As Buckminster Fuller once noted, “ Humanity is acquiring the right technology for all the wrong reason”. I tend to agree with this quote seeing the current plague that spreads through technology industry in Indonesia. People start their startups based only on a wild assumption–many of them start using technology merely to profit and they are too inept to make use of the knowledge to solve problem. Is this burgeoning sickness curable?

First of all, let’s zoom in on the basic reasons why people create a startup. In my 2 years journey building up my software house, tens to hundreds of people have approached me to help them create apps or websites for their ideas. Were the ideas good ? Well, the most common thing I noticed was, those people started off their ideas based on some wild assumptions.They “think” that people need their platform, they “believe” that their idea is a game changer and no one else has thought of it and that’s it– they want to run around trying to make things happen without really listening to the world. Really ? Come on guys, in case you are too proud to admit this, think about it this way – there are about 7 billion people on the planet, what are the chances that others have the same ideas as yours ? Don’t you  think no one else on the globe have the same problem?  I doubt it. Research, data and analyzing the market play important parts in creating your startup. It’s how you bring over this data and mould it over your idea to see if it can really solve a problem instead of just what you think it would be.

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On top of those wild assumptions, the worse thing that happens is these people believe that building their ideas can bring a fortune. Who can blame them ? Browsing through a number of technology news portal, one can find those sites are flocked with news about which startups got millions of funding, which startups get acquired or which startups have gone to IPO. Little do they know that a company like Uber took 5 years to be known globally, little do they know that Tokopedia, Go-Jek and Traveloka have all been there for a few years and they all have gone through struggles in trying to educate people, create a social impact and making it through. Of all the names aforementioned that sounded familiar–did you know how did they struggle in prior years to get to where they are now? The madness of those media has just fueled your brain to try initiate any foolish idea in order to be rich instantly. Creating a startup is not equivalent to joining a multi-level marketing. Creating a startup is about solving a problem around you.

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Owing to this foundation of solving a problem, other common trend that I see around is that people are too inept to use their knowledge and brainpower to think about others. The underlying principle of starting a tech startup should be about benefiting others instead of profiting only the founders. It is true that one would be foolish or too naive to say that creating a startup is not a business. It is indeed a business. A business to alleviate people’s burden. Take Facebook as an example. One might ask, did Facebook think about this when Mark first created the platform? Maybe not. But as the company grows they realize the importance of their platform and how they can create an impact to society. Numerous movements are made to really connect people around the globe (internet.org, project Aquila to name a few) instead of just how to get the most economic benefits from people who use their platform.

From all the above points, one might argue that Indonesia is still on the early stage of Technology Startup and thus the permission to innovate should not be bounded. Yes, I would agree. This viral trend is forming the technology ecosystem in Indonesia. Is the ecosystem going to the right direction ? We are yet to see it. However, people should knock their self up to really stop thinking about themselves and start looking and realize that those people in Silicon Valley are trying to make changes in this world. My recent visit to Silicon valley has enlightened me about the atmosphere there. The reason why that place is the hive for top global startups is because they always think about global problems, research are made through data, being open minded to collaborate with each other and lastly –they move fast.

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To conclude, the spiraling morass of technology sickness is bringing about changes in technology ecosystem definitely. However, people need to educate themselves and alter their mindset if they really want to bring about change. Startup is not merely about profit. It is about how you can change the lives of those people clambering merely above starvation, it is about alleviating even the slightest pain in your daily live.

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