Posts tagged "wobe"
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Road, Gravel, Mud
It’s been a while since I’ve written about work. Even longer since I’ve gotten on a bicycle. In so many ways, running a startup is like a race. Some people like to do sprints. Some people like lycra. More and more, I find myself preferring endurance sports and comfortable clothing — perhaps because that’s the closest…
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Shaken Not Stirred
When you work at Wobe, you’re bound to have conversations like these at some point: “Can you check on this transaction for me in dumplings?” “Let’s make some changes to kaya.” “This PR removes the confirmation code from diplomatico request” This is a feature, not a bug. We’re a company founded by foodies, but our…
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Randomization
As the cofounder and CEO of a tech startup working to improve financial inclusion in one of the world’s largest countries that is also one of the largest cash economies, I have amassed a wealth of odd knowledge on how cash works. How it works, specifically, at the intersection of people and connectivity. It always…
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The Last Mile
How to create products for emerging markets Nearly everyone wants to cash in on emerging markets. Facebook wants to fly drones to deliver internet connectivity over rural areas. They may or may not collide, in scale, ambition and delivery, with Google’s balloons (link). Whoever you are, emerging markets are hard. Every…
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How to Build Something
Wobe’s founder on the basics for technical success Jakarta Panorama by Gunawan Kartapranata (CC BY-SA 3.0). If you’re a founder too, technical or not, you’ll know all about the struggle. The struggle: late nights, being poor, having everything go well and then not, the very same minute. For me as a non-technical…
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My article on Indonesia in Brink, last month
I've started writing articles for Brink, a new media publication by the same people behind the Atlantic. My first piece is on Tech’s Role in Reaching Indonesia’s Rising Middle Class.
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When I Was Young
I'm seated now by the side of an old vending machine in Jakarta airport, with power sockets so dirty and old I had to think twice about plugging my cables in. Yet in all of Terminal 1, one of the oldest airport terminals in a country not known for modern aviation facilities, there was only this one socket free.…
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The Cult of Busy
I do quite a few things. Run a startup. Run two non-profits. Mentor queer kids. Spend a lot of time with my family, partner and our dog. Play video games. Paint the house. Cook for friends. Take my dog on long walks. Even, gasp, sleep! A lifetime ago on my first entrepreneurial rodeo, I did not know many of the things…
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Lying on a Sack of Rice
I had one of those days today. The day when your to-do list is piled so high that you can't see the end of the tunnel. The day when your caterer cancels your big order a few days before Culture Kitchen. The day when all of your mega business problems are on the verge of getting solved, but almost. The day when you feel…
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My Life on a Bike
Every morning, I get on a bike to work. Except I don't ride it. I bargain with someone on the street, or use an app to book one at other times. Do you want masker? They ask. It's the Indonesian word for face mask. Gak mau masker, makasih pak. Sekarang pergi ke Jalan Hang Tuah bisa? A string of words that I sometimes…
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The Lonely Road
If it has ever occurred to you to start something, you know how lonely that can get. If you do that chronically, you probably over-estimate your abilities, have a high threshold for pain, or you're downright insane. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. Welcome Drew Graham. Let's kick some ass. For almost a year,…
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Two Pairs of Pants
I've been selling and hustling for much of my young life. I've learned loads from each part of it, no matter how small or insignificant it may have been at the time. I sold cable car tickets. iPod cases. DVDs. Button badges. Most things, really. In hindsight, they've come together to define what I do today. It's…
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Don't Work With Assholes
There's a wealth of literature out there about this, but it can never be said enough. Too many people work with assholes. You see them everywhere. The cafe owner that takes a shortcut by hiring an asshole barista? The barista plays shit music at your cafe and nobody wants to go there. The startup founder who values…
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Stress Balls.
Some time ago, some people (read: entrepreneurs) I follow on Twitter posed a seemingly innocuous question. What drives us, as so-called entrepreneurs, to do what we do? Is it hubris? Ego? Is it an out-sized and unrealistic view of one's abilities? For most of us, choosing this life also means the opportunity cost we…
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A Tale of Two Cities
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was a bit of both, really. I'm not one for the mumbo-jumbo of the Myers-Briggs test, but I suppose it was striking that when I did it before my startup I rated very strongly as INFP, and yet now I'm very much on the ENTJ spectrum. It appears that having to do shit…
15 posts tagged "wobe"