Chandra Firmanto, Managing Partner at Indogen Capital- A Venture Capital For Southeast Asia, Founder’s Best Partner In Indonesia!

Chandra Firmanto is a serial entrepreneur and experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the investment banking industry. He was skilled in Start-up Ventures, Banking, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Planning, and Business Development. A strong business development professional with a Bachelor’s degree focused on Entrepreneurship/Entrepreneurial Studies from the University of Southern California.

He established Indogen Capital (VC firm in Indonesia) in 2016. Since 2004, he has worked as Chairman of PT Aneka Makmur Sejahtera, in which he directed 3500+ employees and 150+ branches across Indonesia and a diverse portfolio across automotive, hospitality, and real estate sectors. Businesses include Yamaha and Dunlop distributions, hotel franchises, and housing project JVs with Ciputra Property Group. The total annual group revenue is over USD 1 billion.

In an exclusive interview with AsiaTechDaily, Chandra says:

Let’s start sharing. There will be things I can always learn from fellow successful entrepreneurs, especially if they come from an industry I am not very familiar with. It’s another reason why I love working in VC. There is always a new thing to learn everyday 🙂 I am always happy to share to fellow entrepreneurs

• Life is short, so please balance between work and fun
• Keep your integrity since people will open up more doors to you if they trust you
• Always work hard to achieve your goal and keep moving forward. Don’t be bothered by negative comments from anyone

Read on to know more about Chandra Firmanto and his journey.

What background and domain expertise do you have?

Chandra Firmanto: I am a serial entrepreneur and experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the investment banking industry. I am skilled in Start-up Ventures, Banking, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Planning, and Business Development. A strong business development professional with a Bachelor’s degree focused on Entrepreneurship and Operations Management from the University of Southern California.

I established Indogen Capital (VC firm in Indonesia) since 2016. Since 2004, I have worked as Chairman of PT Aneka Makmur Sejahtera. I managed 3500+ employees and 150+ branches across Indonesia and a diverse portfolio across the automotive, hospitality, and real estate sectors. Businesses include Yamaha and Dunlop distributions, hotel franchises, and housing project JVs with Ciputra Property Group.

When did you first think about starting a fund?

Chandra Firmanto: 2015. After I managed to turn my family business to be fully run by professionals. Suddenly, I had free time, so I decided to start a VC fund since I believe SEA and Indonesia will be a hotbed for tech investment.

What kind of startups/ sectors have you invested in till now?

Chandra Firmanto: We’re a sector-agnostic investor. We’ve invested in co-working space, mobility/travel, automotive, and many other companies. We are an early-stage investor in Travelio, Wahyoo, and Carsome.

What types of companies do you look to invest in? And What’s your mental model for investing?

Chandra Firmanto: We invest in companies that digitize the traditional business model while leveraging the economic growth of Indonesia. We believe that we have a strong network across 2nd and 3rd tier cities in Indonesia. We’ve been helping our portfolio companies, corporation partner’s portfolio companies, and VC friends’ portfolio companies to fully capitalize on Indonesian market opportunity.

What is your typical investment range and how many startups you invest in per year in general? Additionally, can overseas headquartered startups get funding from you?

Chandra Firmanto: We invest at post-revenue and post- product market fit at pre-A and series A. We don’t have a target in terms of how many investments made per year. But any startups that we invest in should have exposure to Indonesian market either at the time of the investment or in the future.

What would be the KPI that you usually check about the startups’ growth? It may be diverse in each industry like LTV, CAC, MoM, etc., but it will be helpful to understand more about your additional investment factors?

Chandra Firmanto: It varies from one startup to another. But we primarily look at gross revenue, contribution margin, LTV/CAC.

How do you handle this COVID-19 outbreak situation for your fund’s survival in the future?

Chandra Firmanto: We have been advising founders to think not only defensively but also offensively, meaning that it’s always a good idea to launch an alternative revenue stream and capitalize on the opportunity that arises because of the macro situation – this situation doesn’t have only to be COVID-19.

Right after being an investor like in the early days, there must be some tough times in building up the first fund along with building up a second fund or giving back the good returns to those LPs. If there is any similar tough time like this, please tell us more about it and how you (or your team) overcome the difficult times?

We have been very fortunate that our angle is a value-added VC partner to expand in Indonesia. We have been helping other VC’s well-performing portfolios to win Indonesian market since we have a powerful network to the secondary and third-tier cities across Indonesia. Because of that our IRR has been good and our LPs are very happy. The most important thing is to make sure your LPs are happy. OF course, when we just started, we had our challenge in convincing well-performing startups and their VC investors to give us a chance to support them and give us a slot to invest.

Fortunately, enough people gave us a chance, and we have proved ourselves to be among the most active investors. At IndoGen, We have a dedicated team to manage portfolios and work closely with the founders to achieve their traction.

Additionally, Do you have advice for anyone looking to start a fund?

Chandra Firmanto: Depends on your network – it will be different. If you are new in the industry and do not have a robust network, you need to become a value-added partner for a startup. Work hard to help your portfolio, and over time people will give you a chance to prove yourself. But, if you have a strong network to do fundraising, this won’t be an issue, and perhaps it’s more about finding the right angle/story to make your VC stands out.

What mistakes do you see founders make when raising money?

Chandra Firmanto: Not talking enough about the vision going forward, and how to connect the dots between the current state of the business to the future ones.

What’s your advice to entrepreneurs who have a chance to meet investors like you?

Chandra Firmanto: Let’s start sharing. There will be things I can always learn from fellow successful entrepreneurs, especially if they come from an industry I am not very familiar with. It’s another reason why I love working in VC. There is always a new thing to learn everyday 🙂 I am always happy to share to fellow entrepreneurs so feel free to reach out to me through Linkedin or Instagram: @chandrafirmanto.

What are the top 3 questions that you always ask the founders?

Chandra Firmanto:

1. Business model
2. Monetization
3. Exit path

What’s your general thought about the term “Global” and What are the important factors (criteria) for local startups to consider for international expansion?

Chandra Firmanto: This varies by business models, but in general, we believe that it’s important to nail one market first before expanding internationally. Once the startups reach high market penetration locally, it’d probably be wise to consider overseas markets.

What kind of startup or tech industry will impact the world in the future like 2-3 years locally in your view?

Chandra Firmanto: Locally in Indonesia, this would be companies solving the biggest problems in the market, like education, fintech, retail digitization, and logistics.

What are the top-three books or movies (TV series) that changed your life and why?

Chandra Firmanto:  None. I love watching movies and reading books. I pick up a bit here and there from each movie and book, but no single book or movie has influenced me greatly yet. My No.1 rated movie is Forrest Gump, and I am a big sports fan following NBA, NFL and College Football especially my alma mater USC Trojans, Fight On ✌

How do you keep yourself motivated every day?

Chandra Firmanto:I always think that it’s a personal battle against yourself. If you keep improving and working hard every day, you can go far. So it’s more about the drive to keep moving forward.

What are the top three life lessons that you want your (future) sons and daughters to know?

Chandra Firmanto:

1. Life is short, so please balance between work and fun
2. Keep your integrity since people will open up more doors to you if they trust you
3. Always work hard to achieve your goal and keep moving forward. Don’t be bothered by negative comments from anyone

What would you like to be remembered for?

Chandra Firmanto: None. I hope to help as many people as possible while achieving our goal to be one of the most successful VCs.

You can follow Chandra Firmanto here.

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