Hello, I’m new here

Hey guys, some of you may have heard about my departure from e27 so I’m here to make it official. A few weeks ago Rama approached me with an offer to take over DailySocial as chief executive. Apparently he’s been offered a mentoring position at a brand new, as yet undisclosed startup incubator, supposedly run by at least one former Sampoerna Foundation executive. [Update below]

To be honest I was pretty surprised since DailySocial was his baby and he was really excited following the funding he received from MerahPutih Inc. in November. However, to be offered a chance at running one of the hottest tech media in the country, or perhaps even the region, sounds pretty tempting.

I asked Rama if he was sure about it but apparently the prospect of mentoring startups is something that he’s really excited about. He said it would be like running a local version of YCombinator. Working directly with startups, giving them advice and direction is something that he’s really looking forward to.

I suppose if someone’s chasing his passion you shouldn’t get in the way.

I’m therefore thrilled to announce that I’ll be joining DailySocial as CEO effective immediately, to continue the hard work that Rama has put in for the past couple of years. I would like to thank Wiku Baskoro who’s been an amazing chief editor for this blog and practically a one man publishing machine for more than a year and will be joining Rama at the new incubator as his deputy.

In Wiku’s place I’ve decided to promote Amir Karimuddin as the new editor in chief. While he’s only been with DailySocial for a short time, given his past roles at Gajeto and now-defunct 3G Week, I’m confident of his ability to lead the editorial direction for the site. I also can’t wait to announce a number of exciting new writers who will be joining DailySocial on a full time basis.

The Indonesian technology startup scene is growing. It’s no longer a sandbox in a playground. It is not even a playground anymore, the big boys are coming. We have just seen the Bakrie group jump in with massive funding into the scene through its BTel 2.0 vision for 2015. We’ve seen Sampoerna Foundation entering the scene with its Mekar investment arm. And of course, there’s the new incubator with Rama at the helm.

Given the change of scene, we also need to change. We need to change to reflect the expanding reach of the startup community. It’s no longer just about the companies and their products, it’s about an entire industry. An industry that involves companies, consumers, products, devices, investors, and so on. We need to recognize that and will implement those changes in the near future.

Today is the start of a new DailySocial. It’s been a great ride, we’re gonna make it better.

[update] A great April fool’s joke has an element of truth for added believability and while Rama’s not actually leaving DailySocial, I really am joining the club. Thanks for falling to our apparently pretty successful prank post 😀