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Why Rocket Internet is actually doing Indonesia a favor

They come, they execute, they sell.

Samwer Brothers might not be the idol for most entrepreneurs, but their company is giving an amazing impact for startup market like Indonesia.

Since their existence broke a few months ago, Rocket Internet has been hiring people like crazy, they're bringing cloned companies to the market and make good money out of it. These people don't talk much, in fact one of their strategy is to stay away from tech blogs like us. That might mean they have something to hide, but it might also mean they want to focus on what they do and things that can add value for them. Of course Rocket Internet is not exactly popular amongst tech publications for their anti-innovation principles, which probably the ultimate reason they avoid tech journalists.

But one thing Rocket Internet has brought is the attitude for stop asking questions, focus on doing things and making it work. No rockstar bullshit.

If you look at how they operate in a new market, your jaw will drop. They've been in Indonesia for 3 months and now they have hundreds of employees, with more than 6 products on the line. These people don't complain about the payment gateway for their e-commerce sites, they just try ways to make it work. They won't wait, and that's a winning attitude.

Indonesian startups can definitely learn from these people, how they are focusing on building a profitable business and not just building "something cool". And it's debatable, but Indonesia is not exactly ready to "change the world". I'm not saying it's impossible, but we have so many things to fix before we can change the world, and the Samwer Brothers aren't waiting for it to fix itself.

As much as we can trash Rocket Internet, they do know how to execute and scale. Their motives and agenda might not be as noble, but they sure can teach us how to grow a real business and build a real ecosystem. Exactly what Indonesian startups need right now is someone that can show them do serious business : scale and execute.

photo: Wired

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