When I was in Uni, I often times wondered, how does if feel, working for people , running his strategy, improving your skills, and then, creating your own dream. -the latter is important since I want myself to keep my dream creating an internet company-. When I was in the end of my lazy graduation times, I decided to go for Internet Startups instead of FMCG or engineering company. Why? 2 reasons : I want to keep having a dream & I want to learn from young prodigy. The latter, I don’t accept its fraction. It has to be young AND prodigy.
Then I start selling myself off. It was smooth (if you want to be excel at interview, my suggestion : be a traveler AND programmer). I’m now in Garena, a Singapore based internet company with crazy amount of dollars, competing with Rocket Internet (but still, am a Rocket fan) to be biggest player in Indonesia. Actually, there are Silicon Valley backed up companies as well, but I think Rocket is the real challenge. Except Softbank-backed Tokopedia (hats off, friends) : they are doing amazing job.
The Slipicon Valley
My uncle just arrived from California, brought me golden gate t-shirt and LA Clippers hat-he knows I’m a fan- but i’m not surprised at all. I see the miniature of CA every single day (eventhough it’s still 1/1000 comparison XD). Every morning I see North Europeans, Germans, sheikh-Indians, and of course Americans in my workplace in slipi : which many people compare it with SV and call it Slipicon Valley.
Here they do things dirty. Innovation is not done in the term of technology, it is done in the level of operation. Manual checking everywhere. Faulty transactions. Slow customer service. Sleepless operations. 12-15 hours of work everyday. Especially if you are managers, not coder which happen to get very special treatment in this industry.
But those all will pay off, trust me. You have courage, passion, and brain? ask for responsibility. Then deliver result. Then ask what you want. They don’t want to give you? Others will. Everything moves so fast, you will think you hate weekend sometimes.
BUT. This is not for everybody. I don’t even think this is a proper life. Working like there is no tomorrow. Make sure you love your product, or you’ll end up losing motivation. And make sure you have future plan, since if you stay here for more than half of your career life, it will consumes your personal life. Most of them here want to learn. Either to sell, to operates, to create, or to lead a product/business. Use this kind of career as a substitute to your master degree (if you want to) or to any consulting firm (if you happen to have GPA less than 3.75. Bugger!)
Come here and feel the speed.
Berlian Agusta 