Among the 20 or so mentors during this first semester include Andi S. Boediman, Andy Zain, Izhak Jenie, Peter Vesterbacka, Phil Libin, and Nanda Ivens, which means the founders have been getting some serious mentorship, guidance, and lessons from industry veterans who have gone through almost everything to be where they are right now.
Ahead of tonight’s graduation, we caught up with Novistiar Rustandi, one of the directors at Jakarta Founder Institute and asked him what he thinks of the first graduates and their achievements. Check out the interview after the break.
How did you find the first batch of JKTFI founders, how did they rate based on your own expectations at the start of the program?
We were surprised with the quality of the applicants of our first semester. To get admission to the program all applicants must take a social predictive test. This test was prepared by the Silicon Valley Founder Institute based on a study they made to learn the similarities of personal traits owned by successful CEOs and Founders of technology companies in Silicon Valley.
The objective of the test is to find individuals who have the same personal traits as those successful Founders since we believe those individuals have a better chance to success in launching their technology company.
Adeo said they used the same score requirement/standard for admission to our programs in Jakarta and Silicon Valley (and other locations in the world). We have 132 applicants and 43 of them were accepted into the program, which means Indonesia has a lot of potential technopreneurs.
Adeo even told us that the quality of applicants from Jakarta is higher from that of applicants in some other locations.
With only 13 students out of 40+ graduating, how do you feel?
We feel good and comfortable with 13 graduates. Actually, at the beginning we were afraid that we would have less than 10 graduates for our first semester.
What were the biggest reasons many of them didn’t make it?
First is commitment. Some of them were not ready to start their own company due to various reasons. Second is idea. Many of them have ideas that are not feasible or do not have business potentials.
Which are the standout groups?
All the graduates that manage to stay in the program have shown their commitment, professionalism, hard work, persistent, intelligence and other materials required to start a technology company.
What are some of the most out there ideas that you heard during the program?
Some of the graduates have already years of industry experience. For example, one of the Founders is developing a business intelligence application to help fund managers investing in socially and environmentally responsible investments.
The other is developing an IT infrastructure to enable people working in informal sectors to get micro insurance coverage and also sell micro insurance products using a mobile application. If they don’t have industry experience, they wouldn’t be able to come up with this kind of idea.
For example, many mentors did not realize if there is a demand of micro insurance products in Indonesia.
How did the students cope with having to shuffle groups as the numbers went down?
At the end, only the best of the best stayed in the program. It is good for Founders cause they have opportunities to get feedback from and build closer relationships with them. Right now we have only two groups with 6 and 7 members.
What was the most challenging task that the students had to face?
Of course completing our special assignments! All special assignment are actually some thing they have to do anyway for their startup.
For example, some Founders were assigned to produce a ten page PDF report on the results of testing different product and pricing offers through at least three landing pages advertised on Facebook that have captured over 250 email addresses.
And they had to complete these special assignments in very short time, 3 days only! We were afraid that most of our Founders would fail, but they did not! They didn’t complaint, they we even thankful they got these special assignments, and they did very good job!
What did you think about the mentors?
Our mentors are awesome! All of them are very excited to be involved and contribute to the technopreneurship and its ecosystem in Jakarta.
They are very committed to help our Founders, share their experiences, provide candid feedback, and set aside their time to have office hours with individual Founders. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to do this!
What’s your advice for those who didn’t make it and for those who want to join next batch?
Be persistent and keep trying! Also, Peter Vesterbacka (Angry Birds) said during his session, be crazy!
Who are the graduates and what are their projects?
Aibilities (healthcare), Eductory (education), Fokado (e-commerce), Ifetcha (mobile), Mitra Micro (micro insurance), Socentix (socially and environmentally responsible investing), Stilomo (mobile), and Wujudkan (creative).
What is the next step after graduation?
Quit everything else and work harder on their startup! They will have continuous mentorship with their specific mentors and will have to meet regularly to ensure they make progress.
