Indo Tekno Podcast

Hari-Hari Awal: Leontinus A. Edison of Tokopedia

September 15, 2020 Alan Hellawell Season 1 Episode 15
Indo Tekno Podcast
Hari-Hari Awal: Leontinus A. Edison of Tokopedia
Show Notes Chapter Markers

In our new series “Hari-Hari Awal” (in English, “The Early Days”), we begin to explore companies that have emerged over the years as defining pillars of the Indonesian internet ecosystem. Our inaugural instalment follows the rise of Tokopedia from its very first days, through its path to becoming far and away Indonesia’s most dominant native e-commerce platform today. 

Tokopedia Cofounder and Vice Chairman Leontinus Alpha Edison joins us with a wealth of anecdotes from the company’s hari-hari awal. Now a massive marketplace with 90+ million MAU (Monthly Active Users) and roughly 9 million merchants, Tokopedia’s rise maps the evolution of e-commerce from a simple online price comparison tool to an increasingly critical driver of growth to the Indonesian economy. 

Leon offers a refreshingly candid account of the ups-and-downs of building a platform from scratch. From the dark days of massive database outages, to the excitement of being the first to market with new payments solutions, the Tokopedia story is one of intense humility, dogged persistence and ceaseless experimentation.

Leon himself is currently largely focused on cultivating the company’s future leaders. He concludes by detailing what Tokopedia has done to support the small merchant in the midst of the COVID pandemic, offering some of the most profound examples of Tokopedia’s renowned sense of mission.

We hope you enjoy Episode 15 of Indo Tekno, and our first instalment of “Hari-Hari Awal!”

Introduction "Hari-Hari Awal": the Early Days
The Tokopedia story with Cofounder Leontinus Alpha Edison
Addressing the opportunity gap; "Start" and "Discover"
Indo ecommerce in the early days: from price comparison to the full transaction
Addressing ecommerce fragmentation with the marketplace model
Early inspiration from global leaders Alibaba, Amazon, others
The first year: a lean team, a sense of ownership. Work smart, work hard
The two early breakthroughs: a solution to COD, and collaboration with Nadiem at Gojek
The darkest days: image storage fails, database meltdown
Surprise discoveries about the Indo consumer
Ecommerce a much more social experience in Indonesia
Tackling R&D headcount challenges in Indo
The importance of culture and cultivating leadership
The competition: different visions, different missions
The big learning over 11 years: Focus, specialize
Developing great leaders
The vision: enabling not just merchants, but technology platforms
COVID inspires range of programs for merchants, many in collaboration with government
Online trend to continue post-COVID. Offline to remain relevant
Leon's current focus: cultivate leadership; address "must-haves" (risk & fraud, etc)
Conclusion