Hi Steven,
First of all, congratulations on being selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in Indonesia. It is a phenomenal achievement for you and fantastic news for the Qraved family and its supporters.
SK: Thank you very much! First of all, I am very excited to be a part of a community that has such history and reach in the global market. I am honored to be one of 17 entrepreneurs who represent Indonesia. Indonesia is considered the biggest market in South East Asia and I cannot wait to share the success story of Qraved with the rest of the community
Before we start, could you tell us what Qraved is all about in a nutshell?
SK: Qraved is Indonesia’s leading restaurant discovery and reservation platform. We aim to answer the question of where to eat for our users, and making the whole dining experience better. How, you may ask? We provide complete information and aggregated content generated through the community while integrating online reservations and commerce
How has the journey been from when you started Qraved to where you and the company are right now?
SK: Qraved have spent the past one and a half year focusing on reservations and dining offers. I always concentrate on providing a channel for restaurants to market themselves, while at the same time build a comprehensive F&B database that is growing 30% month over month
I have since seen the bigger opportunity of serving the overall food & beverage market and solve the industry’s biggest pain points. Indonesia is a rapidly growing market especially with the proliferation of social media and general F&B trend, allowing us to expand Qraved to become a directory and content media platform for all segments of restaurants (not just high end ones)
How do you feel about being a foreign entrepreneur identified by Endeavor as one of the greatest potential to succeed in Indonesia?
SK: I sincerely feel honored to be a part of the program. I come in with an international point of view as well as my previous exposure to markets that have gone through what Indonesia is going through right now
I believe I bring value for the Indonesian startup ecosystem in terms of knowledge, increasing the startup awareness, and to be an ambassador for Indonesia’s entrepreneur community. Additionally, I also want to help Indonesia go to the global stage as the upcoming innovative startup country from South East Asia
Could you tell us a little bit about the Endeavor selection process as it applied to you?
SK: The process has been a very exciting yet steep learning curve and quite challenging. The process I went through was to meet individual Endeavor mentors who are successful entrepreneurs or key managers in successful companies, and be able to share with them what my venture is all about while understanding the core challenges, while at the same time explain with enough clarity the different aspects of Qraved. Influential individuals at Endeavor range from the heads of large media portals to owner of energy companies or properties. At Endeavor, everyone has a different point of view.
Overall, I had to go through the following steps:
- Local selection process – meeting other Endeavor Indonesian entrepreneurs
- Local selection panel – meet Endeavor mentors and challenge questions, growth, vision, and Qraved future forecasting
- International selection panel – prepare pitch presentation whereby I went through 3 panels consisting of 2 evaluators over 3 days. At the end which we would know whether we have been admitted to Endeavor
Do you think being part of Endeavor has had any impact for Qraved? What has the program provided your company with?
SK: There are two major things that I believe Endeavor has benefited Qraved. First, was shedding a lot of clarity on optimizing organizational structure. I now better understand how to plan to put organizational resources at different stages of the company. Second, is the availability and quality of the Endeavor network. I am able to get access to brainstorm with individual mentors and thought leaders. This is quite valuable especially for having mentors who truly want to help.
Are there any concerns from your employees or your backers and investors now that Qraved is entering an ever-higher trajectory of success?
SK: No, it is actually of pure delight. At the end of the day Endeavor is not only evaluating me as an individual but also Qraved and what Qraved can accomplish as a whole. I believe that this is a good certification for the team and my employees. They feel more secure and confident of the view of the business. Similarly, when it comes to backers or investors, they feel that it is a validation of where they stand in the business and me as an entrepreneur
That is very good to hear. We hope that Qraved continues to mission and vision in Indonesia. Any last advice to other entrepreneurs aspiring to emulate your journey?
SK: Get into entrepreneurship early, and fail early; then continue to learn and iterate.
I think there are two general misconceptions on entrepreneurship: first is that its all about fame and glamour; and second, it is something you always have to be fully prepared for.
You should always understand what entrepreneurship really means: it is a lot of passion and dedication, and entails a lot of learning and i
mprovements. If this is something for you, really get an early perspective whether this path is right for you.
It’s a painful process, hard work, and plenty of sleepless nights. One may say there are many negative side effects. However, having a strong vision gets you through that, and if you don’t try you will never going to know. I suggest for budding entrepreneurs out there to start a venture early, or at least join a company that is in a startup phase
Qraved is a portfolio company of Convergence Ventures