Category: People and Practice

A Family Office for an Indonesian Family: Passing Wealth Intact, and the Choice to Come Home

For an Indonesian family, a business passes to the next generation by inheritance, and Indonesian law decides how, within limits a will cannot override. This guide sets out the plural succession regimes and the reserved shares, what marriage does to a founder’s ownership, the domestic structures that pass a business on whole, and the choice… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: When a Business Has to Close

Julie Wainwright closed Pets.com with around 147 million US dollars gone, and Sophia Amoruso watched Nasty Gal go bankrupt, and both built again. Our founder Tracy Wilkinson lost two thriving companies in a single night and spent years recovering. This final instalment on founders who change direction covers the failure that removes the choice: how… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: The Art of Reinvention

Alamanda Shantika left Gojek to teach Indonesians to build technology, and Diana Rikasari has reinvented herself from market researcher to footwear founder to maker of upcycled clothing. This first of two instalments on founders who change direction covers the pivot a founder chooses: what a pivot is, when to rebrand and when to start a… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: The Merits of Bootstrapping a Business

Martha Tilaar built Sariayu from a salon in her family’s house, and Mooryati Soedibyo built Mustika Ratu from Rp25,000 in her garage, neither by selling a share of the idea. This closing instalment makes the case for bootstrapping: proof of concept is a business funding its own expansion, and Indonesian law, through the reserve fund… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Making a Woman-Led Business Bankable

Tessa Wijaya taught herself to value companies, then co-founded Xendit and built it into a Southeast Asian unicorn. This final instalment sets out what a bank or an investor checks before it funds a business in Indonesia, from clean ownership and a paid-up cap table to debts, disputes, employment and governance, and how a woman-led… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Structuring for Impact

Robin Lim delivers babies free in Bali, Hanna Keraf turned village weaving into a wage, Helianti Hilman built a market for forgotten foods, and Ewa Wojkowska took technology the last mile. Indonesia has no legal form made for a social enterprise, so this instalment sets out the vehicle decision every mission-driven founder faces: the foundation,… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Own It in Your Own Name

When Ike Farida was refused a Jakarta apartment she had paid for, because she was married to a foreigner with no agreement, she took the case to the Constitutional Court and won. Under Indonesian law a business built during marriage can be joint property. This instalment sets out how a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement lets… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Building a Foreign-Owned Business

Elora Hardy, Michela Foppiani and Susanna Perini each built a substantial business in Bali. This article sets out the compliant route a foreign founder takes: the foreign investment company, the capital and licensing it requires, the work and stay permit, and why a nominee arrangement is illegal and unenforceable. READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Formalising a Small Business in Indonesia

Diajeng Lestari started HijUp with roughly Rp5 million, and Syukriyatun Niamah started Robries from a university dormitory. Both are registered companies now. This article sets out the path from an informal trade to a registered company in Indonesia, the individual company one person can form, the licensing and tax registration involved, and the credit that… READ MORE →
Women Founders in Indonesia: Nurhayati Subakat, Who Rebuilt After the Fire

Nurhayati Subakat built Indonesia’s largest cosmetics company from a home business begun in 1985. Women own 64.5 percent of the country’s MSMEs, and this series opener sets out what turns a woman-led business from an informal trade into one a bank or an investor can fund, and the founders, Indonesian and foreign, who did it. READ MORE →