Sangat Pedas

Sparxup puts Indonesian Internet startups on the map

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Ok peepz, time for some serious compliments to everyone involved in the Sparxup 2010 event. For a first time event like this I can really only take my hat of for the people that made this possible, especially everyone behind the screens who worked hard but seem to enjoy the rewards. The investment event was impressive if already only looking at the keynote speakers who were attending. I was surprised and impressed by Indonesias Minister of Trade Ms. Mari Eika Pangestu who delivered a clear message to the Indonesian startups, realizing the possibilities of the booming digital market, showing vision and delivered it in flawless english. Sarah Lacy showed that you just need a name card with a few keynotes to keep the crowd fascinated and Michael “Smitty” Smith was for me the absolute highlight of the day.

Though the choice for a Mall as location for the award events was a bit unusual it worked out just fine and the whole event already showed a lot of professionalism, enthusiasm and involvement. So great job in my book and I hope for the startup scene that many more Sparxup years will follow.

Just one point of criticism but not so much to the organizers but more to the startup entrepreneurs. An event like this attracts investors, among them foreign investors that haven’t mastered the Indonesian language and most of the time travelled from far. Also some influential bloggers attended (e27 and TechCrunch) Sso when pitching your business you should take into account who your target group is and make sure you get your message across. Danny from Kaskus understood that but unfortunately no one of the startup entrepreneurs thought of this and with that I think they missed out on a great opportunity. And one other thing, when pitching your product it works when you actually show your product instead of powerpoint slides!

Luckily for me I know enough Bahasa Indonesia to get the pitches they made and I must say that are indeed some promising startups in Indonesia and I’m sure that the Sparxup event has inspired others to start their online business. A big congrats to GantiBaju for winning the first Sparxup event and I made sure that at least one person in Singapore is now wearing one of your shirts saying “I love Indonesia”. To me both online and offline you guys deserved this win, enjoy your price and spend it wisely!