March 3, 2014
There are plenty of indications that the topic of women in tech, in particular, is gaining traction in the region’s startup ecosystem. There are many female role models these days in tech. At a panel session in Freeware Spaces, 3 amazing female entrepreneur shared with the audience on how they started their journey, as well as sharing tips to aspiring techpreneurs.
Recently a popular online fashion store for Muslim women, HijUp.com, have been garnering interest from Muslim women around the globe due to the fact that the e-commerce site caters for the need of Muslim women worldwide.
Hanifa Ambadar, the CEO & Co-Founder of Female Daily had found earlier in her career as an entrepreneur that as fellow women, they know the need of other women. By knowing exactly what their target audience need, they are able to bring out the best products and services.
Tee Plern Suraphinchai, Shinta Dhanuwardoyo, Hanifa Ambadar, Joy Citradewi
When asked if there are any challenges for women to be in the tech industry, Shinta Danuwardhoyo said “Regardless men or women, everybody have challenges – all are in the same position”. The main challenge that she faced back in 1996 when she started Bubu.com was that nobody in Indonesia knew what the internet was, and it certainly was not an easy task to grow a business when the country is still foreign to the word “Internet”. Educating the people was the challenge.
One behavior trait that Tee Plern Suraphongchai of Venturra Capital mentioned was that one need to find that passion that would drive them to success. Asking questions, building the skillset to network and make connections, are the essential skills required to become successful. These skills can be trained. Make a list of the people you want to meet and surround yourself with the people that can help you grow.
Shinta Danuwardhoyo also added that you should think of yourself as someone big. Sharing her experience when dealing with a hot-shot speaker for her IDByte conference, she made sure to be resilient in her approach in making sure that she gets what she wanted. “Women are more of a hustler than men”, she said. “Be creative, be innovative, and be resilient”.
Written by Danny Widodo (KONSAATO)
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Freeware Spaces is one of the first and pioneer CoWorking Space in Jakarta Selatan, Indonesia. Founded in 2012 and managed under GRUPARA INC (a technology startup investment institution/venture capital) to gather and help promising entrepreneurs to work and socialize together in order to reach their peak potential by sharing experiences and knowledge.
Started as a free working space for entrepreneurs and now have more commercial value because of the community that we have established.
FREEWARE has helped and facilitated more than 200 entrepreneurs throughout the years. 70% of the companies have raised investments from $15,000 to $6 Million from Venture Capitals throughout Asia.
Held sharing sessions by speakers & mentors from all over the world and other entrepreneurial events as well.
