I also realize that a lot of people have trouble on finding out WHAT they should do. If you are one of them, try asking yourself these questions;

What makes me smile? Try to find out what makes you smile. I suggest that you try out everything possible in this world. Great people are often people with a short attention span that gravitate to things that make them smile, leaving the things they hate do to.

What do I excel at? Have you ever been in a situation that no matter how hard you try, there is always someone who can do the thing you do better and even more effortlessly? These people always have creative ideas that make them even better every day. You can say that they have a natural gift in the subject, but most of the time it is just that they are so happy to do it that they don’t even think about the hardships. If you ever find yourself being that ‘gifted’ person, you might have found your true passion.

What will I want to do even if I don’t get paid? Things that are worth doing usually don’t get the immediate monetary benefits. But do them anyway. Because you will get the immediate spiritual benefits. You have to pursue what is important for your soul.

The third question might lead you all to thinking that in this money-controlled world, you have to lead your life to where the money is. If you have that thought, please let go of it. It is a product of thought that unsuccessful people pass down to us. The fact is, you can turn anything you love in to a career. That is what entrepreneurs do for a living. Instead of abandoning what they love to pursue a ‘career’, they fit their career in to doing what they love. And this is the start of pursuing true happiness in the world.

Back in the days, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak of Apple had no idea that their dream of a computer on every desk would ever become a reality (besides, mainframe computing was the ‘hot’ stuff those days). But they took the plunge and made a career out of their passion. Now, personal computers are so common, you might not even believe that in one point in time, it didn’t exist.

What really is important is that to find your true passion, you have to dig deep down inside you. That is the only place where you can find it. No one else could tell what your true passion is no matter how hard they try. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone.”

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says

This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

It all starts from your mind

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business, entrepreneur, mindset, tom perkins

I just finished listening a podcast featuring famed entrepreneur/private equity investor; Tom Perkins. Perkins started out his business career as an employee at the infant Hewlett Packard. Through his hard work, He managed to become the first manager of it’s newly formed computer division. Now, that division has sales of over a billion dollars. While at work, Perkins started his own business in the laser industry, making himself a multi-millionaire. Now, he is a full time private equity investor that has invested in companies such as genentech and google in their respective early years.

Later in the interview, he was asked what distinguished the entrepreneurs from silicon valley from the other parts of America and the world. His answer was simple yet stunning; in Silicon Valley every person knows, personally, someone successful. And they know that the “hot shot” isn’t that “hot”. So they say to themselves “if even that person could do it, iIdefinitely could.” This person will then have a burning desire to beat that successful person because he/she knows that it is possible. Thus, an entrepreneur is born.

For those of you out there who are aspiring entrepreneurs, try to meet with successful people and you will find out that YOU have more than what it takes to become great entrepreneurs. Once you’ve figured this out, you are already half the way.

Hendy Setiono

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baba, baba rafi, business, businessman, businessweek, entrepreneur, hendy, hendy setiono, indonesia, kebab, kebab turki, rafi, tempo., turki

A friend of mine, Hendy Setiono is the person everyone his age wants to be. Successful, married, financially free. But this didn’t come to him just like that. While his friends were busy doing their college assignments and preparing for exams, he was already managing his business; a Kebab Franchise called Kebab Turki, under the company PT Baba Rafi.

Chairul Tanjung

Mr. Chairul Tanjung came to Institut Teknologi Bandung to give a presentation about leadership and entrepreneurship. This event was organized by the students of ITB School of Business and Management’ leadership class. Indonesia’s golden boy, Chairul Tanjung started his first business as a college freshman (majoring in dentistry) in 1981. He took the initiative to provide a book bundling service needed by his classmates at 40% discount rate compared to what other services offer. He pocketed 50% of his revenue without any capital investments needed. He then proceeded to reach his life-time dream; to become the head of the student body.

On 1984 he founded his first CV and at 1987, his first limited liability (PT) company. He started a venture with three of his friends to manufacture and export shoes. His career skyrocketed, ironically, during the Asian fiscal and economic crisis. He bought a liquidated bank and changed it’s name to Bank Mega. He then crossed over to the media industry with Trans TV and TV 7, which he later renamed Trans7.

Tanjung is the head of Yayasan Indonesia Forum that laid the framework for The Indonesia 2030 vision, in collaboration with a cross-sectoral committee. He is also the 15th richest person in Indonesia and devotes 50% of his time to social activities.