Andi Kristianto: INDICO Takes Advantage of Assets Telkomsel to Grow a Digital Business

Andi Kristianto is not a new figure in the telecommunications industry. He has been trusted to lead various initiatives and strategic steps in increasing value Telkomsel as the largest network provider through digital products.

Andi is the Founder of the incubation and acceleration program Telkomsel Innovation Center (TINC). He was also appointed to lead the new entity Telkomsel in the investment sector, namely Telkomsel Innovation Partner (TMI) for two years. Now he is trusted to lead again Telkomsel Digital Ecosystem (TED) through brand INDICO. The establishment of the INDICO entity is certainly an important marker that shows commitment Telkomsel in growing a digital business, out of its shell.

Prior to founding INDICO, Telkomsel has introduced digital products key (edtech) and Tape (healthtech) in the second half of 2021. These two products were developed based on two important hypotheses, namely (1) "inside out" or potential release (spin-off) business to increase its valuation if successful in the market and (2) "outside-in"focusing on finding ideas or use case which is closely related to business unit Telkomsel.

Until the end of 2021, Telkomsel has three portfolios by establishing a joint venture company established with GoTo through PT Application Multimedia Anak Bangsa (AMAB), namely Mamamojo.

DailySocial had the opportunity to chat with Andi about the founding of INDICO and its business. Here's the summary.

Tell us the reasons for establishing a new entity with the Indonesia Digital Ecosystem (INDICO) brand?

Answer: INDICO has two roles; (1) as holding or horizontal platform and (2) to develop business verticals. In the second point, INDICO already covers Kuncie, Fita and Majamojo. Potentially more to come.

Holding in general is how to create a business vertical competitive advantage. What this means is, everyone can create a startup. However, what differentiates INDICO is leverage assets that have been built Telkomsel for 27 years in the telecommunications industry. These [assets] have a lot of relevance in driving innovators forward by different metrics. For example, metrics cost acquisition or market delivery on startup.

Problem engagement it's more like "how", But "why"his is an asset Telkomsel can be relevant. Everyone can invest in startups, but the ecosystem is getting bigger mature for the last five years. There are VCs, there are incubators. There is already a standard. We believe there will be a differentiator if assets Telkomsel could be relevant in encouraging innovators to [innovate in] different ways. INDICO is the starting point to do this commits, can go to investors, partner ecosystems, and startups themselves.

From the way [innovating], we actually agile. Our organization is growing, there are me, Andry Firdiansyah (CFO and CHRO), and Luthfi K Arif (CTO), in the future it will continue to grow. That's enough for now kickstart while preparing operations, culture, and other technical things. It's important to have culture new and fundamentally good when forming a company, because this founding team will take INDICO further forward.

How to INDICO leverage this asset?

Answer: We have 170 million customers and more than 300 outlet partners in 514 cities. It's an incredible [asset]. Turns out there are a lot use case which can be explored from offline presence This. So far, as a telecommunications company, we know there are assets, however leverage to digital business has not yet been imagined. In fact, sometimes it can come from the innovator ecosystem.

There may be innovators confused about where to start, perhaps acquisition costs are heavy. It could be us go global, but there is much to explore. Here we can commits to seek win-win. [INDICO] can make startups possible go to market faster, there is efficiency cost.

In terms of connectivity, everyone now needs it, different from before where penetration was still low. Currently, we just need to build on connectivity, namely the platform for enable other digital services.

The telecommunications industry has long been seen as a business vertical. However, as a business vertical, we also have to be ready enablers in horizontal. Connectivity will always be there, but our asset is not just connectivity. The assets are very broad, yes networking or understanding of the local market. If you talk horizontal enablement, there's a lot to explore. We don't dream that everything can be built by ourselves, eat cost and time, and exploration of ideas is also impossible to do alone.

use case What is INDICO exploring?

Answer: I see that the telecommunications [industry] on a global scale has tried [digital exploration], perhaps because they felt they had a customer base, so they just made their own [products]. Now, not only telecommunications, all large companies must open themselves to the ecosystem if they want to innovate. Can't get up on my own. R&D takes too long, lots of potential out there.

Telkomsel is in 514 cities. We got to know the market characteristics in the area--a lot unknown that we don't know yet. In the end, we have to open ourselves up and join the ecosystem.

Talk about markets healthtech and EdTech, the market is big in Indonesia. Those of us who are in these two verticals see this as nothing new. Telkomsel Innovation Partners (TMI) already has a portfolio in these two verticals. TMI is a VC, but it exists bridging to synergy.

Regarding hypothesis inside-out or outside-in, we are working on both so that any innovator can do it commits. In the telkomsel, there are many innovators who understand the market and have sense of purpose the strong one. Dunia Games and Maxstream were developed from within Telkomsel. Telkomsel also have TMI, Telkomsel Innovation Center (TINC), and The NextDev. So no need for [all use case] on INDICO, depending on where the model fits.

Currently, our vertical focus is agnostic. We saw opportunities, also combines market and right-to-play. There is a lot of interesting potential, but this is still it too early to say. For now, I see vertical in the video [streaming or on-demand], agritech, and leisure economy interesting. If blockchain, it still seems too early already.

What is INDICO's role in portfolio business development?

Answer: Currently, Kuncie, Fita and Majamojo already have their own entities. It is finished legal company, no business unit Again. Every company has a CEO and they know the business best. Our role is as holding or horizontal platforms. Initially, there was funding [internal], but in the future it must be open. They must act as a founder. 

So what we do at INDICO is create value. We already know the thesis. What Opportunity what can be taken? What assets Telkomsel which can beleverage so they can create a difference?

So far, three months into existence, we have seen positive developments, initial indicatorits interesting. It still is too early Yes, especially innovators must maintain their persistence.

Telecom operators generally refer to ROI and EBITDA metrics. How does INDICO set business metrics for its portfolio?

Answer: In fact, a company will eventually look at those metrics as the business grows. For example GoTo. So I don't want to compartmentalize this issue. Indeed, we separate ourselves so that there is more agile, but this is because they are in the exploration phase. Don't let companies that are still exploring and not yet product market fit, immediately faced with big metrics.

What was more important in the exploration period was the reason behind it. For example, Objective and Key Result (OKR) is a reference for how to make us aspirational in pursuing targets. Process "so what" that's more important. Apart from developing products and achieving targets product market fit, make sure the path to monetization is also clear.

With the OKR model, we can discuss why targets are achieved too quickly? Are our targets low or our contributions lacking? There must be something. Let's try it raise the bar so we can proud it works. If not achieved, why? Are there any metrics that are sticking out? So we already have mentality there.

Is INDICO open to seeking external funding sources?

Answer: Structurally, Kuncie, Fita and Majamojo still have different entities. They can fundraiser myself and I think it's necessary. It's not about the money, but that external funding is necessary for the business credentials. Not necessarily all investors have a thesis that suits their corporate filled with startups. In fact, this will make a big change, in one year it can be this big [the business]. We have network wider. Meanwhile, maybe other [startups] take 3 years or more. It's necessary timing the right one for fundraiser. Currently [Kuncie, Fita, and Majamojo] have not, not yet decides. However, we are very open to external funding.

In the short term, we want to demonstrate through our success that assets Telkomsel can be relevant for startups, and beneficial do it too Telkomsel and INDICO. This could be a new business, this business model is someone who wants to buy. In the long term, our vision is to enable the majority of Indonesian people who live in rural areas to have income from the city and have their businesses go global.