“The most important characteristic of entrepreneurs is courage, not intelligence,”

Nadiem Makarim, CEO of GO-JEK

The more people are frustrated about something, the more they complain. In contrast to Nadiem Makarim, from his frustration with Jakarta congestion, he finally made GO-JEK as a solution.

GO-JEK is not only a motorcycle ride hailing or transportation service, but also a social application that embraces the drivers. The one he embraced was a driver who wanted to work hard, didn’t have a higher education, or had ever added layoffs from the company.

Nadiem has actually started making GO-JEK since 2011. However, his focus was not only on GO-JEK. Unexpectedly, three years later, Nadiem found that the business that was “abandoned” actually grew organically. Besides that, in 2014, one of the similar businesses named Uber had gone crazy first.

He agreed that GO-JEK’s concept is not original ideas because he was sure that many people had to think on the business. However, in fact, only the GO-JEK team dared to start the execution of the idea. The idea that started from Nadiem’s ​​own mind, “I need this service.”

Read more: “GO-JEK” Dapat Investasi Baru

For Nadiem, the main foundation of the existence of GO-JEK is trust, which is the customer’s trust in the GO-JEK driver. Initially, it was difficult for customers to believe in GO-JEK, but GO-JEK has become word-of-mouth and warm conversation because in every corner of Jakarta we often meet motorbike riders in a green jacket that says GO-JEK.

When he started the GO-JEK, he took to the streets and approached the prospective GO-JEK driver. While drinking coffee with them, Nadiem talked and learned about their lives. He realized they are quite proud of themselves. GO-JEK itself can develop from the insights gained by Nadiem, drivers will become more prosperous if they can work like small entrepreneurs, who are free to determine working hours and orders they want to take.

Nadiem wants to prove that Indonesia is able to empower its human resources in innovative ways. While several times, Nadiem said the GO-JEK mission was for Indonesia, but he agreed to expand to other countries.

Interestingly, because GO-JEK’s system makes it easier for drivers to get customers, the income of a GO-JEK driver can surpass a company manager in Jakarta. With multiple revenues, the driver of GO-JEK is encouraged to continue to provide quality services so that customers continue to trust GO-JEK. In fact, the funny thing is, a GO-JEK customer service quit his job and applied to be a GO-JEK driver.

Gojek currently operates not only in Indonesia but also in a number of Southeast Asian countries including Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. After eight years, CBInsight placed GO-JEK as a start-up company with a valuation of the first US $ 10 billion (decacorn) from Indonesia in April 2019. In the report entitled The Global Unicorn Club, CBInsight wrote that GO-JEK is in the order -19, under its competitor, Grab, which has a valuation above US $ 11 billion.

Even though he’s not majored in technology, Nadiem believes that technology can provide the greatest social status in this country, not policy. Nadiem also believes that if the business and startup models prosper many people, then the owners will prosper because social and business missions are the right complement.

The article has been translated & edited by Riani Sanusi Putri. This original article was here.