1. Startups

The Story of the Professional Transition of a Venture Capitalist to a Startup CEO

Learn from the Co-Founder and CEO of Warung Pintar Agung Bezharie

Being a CEO and starting a startup from the start is not easy. There have been many experiences of a founder who built his business from the start to success or had to end up failing because of the fragility of the startup. One of the startup CEOs who went through the process was Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro, Co-Founder and CEO Smart Shop.

Starting from his experience as a CGI Program Officer at the Global Entrepreneurship Program Indonesia (GEPI) to the last Special Project Associate at East Ventures, Agung got a lot of interesting experiences.

It is not easy to make the transition from a professional who is responsible for analyzing a startup business who wants to be funded to a CEO who has to smartly manage the company and the people in it.

According to Agung, although he is now getting used to it after undergoing it for the past two years, the process is not always easy.

"The difference with my previous job at venture capital and currently as CEO it's more of a view actually. In the past, I only worked with a handful of people, when I entered the ranks of management at a startup I had to be able to interact and manage a much larger team. Not to mention the responsibility to partners, shareholders, to the media that all have their own expectations."

In order to properly understand the role of a startup CEO, Agung provides several interesting points that must be known by those who plan to establish a startup or founders who have run it and often encounter obstacles.

The importance of managing talent

Starting from a trial he did while working as an Associate and Special Project Associate at East Ventures, Agung and other colleagues came up with an interesting idea to develop Warung Pintar. On the trust of East Ventures, since October 2017 Agung has been the CEO of Warung Pintar.

One of the interesting points is how talent in the company's ecosystem has an important role for the progress of the company itself. Agung encountered many obstacles to understand each individual whose number was always increasing. For this reason, it is important for a founder to find out the right way to always take a personal approach.

"Ideally a startup is required to be able to work quickly, but sometimes this is not always supported by the existing talent. For that it is important for the Founder or CEO to be able to understand each skill and the capabilities of the existing team while understanding them more closely and personally."

Learning by doing

The COO of Warung Pintar Harya Putra and CEO of Warung Pintar Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro during an event in Banyuwangi

Another interesting thing that Agung encountered when he was in a management position was that he encountered many new challenges as the number of teams grew and the company grew. It is important for startup leaders to constantly adapt and keep learning.

When working from an investor's point of view, the point that Agung always holds is more to the macro situation. When becoming a CEO, the aspect that must be considered is even greater.

"Learning from my own experience, I see in the end it really is more ideal to invest in startup founders if startups want to be successful and continue to grow," said Agung.

One of the activities that must be carried out is to always seek information and learn from relevant books. Usually a CEO or leader at a startup will always feel lacking and thirsty for information. To be able to fulfill all these desires, books can be the most appropriate source.

"Now I also understand better why many say it is very good to read books 12 hours a day. The goal is to be able to fulfill all curiosity from the sense of deficiency that often comes to the mind of a Founder and CEO at a startup," said Agung.

Mental health

Being a CEO and startup leader in general is very tiring. With all the burdens and responsibilities not only for themselves, but also for the team in the company, they usually often lose motivation.

It is important for the CEO or Founder to always be able to think of ideas or solutions every day, so that fragile startups can continue to run and grow. This pressure will usually affect their mental health. For this reason, according to Agung, it is legal for a CEO or founder to share experiences or challenges with others or with colleagues outside of work.

In the United States itself, this problem has been much talked about. Founders have to go through the ups and downs of starting a startup and sacrificing their mental health. Colin Kroll (Co-Founder of Vine), Austen Heinz (Founder of Cambrian Genomics), and Jody Sherman (Founder of Ecomum) are examples of successful business leaders, but their journey had to come to an abrupt halt and ended in death.

Mental health plays an important role in it. Although in Indonesia the conditions are not too extreme, mental health is an important thing to pay attention to.

Agung said that there was a successful local startup founder who had shared about the mental health experiences he had suffered and succeeded in going through.

"It is important for them to think about their mental health. Because this is still not widely discussed, which in fact many startup CEOs or founders experience," concluded Agung.

Are you sure to continue this transaction?
Yes
No
processing your transactions....
Transaction Failed
try Again

Sign up for our
newsletter

Subscribe Newsletter
Are you sure to continue this transaction?
Yes
No
processing your transactions....
Transaction Failed
try Again