In the latest episode of our Crazy Smart Asia podcast, Wongsoredjo shares the secret to Super’s $106 million celebrity-backed fundraise and why he rates emotional intelligence as the most important leadership quality
There are more than 270 million people in Indonesia—and nearly half of them are on social media. This makes it one of the largest customer bases in Asia for the social commerce industry. The industry is already valued at more than US$8 million locally as of 2023 and is expected to continue growing as social media penetration increases over time.
One of the hottest social commerce apps in Indonesia is Super, which is co-founded by its CEO Steven Wongsoredjo. The first Indonesian consumer technology startup to be part of the highly regarded accelerator programme Y Combinator, Super is tackling one of local retail’s biggest challenges: ensuring essential products are accessible and affordable in rural parts of the country.
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Super’s hyperlocal community buying model empowers community leaders to become retailers within their local cities and towns. It operates a central warehouse as well as smaller hubs that are closer to the local community retailers, which allows it to make its supply chain more efficient, deliveries quick and prices low.
The company’s vision to reach the huge underserved population of Indonesia has resulted in investments from the likes of the co-chairman of Bain Capital, a former managing director of the World Bank, rapper Jay-Z's venture capital firm Arrive as well as the owner of the Boston Celtics basketball team.
Wongsoredjo shares more on why social commerce is such a huge opportunity in Southeast Asia’s rural communities, the secret to Super’s $106 million celebrity-backed fundraise and why Wongsoredjo rates emotional intelligence as the most important leadership quality in the latest episode of Gen.T’s Crazy Smart Asia podcast.
Here are a few excerpts from the conversation. Click the audio player below to listen to the full episode or subscribe via Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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On starting small
“If you wanna try to save the world, try to find the simplest problem and solve that. And then second, it’s to find out whether you are passionate and going to love what you do to solve this problem in the next five to 10 to 20 years.”
On why you’d build a startup
“If you’re sane, you wouldn’t do it. You’re insane, that’s why you do it.”
On looking on the bright side of life
“You got to start with positivity in mind. Negativity is contagious, and it’s going to make your day harder and [it’ll make it] harder for you to reach success. So I would say the key differentiation is how to remain positive and how to be grateful about your life.”
His advice to new founders
“Find the passions you love, and work on them daily. Once you're able to build a great product, the investment will naturally come.”
Listen to the episode and subscribe using your preferred podcast platform on our Crazy Smart Asia podcast page.