Norwegian School of Economics

NHH Bergen, Spring Semester 2022

Bringing It All Back Home

How do transnational experiences influence the careers and
entrepreneurial performance of Indonesian technology co-founders?

Aron Corbett and Widyaparamita Haryanto Iskandar

Supervisor: Bram Timmermans

Master thesis, Strategy and New Business Development

NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

This thesis was written as a part of the Master of Science in Economics and Business
Administration at NHH. Please note that neither the institution nor the examiners are
responsible -− through the approval of this thesis -− for the theories and methods used, or results
and conclusions drawn in this work.
2

Acknowledgements
We are grateful to everyone who has contributed to this thesis and along our academic journey.
First, we would like to express our deepest appreciation to our supervisor, Bram Timmermans,
for sharing with us your advice and extensive knowledge and passion for the field of
entrepreneurship.

Second, this thesis would not have been possible without the extraordinary amount of kindness
and support from our family and friends, particularly Camilla Hume for her generous statistical
advice and SPSS skills, as well as Roos Iskandar (Widya’s
(Widya's mom) and Dharmadi Gusanto who
connected us with their wide network of Indonesian entrepreneurs.

Third, we would like to thank our interview participants who generously gave up their precious
time to share with us their personal experiences. Your enthusiasm and candour were inspiring
and provided us with invaluable insights about entrepreneurship and the transformative
experience of travel.

Finally, to Emily Hume and Mikael Bagaskara. Finding the words to express our gratitude is
harder than writing the thesis itself.
itself Thank you for being there throughout our journey.
 3

Executive Summary
Technology entrepreneurship is increasingly the allure of researchers and policymakers
because of its central role in stimulating innovation and economic competitiveness,
particularly for emerging economies looking to avoid the middle-income trap. A recent study
by Klingler-Vidra et al. (2021) examined the professional experiences of successful
Vietnamese entrepreneurs and found that technology entrepreneurs were more likely than
non-technology entrepreneurs to: 1)
l) have transnational experiences in the West; and 2) be
graduates of American universities. Advancing a placed-based theory of entrepreneurship,
Klingler-Vidra et al. argue non-technology entrepreneurs are more dependent on local
resources, whereas technology entrepreneurs leverage international knowledge and networks.

This research replicates this Vietnamese study in the Indonesian context and finds that, despite
a high proportion of successful Indonesian technology entrepreneurs possessing international
experiences (61.5%) and international education (56.1%), Indonesian technology
entrepreneurs were not more likely to have transnational experiences or be internationally
educated than their non-technology peers. Indonesian technology entrepreneurs were however
5.3 times more likely to have transnational work experience than their non-technology peers.

Responding to Klingler-Vidra et al.’s

al.'s call for qualitative research investigating these
relationships, we held interviews with four successful Indonesian technology co-founders and
discovered that psychological factors -– specifically independence, passion, open-mindedness,
and confidence -– appeared to be the primary mechanism shaping the success of transnationally
experienced technology entrepreneurs. The psychological development of the entrepreneur,
which emerges through the challenges of living in a foreign culture, supports the acquisition
of task-relevant human and social capital, which in tum
turn shapes their performance and career.
Interviewees emphasised the importance of soft skills -– particularly intercultural and
leadership skills -– over hard skills, which allowed them to accumulate social capital,
particularly with foreign investors. Interviewees also emphasised how these soft skills,
combined with reputable international education qualifications, appeared to broker access to
high value Indonesian knowledge networks. The presence of educational homophily in
Indonesia can also help explain the high rates of international education attainment (45.7%)
found among successful Indonesian non-technology founders. Our research concludes by
offering a conceptual framework to demonstrate how transnational experiences influence the
performance of Indonesian technology entrepreneurs.
4

Keywords: Indonesia, entrepreneurship, transactional experience, international knowledge

transfer
 5

Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................... 3
l.
1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................... 7
1.1 ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN IINDONESIA
ENTREPRENEURSHIP NDONESIA .......................................................................................... 7

1.2 T
T WO ENTREPRENEURIAL JJOURNEYS
w o ENTREPRENEURIAL OURNEYS ......................................................................................... 8

1.3 RESEARCH QUESTION

RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................................................................... 9

2. LITERATURE REVIEW......................................................................................................... 11
2.1 THE
TH E IINDONESIAN TRANSNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
NDONESIAN TRANSNATIONAL EXPERIENCE ................................................................... 11

2.2 IINNOVATION TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP

NNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURSHIP ........................................................... 13

2.3 REGIONAL IINNOVATION

REGIONAL NNOVATION SYSTEMS IN THE G
SYSTEMS LOBAL S
GLOBAL OUTH .................................................... 13
SOUTH

2.4 IINTERNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE FLOWS

NTERNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE FLOWS ................................................................................... 14

2.5 ENTREPRENEURIAL PERFORMANCE

ENTREPRENEURIAL PERFORMANCE ........................................................................................ 15

2.6 HUMAN C
HUMAN ENTREPRENEURSHIP ........................................................................... 16
APITAL AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CAPITAL

2.7 HUMAN C
HUMAN INVESTMENTS AND O
APITAL INVESTMENTS
CAPITAL UTCOMES .................................................................. 17
OUTCOMES

2.8 SOCIAL C
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP ............................................................................ 19
APITAL AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CAPITAL

2.9 SOCIAL C
SOCIAL INVESTMENTS AND O
APITAL INVESTMENTS
CAPITAL UTCOMES ................................................................... 20
OUTCOMES

2.10 A PRELIMINARY
PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................... 21
CONCEPTUALFRAMEWORK

3. METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................... 23
3.1 QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 23
QUANTITATIVEMETHODOLOGY

3.1.1 Target Population and Data Set.................................................................................. 23

3.1.2 Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 26

3.1.3 Data Analysis............................................................................................................... 27

3.2 Q METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................... 28

UALITATIVE METHODOLOGY
QUALITATIVE

3.2.1 Target Population ........................................................................................................ 29

3.2.2 Sampling ...................................................................................................................... 29

Sampling

3.2.3 Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 30

3.2.4 Interview Guide ........................................................................................................... 31

3.2.5 Data Analysis............................................................................................................... 32

3.2.6 Research Ethics ........................................................................................................... 33

4. RESULTS .................................................................................................................................. 35
6

4.1 Q DAATA
UANTITATIVE D
QUANTITATIVE RESULTS ..............................................................................................35
T A RESULTS 35

4.1.1 Transnational Education Results .................................................................................36

4.1.2 Transnational Work Results ........................................................................................37

4.1.3 of Transnational Experience ........................................................................37

Location ofTransnational

4.2 QUALITATIVE A
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS RESULTS .........................................................................................38
NALYSIS RESULTS

5. DICUSSION ...............................................................................................................................41
5.1 T EDUCATION INVESTMENTS
RANSNATIONAL EDUCATION
TRANSNATIONAL INVESTMENTS ..........................................................................41
41

5.2
5.2 TRANSNATIONAL W
TRANSNATIONAL ORK
WO INVESTMENTS ...................................................................................43
R K INVESTMENTS 43

5.3
5.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL FFACTORS ......................................................................................................45
PSYCHOLOGICAL 45

5.4 HUMAN C
HUMAN APITAL FACTORS ..................................................................................................... 46
CAPITALFACTORS

5.5
5.5 SOCIAL C
SOCIAL FACTORS .....................................................................................................47
APITAL F
CAPITAL 47

5.6
5.6 EFFECTIVE A
EFFECTIVE CTIONS ............................................................................................................... 48
ACTIONS

5.7
5.7 REVISED C
REVISED CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK .....................................................................................50
ONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

6. POLICY IMPLICATIONS ......................................................................................................53

6.1.1 Education Reforms .......................................................................................................53

6.1.2 Enabling Environment .................................................................................................54

6.1.3 Scholarship Reforms ....................................................................................................55

ScholarshipReforms

7. CONCLUSION ..........................................................................................................................56
7.1 LIMITATIONS ...........................................................................................................................57
LIMITATIONS 57

7.1.1 Data Accuracy and Completeness ...............................................................................57

7.1.2 Population Size and Sampling Bias .............................................................................57

7.2
7.2 RESEARCH .................................................................................................................58
FUTURE RESEARCH
FUTURE 58

REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................59
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................66
APPENDIX A:
APPENDIX INTERVIEW S
A: INTERVIEW CRIPT ......................................................................................................66
SCRIPT

A QUANTITATIVE RRAAW
PPENDIX B: QUANTITATIVE
APPENDIX WDDAATA
T A (SPSS OUTPUT) ...............................................................67
( S P S S OUTPUT) 67

APPENDIX C:
APPENDIX QUALITATIVE D
C: QUALITATIVE DAATA
T A ((SALIENTQUOTES)
SALIENT QUOTES) ...................................................................... 71

LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................................85

LIST OF TABLES ...............................................................................................................................86
 7

1. Introduction

1.1 Entrepreneurship in Indonesia

Indonesia is at a unique stage in its development. The country has made large gains against
poverty over recent years; however, modest improvements in human capital and international
competitiveness have been hard fought. The economic fallout from COVID-19 presents new
obstacles, which have ultimately seen Indonesia relegated from upper-middle income to
lower-middle income status (World Bank, 2021). Despite these challenges, Indonesia -– along
with Vietnam -– has emerged as Southeast Asia’s
Asia's fastest growing startup ecosystem. A report
from Google et al. (2019) estimated the value of Indonesia's
Indonesia’s internet economy at US
$40 billion in 2019, quadrupling from 2015. This figure is expected to reach $130 billion by
2025.

Indonesia’s most iconic startup, Gojek, began in 2010 as a call-centre for a fleet of motorcycle
Indonesia's
delivery drivers in the nation’s
nation's capital, Jakarta. Gojek would go on to transform the Indonesian
Indonesia’s first unicorn in 2016, less than two years after launching its
economy, becoming Indonesia's
ride hailing mobile application (Pratama, 2016). Another eight companies have since joined
Indonesia’s unicorn list and an $18 billion US merger between Gojek and the Indonesian
Indonesia's
eCommerce platform Tokopedia would become Indonesia's
Indonesia’s largest ever business deal in 2021
(Medina, 2021).

Indonesia’s current president Joko Widodo, himself an entrepreneur, has long insisted on
Indonesia's
entrepreneurship as a vehicle for making the Indonesian economy more internationally
competitive. In 2020, Widodo signed off the historic Omnibus Laws on Job Creation, a suite
of 76 laws designed to remove obstacles to investment in Indonesia. The laws helped ease
foreign investment restrictions, reinvigorate Special Economic Zones, streamline business
licensing processes, and simplified local labour laws. The laws also introduced incentives for
micro, small and medium enterprises, including a national business incubation program,
finance facilitation and a special allocation fund to support the entrepreneurship initiatives of
local governments (PWC, 2022).

One of Widodo’s most enterprising directives was to appoint Nadiem Makarim -– the founder
ofWidodo's
of Gojek -– as the Indonesian Minister for Education, Culture, Research and Technology in
2019. Since his appointment, Makarim has unveiled Kampus Merdeka -– a flagship suite of
8

policies designed to strengthen innovation within the Indonesian education system. The
program included funding for international exchange programs, a national internship platform
for Indonesian university students, and a mentoring program for Indonesian co-founders
(Kemdikbud, 2022). Makarim has also liberalised aspects of the Indonesian higher education
system, welcoming the opening of Monash University in Jakarta in 2021, the first foreign-
owned university to establish an International Branch Campus in Indonesia (Monash, 2020).
Indonesia will promote its digital revolution to the world in 2022 as host of the G20 leaders'
leaders’
summit
summit-– technology-based economic transformation has been identified as one of three focal
points for the meeting (Indra Arief & Resinta, 2021).

1.2 Two Entrepreneurial Journeys

The Widodo-Makarim duo are in many respects emblematic of the Southeast Asian
entrepreneurial journey, and the distinct experiences of technology and non-technology
co-founders. Like many successful non-technology entrepreneurs, Widodo's
Widodo’s formative
experiences were local. As a forestry graduate from Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia, he
first worked within state-owned forestry operations before establishing his own successful
furniture company, Rakabu (Widhiarto & Ayuningtyas, 2014).

Makarim’s journey, on the other hand, is typical of a new breed of high-performing Southeast
Makarim's
Asian tech entrepreneurs. Makarim obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from
Brown University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. He then
worked for three years with the management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company before
going on to found Gojek (Crunchbase, 2022a).

The dichotomous experiences of technology and non-technology entrepreneurs in Southeast

Asia was recently documented in a study of Vietnamese co-founders by Klingler-Vidra et al.
(2021). This study found that high performing technology entrepreneurs were 35 times more
likely to be graduates of a US university compared with their high performing non-technology
peers. Educational backgrounds were highly correlated with undergraduate studies at
America’s
America's highly ranked elite universities, such as Yale, Stanford, and UCLA -– a connection
with post-graduate studies was evident but not as strong. Technology founders were also
15 times more likely to have work experience in the Global North (Klingler-Vidra et al., 2021).
No such studies have been carried out in Indonesia; however, anecdotal evidence implies a
 9

similar link between transnational experience in the

expenence and technology entrepreneurship m
Indonesian context (Prasatya, 2017).

As emerging economies become increasingly committed to digital innovation and technology

entrepreneurship, these findings fuel a growing interest in phenomena of transnational
experiences and challenge the traditional characterisation of Global South to North mobility
as a ‘brain
'brain drain’.
drain'. Saxenian’s
Saxenian's (2005) early investigations of migrant engineers and
entrepreneurs demonstrated that transnational experiences in Silicon Valley were central to
the emergence of vibrant technology sectors in China and India. As a consequence, she depicts
the transnational experience in more positive terms, describing the phenomena as a process of
‘brain
'brain circulation’.
circulation'.

While the link between transnational experiences and technology entrepreneurship is well
documented (Saxenian, 2005; Klingler-Vidra et al., 2021), the causal mechanisms
underpinning this relationship are not well understood. Klingler-Vidra et al. (2021) emphasise
the need for further qualitative research to unpack this phenomenon and investigate why the
American educational experience in particular is so beneficial for technology co-founders.

1.3 Research Question

In order to examine the relationship between transnational experience and the entrepreneurial
performance of Indonesian technology co-founders as compared to non-technology
co-founders, our research begins by recreating to the extent possible, the Klingler-Vidra et al.
(2021) study, hereafter referred to as the Vietnamese study. This first component of our
research utilises quantitative research techniques to compare the transnational experiences of
two secondary data sets: 1)
l) successful technology co-founders in Indonesia; and 2) successful
non-technology co-founders in Indonesia. The below hypothesis has been developed for this
research and has been adapted from the Vietnamese study.

Hypothesis 1: co-founders from Indonesia are

I: High-performing technology co-founders.from
more likely to have transnational experience, compared to high-performing
non-technology co-founders.

Furthermore, the Vietnamese study finds a strong relationship between US educational

experiences and technology entrepreneurial performance. To investigate this relationship in
10

the Indonesian context, a second hypothesis below has also been adapted from the Vietnamese
study.

Hypothesis 2: High-performing technology co-founders from Indonesia are

more likely to be graduates of US universities, than the co-founders of high-
performing non-technology businesses.

The second component of this research explores how transnational experiences influence the
entrepreneurial performance of Indonesian technology co-founders. Successful Indonesian
technology co-founders were interviewed to capture their perceptions and insights as to how
transnational experiences influence entrepreneurial success. The below topic question has
been developed to guide this more exploratory research.

Topic question: How do transnational experiences influence the careers and

entrepreneurial performance of successful Indonesian technology
co-founders?

This research question is deliberately open ended and does not rely on successfully accepting
the earlier quantitative research hypothesis. If no link exists between transnational experience
and entrepreneurial performance in Indonesia, the findings from these interviews still enrich
our understanding of how transnational experiences influence technology entrepreneurship.
 11

2. Literature Review
In this literature review, we introduce the Indonesian transnational experience through an
examination of Indonesian overseas student and worker statistics. We then examine the
connection between innovation and technology entrepreneurship, and its role in stimulating
the development of Regional Innovation Systems and knowledge transfer to the Global South.
To answer our qualitative research question, we consider different measures of entrepreneurial
performance and undertake an investigation of entrepreneurial performance literature to
investigate how transnational experiences might influence the careers of Indonesian
technology co-founders. Finally, we offer a preliminary conceptual framework to explain this
mechanism.

2.1 The Indonesian Transnational Experience

The rapid emergence of vibrant technology sectors in China and India over the past two
decades has led to an increased academic interest in the transnational experiences -– the
international work, education, and travel backgrounds -– of leading technology entrepreneurs
from the Global South. However, the transnational experiences of Indonesian technology
entrepreneurs to date remain relatively undocumented. To understand the Indonesian
transnational experience, it is important to first understand the make-up of the Indonesian born
diaspora. Most recent statistics indicate approximately 44,000 Indonesian students studied
abroad in 2016, with the top five destinations for Indonesian students (see Table 1l below)
accounting for over 80 percent of all offshore enrolments (Austrade, 2019).

Table 1:
J: Top Five Destinations for Indonesian Students in 2016

Country Percent of total Number of students

Australia 24.2 10,676

United States 21.0 9,309

Malaysia 18.2 8,039

United Kingdom 7.2 3,164

Japan 6.5 2,854

12

The lion's
lion’s share of outbound students appears to be privately funded, although the Indonesian
Government also offers a range of scholarships to support international study. The Indonesian
Government's largest international scholarship program, LPDP, offered a total of 1,789
Government’s
scholarships in 2018 and has delivered 20,255 scholarships since its inception in 2013 (LPDP,
2018). Some foreign governments -– such as Australia, the US, the UK, China, and Japan -–
also fund scholarships for high achieving Indonesian students.

Indonesia’s international workforce is much larger than its international student population -–
Indonesia's
over nine million Indonesians were working overseas in 2016, representing almost seven
percent of the total Indonesian workforce. The overwhelming majority of migrant workers are
low skilled workers, with 78 percent not formally completing high school. Indonesia's
Indonesia’s migrant
workforce returned a total of US $8.9 billion in remittances to the Indonesian economy in 2016
(World Bank, 2016). Over half of the Indonesian foreign workforce is in Malaysia, owing to
its close proximity, language similarities and higher wages. The top five employment
destinations for Indonesian foreign workers are depicted in Table 2 below.

Table 2: Top Five Destinations for Indonesian Foreign Workers in 2016

Country Percent of total Number of workers

Malaysia 55 4,950,000

Saudi Arabia 13 1,170,000

Taiwan 10 900,000

Hong Kong 6 540,000

Singapore 5 450,000

The Indonesian Government does not maintain statistics on the number of Indonesian
professionals working abroad; however, the above countries, as well as foreign study
destinations, serve as an indicator of professional employment opportunities. According to the
2016 Australian census, a total of 41,037 Indonesians were employed in Australia and
43 percent of those were employed in skilled managerial, professional or trade positions
(Australian Department of Home Affairs, 2018). Similar data could not be identified for other
host countries.
 13

2.2 Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship

Definitions of innovation are wide-ranging although one commonly cited definition depicts
innovation as "a
“a multi-stage process whereby organisations transform ideas into new
improved products, services or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate
themselves successfully in their marketplace”
marketplace" (Baregheh et al., 2009, p. 1334). Innovation is
closely related to economic performance and competitiveness. Innovation also stimulates
industrial and technological transformation, which is recognised as important for allowing
emerging economies to avoid the middle-income trap (Damuri et al., 2018).

Technology entrepreneurship is increasingly attracting the attention of researchers and

policymakers because of its close association with innovation. Bailetti (2012) defines
technology entrepreneurship as "an
“an investment in a project that assembles and deploys
specialised individuals and heterogeneous assets to create and capture value for the firm"
firm” (p.5).
Technology entrepreneurs are distinguished from their non-technology peers because of a
culture of collaborative experimentation and the creation of new products and assets that
advance scientific and technological knowledge (Bailetti, 2012). Beckman et al. (2012)
emphasise technology entrepreneurship’s
entrepreneurship's potential to drive scalable economic growth and
manifest social and environmental outcomes.

The relationship between technology entrepreneurship, innovation, and social and economic
outcomes is clearly visible in the Indonesian context, with Gojek contributing an estimated
US $17.6 billion to the Indonesian economy in 2021, including US $4.7 billion to their drivers
and merchant partners (Sutrisno, 2021). Having revolutionised transport and logistics
throughout urban Indonesia, the immense scale and reach of the Gojek ecosystem now allows
the tech giant to drive social and commercial innovations at the national level across a diverse
range of industries, including telemedicine (Chopra, 2017), mobile payments (Yahoo Finance,
2021) and government payments (Mulia, 2021).

2.3 Regional Innovation Systems in the Global South

Understanding the influence of technology entrepreneurship on emerging economies demands
a thorough investigation of the academic literature on innovation systems. In the 1980s
innovation was seen as a linear process of manufacturing research and development (inputs)
into marketable inventions (outputs); however, early theories of innovation systems
14

reimagined innovation as an accumulation of knowledge resulting from complex

interdependencies between various actors (Asheim et al., 2015). The concept of Regional
Innovation Systems (RIS) emerged in the 1990s from the interdisciplinary research between
scholars of innovation and economic geography. RIS theory emphasises the importance of
geographic proximity for knowledge transfer and learning processes and has been used
extensively to explain the uneven distribution of innovation and knowledge capabilities
(Asheim et al., 2015). Technology entrepreneurship is closely related to the RIS phenomenon
because of the important role technology entrepreneurship plays in organising specialised
individuals and knowledge assets.

As the RIS concept developed, it was used to explain how different RIS emerge, which
expanded the concept’s
concept's application to the field of international development (Asheim et al.,
2015). Chaminade and Vang (2006) argue the RIS in Bangalore - the most prominent advanced
technology centre in India -– emerged from links between government, entrepreneurs, and
transnational corporations. They concluded a RIS can emerge in a developing country when
the region starts accumulating competencies and innovative actors, which typically requires a
cluster of local firms, skilled workers, quality education providers, and strong organisational
and research facilities. Foreign investment and multinational companies are seen as critical for
building competencies and forging links between innovative actors in the early stages of a
RIS. Chaminade and Vang (2006) also emphasised the constructive role of ‘international
'international
social capital’
capital' that emerges from transnational cooperation between entrepreneurs, the
diaspora community and education institutions.

However, the clustering of capabilities that occurs within a RIS can also be seen as a
double-edged sword. Saxenian (2001) cautions against the unfettered development of
high-tech enclaves in developing countries where the local governance and human resource
inputs are inadequate, arguing the technology sector can sometimes work against society's
society’s
most vulnerable by exacerbating inequality and undermining the competitiveness of other low
skill industries by contributing to ‘Dutch
'Dutch disease’.
disease'.

2.4 International Knowledge Flows

Contemporary RIS studies have emphasised the importance of knowledge flows for RIS
development in the context of both developed and developing countries. Bibliometric analysis
reveals knowledge concepts such as creation, flows, spill over and bases, and their interrelated
 15

activities have featured prominently among influential RIS research since the 2000s. Broadly
speaking these studies emphasise the importance of economically useful knowledge
(López-Rubio
(Lopez-Rubio et al., 2020).

Trippl et al. (2017) argue global knowledge sources are important for spurring new pathway
development, which is a function of how well RIS'
RIS’ can attract and absorb knowledge.
Knowledge attraction, in this context, refers to the processes and channels by which the RIS,
and organisations within it, source knowledge from abroad. In their studies of multinational
enterprises, Cohen and Levinthal (1990, p. 128) defined knowledge absorption as the capacity
“recognise the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial
to "recognise
ends”.
ends". Firms within a diversified and organisationally thick RIS -– which refers to the strength
of the regional innovation architecture and institutions -–ffind
i n d it easier to both attract and absorb
global knowledge (Trippl et al., 2017).

A study of global knowledge flows in Italy highlighted the complementary relationship

between international connections and the RIS and identified three main innovation-creating
actors -– private firms, sub-national governments, and education providers/research institutes
-– responsible for forging international connections (Lew et al., 2018).

2.5 Entrepreneurial Performance

While economists and policy makers often adopt a system-level view of innovation,
entrepreneurs and investors are much more concerned with performance at the firm-level. To
understand the influence of transnational experience on Indonesian technology entrepreneurs,
it is important to define and integrate different measures of entrepreneurial performance.
Entrepreneurial success is considered a complex phenomenon that can be evaluated from a
range of perspectives. A psychological perspective of entrepreneurial performance prioritises
the welfare and priorities of the individual entrepreneur and is primarily concerned with
personal metrics such as enjoyment, personal relationships, lifestyle, satisfaction, and a sense
of achievement (Lukes & Laguna, 20
2010).
l 0).

Economic measures of performance are particularly common among technology startups

because of the technology sector's
sector’s strong emphasis on scalability. Diaz-Santamaria
Díaz-Santamaría and
Bulchand-Gidumal (2021) suggest that revenue-based measures and funding-based measures
Bulehand-Gidumal
are the most common economic indicators of success. Revenue results and revenue growth
16

provide insights into a startup’s

startup's current and future profitability whereas the amount of finance
raised by a startup is seen as market-based validation of a venture'
venture’ss future growth potential.
The two economic measures are not perfectly correlated, and there are many famous instances
of startups achieving large valuations prior to generating revenue (Dickey, 2013). Many
technology startups are not publicly listed and are not obliged to publicly disclose revenue,
however, startup funding events are generally made publicly available because of the ability
of funding announcements to signal confidence in a venture.

A stakeholder perspective of entrepreneurial performance recognises that new ventures have

potential to create and destroy value for a range of people. Ali and Cottle (2019) argue a
stakeholder lens is better able to reflect the net contribution to society by looking beyond the
narrow interests of entrepreneurs and shareholders and considering how operations impact
customers, suppliers, employees and communities. Stakeholder measures of entrepreneurial
performance are much more important for a macro-level view of entrepreneurship.

A large body of entrepreneurship research has considered the various determinants of

entrepreneurial performance. These factors are often attributed to two separate schools of
thought: human capital and social capital (each of which is considered in tum
turn below).

2.6 Human Capital and Entrepreneurship

The concept of human capital can trace its origins to the works of Adam Smith, whose fourth
definition of capital noted that "the
“the acquisition of …
... talents during …
... education, study, or
apprenticeship, costs a real expense, which is capital in [a] person. Those talents [are] part of
his fortune [and] likewise that of society”
society" (Smith, 1776). The term human capital is used across
a wide range of disciplines and there is no universally accepted definition; however, one
commonly cited definition from the field of management recognises human capital as:

" ... the human factor in the organisation; the combined intelligence, skills
“…the
and expertise that gives the organisation its distinctive character. The
human elements of the organisation are those that are capable of learning,
changing, innovating, and providing the creative thrust which if properly
motivated can ensure the long-run survival of the organisation"
organisation” (Bantis
(Bontis et
al., 1999, p. 393).

The human capital perspective of entrepreneurship is perhaps best summed up by Drucker

said “[entrepreneurship] is a discipline. And, like any discipline, it can be learned".
(1985) who said"[entrepreneurship] learned”.
 17

The association between human capital and entrepreneurial performance is well documented,
although there are a wide range of arguments for how human capital influences entrepreneurial
outcomes (Colombo et al., 2004; Dyke et al., 1992; Shane, 2000; Unger et al., 2011). In
understanding this relationship, it is important to distinguish between human capital
investments and the outcomes of human capital investments. These outcomes should in tum
turn
influence the effective actions of the entrepreneur (Unger et al., 2011).

2.7 Human Capital Investments and Outcomes

Human capital investments are made through educational and professional experiences which
typically result in outcomes associated with knowledge acquisition and the formation of
human relationships. ‘Jack-of-all-trade’
'Jack-of-all-trade' theories of entrepreneurship demonstrate that, while
employees require high levels of specialisation, entrepreneurs tend to be generalists with
varied labour market experience (Åstebro & Thompson, 2011). Many researchers have
emphasised the importance of work experience on entrepreneurial success (Colombo et al.,
2004; Dyke et al., 1992; Shane, 2000; Unger et al., 2011). Previous industry, management and
startup experiences of firm owners have been positively correlated with firm performance
across a range of industries (Dyke et al., 1992). The collective breadth of industry experience
among nascent startup teams can also increase the likelihood of a venture achieving
profitability (Muñoz-Bullon
(Mufioz-Bullon et al., 2015). Unger et al. (2011) argue it is not the work
experience itself, but the acquisition of task-related knowledge and skills that is driving
entrepreneurial success.

The advantages of professional experience are wide ranging. Startup and industry experiences
are recognised as aiding entrepreneurs to recognise entrepreneurial opportunities (Politis &
Gabrielsson, 2005). Shane (2000) argues deep experience in a field allows entrepreneurs to
more easily stumble upon related entrepreneurial opportunities without the need for extensive
searching. Management experience on the other hand supports the entrepreneur to overcome
liability of newness by allowing the entrepreneur to better respond to the multitude of daily
challenges that entrepreneurs confront (Politis & Gabrielsson, 2005). Management experience
is particularly beneficial for high-risk ventures such as technology entrepreneurship (Dencker
& Gruber, 2015).

Researchers also recognise

recogmse the importance of education and academic institutions for
entrepreneurship and innovation and there is a demonstrated link between educational
18

attainment and the success of technology ventures (Colombo et al., 2004). Highly educated
entrepreneurs are also more able to realise growth than low skill entrepreneurs, provided the
entrepreneur has growth aspirations (Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003). Asheim and Coenen (2005)
draw a distinction between analytical knowledge, driven by the creation of new codified
knowledge and synthetic knowledge, which emphasises the application of tacit knowledge
which is pre-existing. Research intensive industries -– such as IT and biotech -– are particularly
dependent on the higher education sector because of their reliance on analytical knowledge.
Conversely, engineering-intensive industries -– such as software development -– require the
application of synthetic knowledge, which demands high levels of industrial specialisation and
interactive learning (Asheim & Coenen, 2005).

Transnational education experiences, particularly in

m English-speaking countries, help
accelerate the attainment of English-language proficiency. Shehu and Shittu (2015) argue the
adoption of the English language as a global language of business provides speakers with an
entrepreneurial competitive advantage by allowing them to communicate with greater
influence and obtain access to broader fields of operation and information.

For many skilled migrants, investments in formal education are an important prerequisite for
the acquisition of professional experience. Surveys of Chinese students with transnational
higher education experiences reveal the value of hard knowledge, soft skills and cross-cultural
understanding acquired from study abroad, which positively contributes to graduate
employability (Mok et al., 2018). Holmberg-Wright and Hribar (2016) argue soft skills are
undervalued within the field of entrepreneurship on the basis that many instances of venture
failure are attributed to team dynamics and poor management. Wang et al. (2011) posit that
Chinese returnee technology entrepreneurs (that is entrepreneurs who have studied or worked
abroad and returned) develop teamwork skills while abroad that can distinguish them from
their domestic peers.

Closely related but distinct from formal education is the influence of entrepreneurial
education. Researchers now recognise the importance of academic entrepreneurship -–
university programs to encourage commercialisation processes -– for the creation of unique
technologies and entrepreneurial opportunities (Wood, 2011). Academic entrepreneurship and
the entrepreneurial university have emerged as a consequence of many modem
modern universities
adopting a ‘third
'third mission’
mission' of making an economic contribution to society (Eatmon et al.,
2019). The modern
modem entrepreneurial university now offers a range of entrepreneurial initiatives
 19

to boost academic entrepreneurship -– such as tailored entrepreneurship courses, bootcamps,

incubator programs, startup competitions, and proof concept centres -– which differentiate
them from traditional universities.

These initiatives ideally offer immersive expenences

experiences that equip students with practical
entrepreneurial skills and familiarise them with the entrepreneurial process (Shah & Pahnke,
2014). Immersive learning allows students to develop entrepreneurial competencies that can
assist with the identification of entrepreneurial opportunities (Ratten & Usmanij, 2021).
Entrepreneurship education in the Indonesian context has been shown to indirectly reinforce
the entrepreneurial intentions of students (Mahendra et al., 2017). Entrepreneurial education
has also been shown to inspire students and spark a passion for entrepreneurship (Souitaris et
al., 2007). Venture capitalists value founder teams with passion and a shared strategic vision
(de Mol, 2019).

2.8 Social Capital and Entrepreneurship

Social capital can be defined as "the
“the goodwill available to individuals or groups. Its source
lies in the structure and content of the actor’s
actor's social relations. Its effects flow from the
information, influence, and solidarity it makes available to the actor”
actor" (Adler & Kwon, 2002
p.23). The social capital available to people and organisations is heterogeneous and mediated
by obstacles or boundaries that can inhibit the formation of new relationships (Kim & Aldrich,
2005). The influence of social capital on entrepreneurial success is well documented (Honig
& Davidsson, 2000) and is perhaps best summed up by the maxim ‘it’s
'it's not what you know
but who you know.’
know.'

Research on entrepreneurship and social capital has also emphasised the strength of emotional
ties between the entrepreneur and other stakeholders. The social capital of an entrepreneurial
venture is typically comprised of strong emotional ties that ‘bond’
'bond' internal stakeholders, such
as co-founders, early employees, and mentors; and weak emotional ties that ‘bridge’
'bridge' into the
specialised knowledge reserves and resources of external contacts, such as industry leaders,
financiers, political figures, and technical experts (Florin et al., 2003). Studies of founder
teams have shown that early-stage team composition is primarily motivated by trust and
familiarity rather than evaluations of competence, underscoring the importance of strong
internal ties (Ruef et al., 2003). Conversely, weak ties can expand the stocks of knowledge
and resources available to a venture. The importance of weak ties is demonstrated by a study
20

of Linkedln
LinkedIn networks, which found a positive correlation between the number of founder
connections and the amount of funds raised by the co-founders (Banerji & Reimer, 2019).

2.9 Social Capital Investments and Outcomes

The influence of social networks can easily be observed within the academic environment,
and students often making large financial investments in formal education opportunities with
the aim of accessing prestigious education and alumni networks (Kim & Aldrich, 2005).
Knowledge intermediaries embedded within the university -– such as Technology Trade offices
and accelerator programs -– are recognised as an important feature of entrepreneurial university
ecosystems because of their ability to connect academic entrepreneurs with non-academic
contacts (Hayter, 2016). Kacperczyk (2013) also emphasises the role of social influences on
entrepreneurial intention, demonstrating that entrepreneurship is often socially transmitted
through university peer groups rather than the actions of the academic institution itself
itself.

Longitudinal studies of entrepreneurship have shown that membership of business networks -–

such as chambers of commerce and industry associations -– are strongly associated with the
sales and profitability of nascent ventures, underscoring the importance of actively cultivating
relationships (Honig & Davidsson, 2000). Studies of entrepreneurial networks have shown
that founders of more established entrepreneurial ventures have larger networks and
deliberately dedicate more time to networking activities than founders of early-stage ventures
(Greve, 1995).

Studies of Chinese returnee entrepreneurs have found that their Western experiences allowed
them to more easily leverage entrepreneurial opportunities that arise from information
asymmetry between different knowledge networks (Dai & Liu, 2009). Similarly, studies of
Chinese entrepreneurs indicate that international education experiences signal a greater sense
of legitimacy, which can assist the founders of new ventures to acquire venture capital (Zheng
et al., 2021).

The influence of political connections on entrepreneurial performance also appears more

pronounced in emerging economies. Studies of entrepreneurship in China identified a positive
relationship between entrepreneurial performance and Chinese Communist Party membership,
particularly in regions with less competitive markets and weaker legal protections. Party
 21

membership improved the entrepreneur’s

entrepreneur's access to finance from banks and other state-owned
institutions (Li et al., 2008, p. 284).

2.10 A Preliminary Conceptual Framework

The below preliminary conceptual framework (see Figure 1)
l) has been developed to summarise
the possible influence of transnational experience on the performance of Indonesian
technology entrepreneurs. Building on the model of Unger et al. (2011), the framework
recognises that transnational investments -– in the form of international education and work
experiences -– only benefit an entrepreneur if they result in practical human or social capital
outcomes. These outcomes allow entrepreneurs to perform effective actions which increase
venture’ss likelihood of success. Through interviews of successful
the entrepreneurial venture'
Indonesian technology co-founders, this research explores which human and social outcomes,
and effective actions best explain the performance of Indonesian technology entrepreneurs
with transnational experience.
22

Figure 1:
l: Preliminary Conceptual Framework for the Influence of Transnational Experience on Technology
Co-Founders

TRANSNATIONAL EXPERIENCE

r
INVESTMENTS
Educational experience I Work experience

L HUMAN CAPITALOUTCOMES J L SOCIALCAPITALOUTCOMES J

• Analytical knowledge • Personal & peer networks
(Asheim & Coenen, 2005) (Kacperczyk, 2013)

• Entrepreneurial knowledge • Academic & alumni networks

(Shah & Cox Pahnke, 2014) (Hayter, 2016)
• Industry knowledge • Industry & professional networks
(Unger et al., 2011) (Dyke et al., 1992)

• Passion & purpose • Startup & investor networks

(Souitaris et al., 2007) (Souitaris et al., 2007)

• Soft skills & intercultural competence • Legitimacy

(Holmberg-Wright & Hribar, 2016) (Zheng et al., 2021)

• Leadership & management skills • Local networks

(Politis & Gabrielsson, 2005) (Li et al., 2016)

• Language skills
(Shehu & Shittu 2015)

EFFECTIVE ACTIONS

• Opportunity recognition • Leading & managing teams

(Shane, 2005; Ratten & Usmanij, 2021) (Holmberg-Wright & Hribar, 2016)
• Business operations • Fundraising
(Politis & Gabrielsson, 2005) (Asheim & Coenen, 2005)

• Growth & scaling • Recruiting

(Wiklund & Shepherd, 2003) (Ruef et al., 2003)

ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
 23

3. Methodology
The research methodology outlined below provides a roadmap for answering the research
questions. The bipartite nature of this research demanded the use of two separate research
methodologies, specifically quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Our two research
hypotheses: 1)
l) that high-performing technology co-founders from Indonesia are more likely
to have transnational experiences, compared to high-performing non-technology co-founders,
and 2) that high-performing technology co-founders from Indonesia are more likely to be
graduates of US universities, than the co-founders of high-performing non-technology
businesses is tested using quantitative research techniques (outlined at 3.1).
3. l).

In contrast, our topic question ‘how

'how do transnational experiences influence the careers and
entrepreneurial performance of Indonesian technology co-founders?'
co-founders?’ is explored using
qualitative interviews of co-founders (outlined at 3.2).

3.1 Quantitative Methodology

As noted above (see 1.3), the first part of our research will replicate an existing study of
Vietnamese technology co-founders. To the extent possible, we mirror the methodology of
this original study to ensure the comparability of our findings. Only minor aspects of the
original study, such as statistics on Soviet Union experiences, were not replicated as they were
not considered relevant for the Indonesian political economy.

3.1.1 Target Population and Data Set

The target population for this research is successful Indonesian technology and
non-technology co-founders. A data set was compiled comprising two sub data sets, namely a
list of high-performing co-founders of technology businesses and a list of high-performing
co-founders or non-technology-oriented businesses. Company valuations as of September
2021 and January 2022 were used respectively as the indicator of their high performance.

After applying the relevant filters (as outlined below), a total of 146 technology companies,
with 301 identifiable co-founders were included in the technology co-founder data set and a
total of 34 non-technology companies, with 46 identifiable co-founders were included in
24

the non-technology data set (for a total of 180 companies and 347 co-founders across both
data sets).

Technology data set filtering

The technology data set was sourced from Crunchbase, a platform that provides extensive
technology company insights, ranging from early-stage startups to large global decacorns
(Crunchbase, 2022b). Through Crunchbase’s
Crunchbase' s filter system, a list of the highest performing
Indonesian-based technology companies was generated based on their equity funding. For the
purposes of this research, the threshold for success was set at a minimum of US $100,000,
following the same threshold and reasoning as applied in the Vietnamese study, which
returned a search total of 326 companies.

The exported data contained information about each firm's

firm’s industry coding, location and
co-founder(s), as well as date of founding. Further independent Indonesian and English
language research, particularly through company websites and recent news, was carried out to
confirm whether these companies fulfilled the following criteria: a) their main product or
service is technology-enabled; b) they were founded on or after the year 2000 and are not state
funded; and c) they are Indonesian companies that are independent and actively trading.

The first ‘technology-enabled’

'technology-enabled' filter removed every firm whose main business was
non-technology oriented. The Vietnamese study classified technology-focused companies as
those that fall under the following categories - Apps, Artificial Intelligence, Business
Information Systems, Data and Analytics, Design, Gaming, Information Technology, Internet
Services, Media and Entertainment, Messaging and Telecommunications, Mobile, Platforms,
Software and Video. The same categories of ‘technology-focussed’
'technology-focussed' companies were applied
in this research. A total of 215 companies were subsequently included in the technology data
set.

Based on the ‘date founding’ filter, four technology companies were removed as they were
'date of founding'
set up prior to 2000 (e.g., Bhinneka.com and Nex-I). The reason for establishing a founding
date limit was to control the influence of survival bias (Chen, 2021). Furthermore, filtering
also removed government owned companies, resulting in the removal of one organisation
(LinkAja). This resulted in a list of 210 technology companies.
 25

Finally, firms were deemed ‘actively

'actively trading as independent companies’
companies' if: a) founded and
based in Indonesia (e.g., Migo was removed as it is based in Taiwan); b) not a subsidiary of
an overseas parent company (e.g., Kredivo was removed as Singapore’s
Singapore's FinAccel is their
parent company); c) their websites and social media have been active for the past year and
have not been deactivated; and d) there was no news reports of company failure (of which
there were many during the COVID-19 pandemic for example). In total, this filtered out 46
companies, leaving 165 companies in the technology data set (prior to co-founder
identification, see below).

Non-technology data set filtering

A data set of non-technology companies was also generated to enable comparison with the
technology data set. The non-technology data set applied similar qualifying filters; however,
the data was retrieved from Investing.com, a financial platform that offers information
regarding publicly traded companies on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). Publicly traded
market capitalisation ('market
(‘market cap’)
cap') was used as the measure for high-performing firms
outside of the technology sector. A market cap of US $7 million was used resulting in the
identification of 719 companies. This threshold was set lower than the original Vietnamese
study to increase the number of non-technology companies included in our study. Unlike the
Vietnamese study, our non-technology data set did not fulfil the criteria of having at least one
company from each of Investing.com’s industry categories.
oflnvesting.com's

Of the 719 non-technology companies identified, eight fell into the technology category and
hence were removed. Second, a cut off year for companies established before 2000 was
applied. This excluded a further 387 companies from the list. A further 32 companies were
found to have state origins and were removed. Third, the independent and actively-trading
filter led to the removal of an additional 128 companies that were subsidiaries of foreign
multinational corporations (e.g., Unilever) or Indonesian conglomerates (e.g., Salim Group,
Lippo Group, Sinar Mas). Any duplicate listings were also removed. This resulted in 158
companies being included in the final non-technology data set (prior to co-founder
identification, see below).

Identification of co-founders

The identification of co-founders was either achieved via Crunchbase or ad hoc Google and
news research. The latter was important for the non-technology data set as Investing.com did
26

not contain information on co-founders. Steps taken to ensure an accurate co-founder data set
included: 1)
l) examining the company website for co-founder details; and 2) conducting a
Google search for further information. If no details of the co-founders were available, the
company was removed from the data set. Based on this rule, three firms were removed from
the technology data set and 120 companies were removed from the non-technology data set.
The result of these filters led to a total of 146 high performing technology businesses being
included in the technology data set and 34 high performing non-technology companies being
included in the non-technology dataset.

A final screening of the data was conducted to determine if co-founders were Indonesian
citizens. This screen revealed 36 foreign co-founders and seven duplicate names from the
technology data set, as well as one foreign co-founder from the non-technology data set. All
44 names were removed, leaving the final count at 301 co-founders from technology
businesses and 46 co-founders of non-technology companies (for a total of 347 co-founders
across both data sets) as of March 2022.

3.1.2 Data Collection

Once the technology and non-technology data sets were established, a total of 347 co-founders
were identified as in-scope for this research. Each of the co-founders were researched
thoroughly through a variety of sources such as Linkedin,
LinkedIn, media coverage and Wikipedia,
both in English and Indonesian. For all 347 co-founders, data was collected as to whether they
had transnational education or work experiences or place-based experiences. The majority of
co-founder data was collected from public Linkedin
LinkedIn profiles. The data collection process also
gathered international education details, such as location, subject and degree obtained, and
international work histories, with some co-founders having experience with up to six different
international companies.

If a co-founder was determined to have transnational expenence,

experience, data on where that
experience took place (outside Indonesia) was also recorded, including if they had studied or
worked in multiple locations. Where co-founders had transnational experience in multiple
locations, each location was recorded.
 27

3.1.3 Data Analysis

For our quantitative analysis we sought to mirror the statistical techniques applied throughout
the Vietnamese study. We used binary coding to organise the data. For the purpose of this
research, all co-founders included in our technology data set were assigned a value of 1l while
all non-technology co-founders were assigned a value of 0.

Our first hypothesis predicted that Indonesian technology co-founders would be more likely
to have international experience than non-technology co-founders. To perform this analysis,
each co-founder in the aggregated data set (i.e., technology and non-technology) was assigned
a value of either 1l or 0O according to whether they had any international work or education
experience. Thus, this code served as the independent variable ‘transnational
'transnational experience’.
experience'.

Our second hypothesis predicted that Indonesian technology co-founders would be more likely
to have transnational experience than non-technology co-founders. To perform this analysis,
all founders with an American education were assigned a value of 1l and those without an
American education were assigned a value of 0. To further examine the transnational
education relationship in more detail, a second computation was performed with co-founders
with an international education (regardless of country) being assigned a value of 1,
l, and all
other co-founders without international education were assigned a value of 0.

To approximate the cause-and-effect relationship between the dependent variable and

Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis was conducted. The Chi-Square (χ2)
independent variable(s), a Pearson's (x2)
test was carried out to determine the probability of the association between the two variables
by comparing the observed values in the table with that which might be expected if the two
distributions were independent of each other. The two variables were computed in a
cross-tabulation (2x2 table). The test relies on the categories used in the contingency table
being mutually exclusive so that each observation falls into one category and no expected
values of less than 10 for tables of two rows and two columns (Hays, 1994 as cited in Saunders
ofless
et al., 2007). If the p-value is < 0.05, this indicates a statistically significant relationship
between the two variables. (Saunders et al., 2007).

For the purposes of our research, the Pearson's

Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis was carried out using
SPSS (version 27.0), an advanced data management and statistical analysis software, to
examine whether there were any statistically significant differences between technology and
non-technology co-founders in relation to transnational experiences generally (relating to
28

hypothesis 1),
l), and specifically in relation to education (relating to hypothesis 2) and work
experiences.
expenences. A Chi-Square analysis was also used to determine whether technology
co-founders were statistically more likely to have studied in the US compared to
non-technology co-founders (relating to hypothesis 2). For any significant Chi-Square results,
a binary logistic regression analysis was undertaken to determine the predictive power of the
relevant variable.

3.2 Qualitative Methodology

As noted above (see 2), there is a large body of literature examining the determinants of
entrepreneurial intent and performance and a well-established relationship between
international experiences and the performance of technology co-founders from the Global
South. However, the mechanism through which transnational experiences shape or influence
the careers of these entrepreneurs is not well understood. Thus, the second exploratory
component of our research seeks to understand ‘how
'how do transnational experiences influence
the careers and entrepreneurial performance of successful Indonesian technology co-
founders?’ The use of a qualitative research methodology reflects the exploratory nature of
founders?'
this research question, which seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the nuanced influences
of different elements of the transnational experience on entrepreneurial performance.

For this component of our research, we employed a semi-structured interview methodology,

which involved interviewing participants using a list of key themes and questions, while also
allowing freedom to adapt questions throughout the interview. Semi-structured interviews are
a valued research technique for exploratory studies because they allow the researcher to better
obtain new insights and get to the bottom of what is happening (Saunders et al., 2007).

It should be noted that we first intended to explore this research question through a survey
methodology, which would have offered greater generalisability; however, due to the small
population size and low response rate from our survey, we obtained data that was neither
statistically significant nor rich in insights. As a result, we pivoted our research towards a
qualitative interview methodology, which allowed us to better elicit rich long-form anecdotes
and gain a deeper look into the internal psyche of the entrepreneur.
 29

3.2.1 Target Population

The target population for our qualitative interview-based research was high-performing
Indonesian technology co-founders. The same co-founder data set and exclusion criteria
developed for our quantitative research (see 3.1) was used to identify interview participants.
Non-technology co-founders were not included in qualitative interviews as this was beyond
the scope of our topic question. The niche and time-poor nature of our population had
important implications for our research methodology because it made it difficult to contact
and arrange interviews with co-founders.

3.2.2 Sampling

Our original Crunchbase data set identified a total of 301 co-founders of technology
companies, of which 185 had transnational experience. Drawing from the technology
co-founder dataset outlined in 3.1, technology co-founders with transnational experiences
were invited to participate in interviews through the popular professional social network
LinkedIn.
Linkedin.

Participants were identified using non-probability sampling techniques. Co-founders with both
international work and education experiences were emphasised as we wanted interviewees
who were able to draw comparisons between these two experience categories. Similarly, we
also tried to include participants who had studied in both the US and other locations, as we
wanted to draw comparisons between different geographic experiences. Emphasising certain
criteria in this way reflects a form of purposive sampling whereby researchers use their own
judgement to select participants that serve the objectives of the research (Saunders et al.,
2007).

For those who consented to participate (n = 4), a series

senes of interviews were conducted
(as outlined below at 3.2.3). A deidentified description of each participant is provided below.

Participant 1l is the CEO of an Indonesian data analytics platform. He graduated from an

American university with a BA in Economics. He had extensive professional experience,
including with the World Bank and other foreign governments, prior to founding the data
analytics startup. He recently completed an executive education program at a leading
American university.
30

Participant 2 is the CEO of an Indonesian FinTech scaleup. After studying accounting at a

leading Indonesian university, he worked with a major multinational bank in Indonesia.
Participant 2 then studied an MBA in Europe and worked for several years in the Middle East
with another multinational bank before founding his FinTech startup.

Participant 3 is an original co-founder, now advisor, at an Indonesian EdTech company. He

has spent well over a decade studying and working abroad. He studied a B.Eng and a MSc.
Management in the UK before gaining extensive professional experience with industry,
state-owned enterprises, a major multinational professional services firm and in academia. He
graduated with a PhD in Management from a leading Indonesian university.

Participant 4 is the CEO of an Indonesian entertainment platform. He studied English in New

Zealand before undertaking a six-month internship in Europe as part of his studies towards a
Bachelor of Business at an Indonesian university. He then completed a Master oflnternational
of International
Business in Australia while working with a multinational industrials company. He worked
with a major Indonesian media conglomerate before going on to establish his entertainment
startup.

3.2.3 Data Collection

For the purpose of the qualitative component of this research, we conducted one-on-one
semi-structured interviews with four Indonesian technology co-founders with transnational
education and work experiences. The purpose of these interviews was to collect primary data
to better understand how these transnational experiences influenced their careers as
entrepreneurs. This semi-structured interview approach allowed us to focus our interviews on
key concepts from the academic literature (e.g., human capital, social capital) in a consistent
manner, while also providing flexibility to recognise the breadth of transnational experience
and to probe deeper on relevant insights from participants, gaining rich contextual detail for
their perspectives.

Interviewees were provided with terms of reference which explained the research purpose,
methodology and data protection protocols. All interviews were conducted and recorded over
Zoom and were scheduled to go for approximately 45 minutes (note interviewees were only
interviewed once, no follow-up interviews took place). Upon completion, each interview was
transcribed using the software Otter.ai. Basic cleaning of the data occurred to correct any
transcription errors. A copy of the transcript was provided to participants after each interview
 31

to confirm the accuracy of the data and provide an opportunity for any comments to be deleted
from the record.

Interviews were conducted in English rather than Indonesian as all participants had English
language fluency and extensive experience in English speaking education institutions and
workplaces. We also wanted to capture the thoughts and opinions of participants directly and
ensure that their intended meaning was not lost in translation.

3.2.4 Interview Guide

An interview guide was prepared and used to guide each interview. The niche and time-poor
nature of our sample meant we had to be selective about the questions asked in the interview.
A total 14 questions were formulated, informed by key concepts identified through a review
of the academic literature. In particular, the question set was designed to elicit responses to
understand the influence of transnational experiences (both academic and work related) on
interviewees entrepreneurial career or success, to understand which human and social capital
influences were most important for the interviewee and how the international experience
influenced different entrepreneurial functions. The full list of questions asked and the
corresponding purpose of the question is provided in Table 3 below.

To ensure further consistency, an interview script (see appendix A) was also developed, which
reiterated key points contained within our terms of reference. Verbal consent was obtained
from participants who had not returned our written consent form.

The following interview questions were used to administer the semi-structured interviews.

Table 3: Semi-structured Interview Questions

Question Purpose

- Could you tell us about how you first became interested in To understand the influence of
entrepreneurship? transnational experiences on
entrepreneurial opportunity and
- What inspired you to establish your startup? entrepreneurial intention

- Did your international experiences contribute to your decisions

to establish this startup?

- Do you believe you would have founded a startup without

these international experiences?
32

- What aspects of the international experience were most To understand how international
important for your performance as an entrepreneur and why? work and study experiences
influenced the careers of
- How did your international study experiences assist you with technology co-founders
your entrepreneurial career?

- What motivated you to study abroad?

- How did your international work experiences assist your

entrepreneurial career?

- What has been most beneficial for your career? Your

international education experiences or your international work
experiences?

- Optional: Many Indonesian entrepreneurs have studied in the

US. What do you believe is unique about the US educational
experience?

- Some academics believe entrepreneurial success is linked to To understand how human and
social capital, and argue ‘it’s
'it's not what you know, but who you social capital factors influenced the
know.'
know.’ Others emphasise the importance of human capital and careers of technology co-founders
believe ‘entrepreneurship
'entrepreneurship is a discipline, and like any
discipline, it can be learned'.
learned’. Which perspective do you agree
with most and why? The human capital perspective or the
social capital perspective?

- Which particular connections and relationships did you make

abroad that were important for your entrepreneurial career?

- What knowledge and lessons did you acquire abroad that

influenced your career?

- How did your international experiences influence the different To understand how the
stages of the entrepreneurial journey? international experience influenced
different effective actions (i.e.,
- What could the Indonesian government do to help entrepreneurial functions)
entrepreneurs without international experiences?

3.2.5 Data Analysis

The resulting textual data from the interview transcripts were coded for thematic analysis.
Thematic analysis is understood as a "foundational
“foundational method for qualitative analysis”
analysis" (Braun &
Clarke, 2006, p. 78). Thematic analysis involves identifying "themes,
“themes, or patterns, that occur
across a data set”,
set", often achieved through coding (Saunders et al., 2007).

Thematic analysis of qualitative data may be undertaken using a variety of approaches and
applying inductive, deductive, and abductive analysis (Saunders et al., 2007). A deductive
approach involves identifying themes based on existing theory to then be examined through
 33

qualitative data collection and analysis (Saunders et al., 2007). Conversely, an inductive
approach involves identifying themes from the qualitative data collected and building a theory
based on the analysis of that data (Saunders et al., 2007). An abductive approach commences
with forming a conclusion from the information that is known and involves a combination of
both deductive and inductive approaches whereby themes are added to or modified as the data
set is analysed (Saunders et al., 2007).

Deductive analysis

First, the themes of the interview transcripts (textual data) were analysed using a deductive
approach. This involved identifying predetermined codes (‘a
('a priori’)
priori') based on the academic
literature relating to transnational experience and entrepreneurship. These theory-driven codes
were then applied to responses elicited through the interviews and noted on the interview
transcripts. Codes (at the micro-level) were grouped into broader themes or categories (at the
macro-level). Theory driven codes (micro-level) and categories (macro-level) were drawn
from the preliminary conceptual framework provided at 2.10.

Inductive analysis

In addition to the deductive analysis, the transcripts were then further analysed using an
inductive approach, whereby common themes beyond the predetermined codes and categories
were identified and coded. The new data-driven codes were identified from notes taken
throughout the meetings, as well as from a detailed review of the written interview transcripts.
All coding was performed using the qualitative research software Atlas.ti. This software
enabled analysis of codes to evaluate the frequency and distribution of key themes. All textual
data was reviewed by two researchers to validate the coding.

3.2.6 Research Ethics

Research ethics -– the extent that we respected the rights of those who participated in our
research (Saunders et al., 2007)
2007)-– were an important consideration for our qualitative research
because of our need to collect personal opinions and reflections from interview participants.
We were particularly cognisant of privacy and complying with the European Union's
Union’s General
Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements.

All participants who agreed to be interviewed were provided with terms of reference which
provided detailed information about how our research would collect, use, store and destroy
34

data. It also informed participants about their rights under GDPR laws as well as contact points
for questions and procedures for withdrawing consent. The terms of reference were
accompanied by a written consent form which was returned by participants prior to the
collection of data. Two participants failed to return the written consent form and so for these
participants content was collected and recorded verbally prior to the interview.

A transcript of interviews was created and forwarded to participants after interviews to confirm
ofinterviews
they were comfortable with the contents of the transcript. Any identifiable interview data was
anonymised from the transcripts and our final research. De-identification was important
because of the public standing and limited size of our target population. For this reason, we
carefully scanned the contents of interview transcripts to ensure sensitive information was not
revealed.
 35

4. Results
The results of both the quantitative and qualitative components of this research are outlined
below.

4.1 Quantitative Data Results

Based on our data set, there were a total of 347 Indonesian co-founders of successful
technology and non-technology startups. Of these, 59.7% (n = 207) had some form of
transnational experience (either education or work), while 40.3% ((nn = 140) did not have any
transnational experience, indicating that approximately 40% of Indonesian co-founders
successfully founded a startup without studying or working abroad. Of those with
transnational experience, 54.8% had international education experience and 35.7% had
international work experience.

To test hypothesis 1l and examine whether there were any statistically significant differences
between high-performing technology and non-technology co-founders from Indonesia in
relation to transnational experiences (and specifically education and work experiences),
Pearson Chi-Square analyses were conducted. The results of these analyses are presented in
Table 4 and further described below (for raw data output see Appendix B).

Overall, this analysis revealed no statistically significant differences between the proportion
of technology and non-technology co-founders who had overall transnational experience and
education experience. However, analysis did reveal a statistically significant difference in the
proportion of technology and non-technology co-founders who had transnational work
experience, where a higher proportion of technology co-founders (39.5%) had transnational
work experience compared to non-technology co-founders (10.9%).
36

Table 4: Pearson's Chi-Square Analysis Results and Descriptive Statistics

Technology Non-technology Totals χ2

"J; p
P Phi
n(%)
n (%) n(%)
n (%) n(%)
n (%)

Transnational experience 185 (61.5) 22 (47.8) 207 (59.7) 3.083 .079 .094
(overall)

Education experience 169 (56.1)

169(56.1) 21 (45.7) 190 (54.8) 1.774 .183 .071

American education 94 (31.2) 11 (23.9) 105 (30.3) 1.012 .314 .054

experience

Work experience 119 (39.5) 5 (10.9) 124 (35.7) 14.277 <.001 .203

Of those with transnational experience, 61.5% were technology co-founders and 47.8% were
non-technology co-founders. The Pearson's
Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis revealed, however, that this
was not a statistically significant difference (x2(1,
(χ2(1, nn== 347) = 3.083, pp== .079, P
Phi
h i = .094).
Thus, technology startup co-founders are not significantly more likely to have transnational
experience than non-technology co-founders and as such hypothesis 1l is not supported by
the data.

4.1.1 Transnational Education Results

When looking at whether technology co-founders were more likely to be educated in the US
compared to non-technology co-founders, this analysis revealed no statistically significant
difference (x2(1,
(χ2(1, nn== 347) = 1.012, pp== .314, P
Phi
h i = .054) between groups. Thus, technology
co-founders were not more likely to have studied in the US compared with non-technology
co-founders, and hypothesis 2 is also not supported by the data.

When looking at whether technology co-founders were more likely to be educated abroad (any
location) compared to non-technology co-founders, our analysis also revealed no statistically
significant differences (x2(1,
(χ2(1, nn== 347) = 1.774, pp== .183, P
Phi
h i = .071).

Of the 301 technology co-founders, 56.1% (or 169/301) had the opportunity to study outside
of Indonesia. Similarly, of the 46 non-technology co-founders, 45.7% (or 21/46) were
educated outside of Indonesia. The level of education spans from the undergraduate to master
level as well as MBA and other executive programs. Some of the most prevalent majors
included economics and business administration, computer science, information systems, as
well as engineering.
 37

4.1.2 Transnational Work Results

When looking at the work outcome variable, this analysis did reveal a statistically significant
difference in the proportion of technology and non-technology co-founders who had
transnational work experience (x2(1,
(χ2(1, n=
n = 347) = 14.277, p <.001, Phi
P h i = .203). Thus, while
there was no difference between technology and non-technology co-founders for transnational
experience more broadly, this is not the case in relation to transnational work experience.

To examine this between group difference, a binary logistic regression was undertaken to
identify whether transnational work experience significantly predicts whether a co-founder is
a technology or non-technology co-founder. This analysis shows that Indonesian technology
co-founders are 5.3 times more likely to have transnational work experience than
non-technology co-founders (95% CI [2.060, 13.957]), and thus transnational work experience
does significantly predict whether a co-founder is technology or non-technology co-founder.

4.1.3 Location of Transnational Experience

When looking at where technology co-founders with transnational education experience

expenence
studied, it can be seen from Figure 2 that 49% of technology co-founders graduated from the
US and 16% graduated from Australia (based on this data set).

Figure 2: Technology Co-founders by Study Destination

Country of Education

Germany
2% India
2%
Malaysia
2%
Netherlands
Norway l%
1%

1%
38

When looking at where technology co-founders with transnational work experience worked,
it can be seen from Figure 3 that 34% of technology co-founders had work experience in the
US, 24% in Singapore and 8% in Australia (based on this data set).

Figure 3: Technology Co-founders Employment Destination

Country of Employment
Bangladesh B I I
1% e gum
1%

Hong Kong
1%
India
2%
Japan
1%
Malaysia
3%

Thailand
1%
South Korea
4%

4.2 Qualitative Analysis Results

Through our analysis of interview transcripts, we identified a total of 70 salient quotes which
were subject to thematic analysis (see Appendix C for salient quotes). A total of 155 units of
textual data (i.e., codes), comprised of 25 unique codes, were applied to the qualitative data.
Many of the quotes or passages included in our data set were long and covered multiple
interrelated concepts. As a consequence, up to five codes were applied to some passages of
text.

Using a deductive theory-driven approach, we initially applied a total of 18 a priori codes to

our qualitative data set by focusing on the key concepts identified during our review of the
l)
academic literature. Only two factors from our original conceptual framework (see Figure 1)
were not encountered at all throughout our qualitative data, namely analytical knowledge and
business operations. As we became more familiar with the data and common themes emerged,
 39

we identified an additional eight new data-driven factors, which were not included in our
original conceptual framework.

Our original conceptual framework guided larger categorisations; however, the data-driven
identification of new themes also informed the creation of two new categorisations.
Specifically, a new psychological development category was created due to the identification
of three new psychological factors: 1)
l) perspective and open-mindedness; 2) confidence and
self-efficacy; and 3) independence. Similarly, a larger external environment categorisation
was also created after the identification of three factors that appear to be restricting the
development of local technology co-founders without international experience: 1)
l) cultural
values; 2) government policy; and 3) homophily and discrimination. One additional human
capital outcome (strategic thinking skills) and one additional effective action (i.e., strategy and
business models) were also identified through our thematic analysis.

Table 5 below outlines each factor and the relevant categorisation. Frequency statistics
demonstrate the prevalence of each factor across all discussions. Distribution statistics indicate
how widely each factor was discussed across our four-person sample (that is the number of
participants that discussed a particular factor).

Table 5: Thematic Analysis Results

Factor Code type Distribution Frequency

Psychological development

Perspective and open-mindedness Data-driven 3/4 9

Independence Data-driven 4/4 7

Confidence and self-efficacy Data-driven 3/4 7

Passion and purpose Theory-driven 4/4 7

Human capital outcomes

Soft skills and intercultural competence Theory-driven 4/4 13

Language skills Theory-driven 3/4 6

Strategic thinking skills Data-driven 3/4 5

Leadership and management skills Theory-driven 3/4 4

Industry knowledge and experience Theory-driven 2/4 3

Entrepreneurial knowledge Theory-driven 1/4 3

40
40

Social capital outcomes

Startup and investor networks Theory-driven 3/4

3/4 11

Local networks Theory-driven 4/4

4/4 9

Personal and peer networks Theory-driven 3/4

3/4 7

Legitimacy Theory-driven 2/4

2/4 5

Industry and professional networks Theory-driven 2/4

2/4 4
4

Academic and alumni networks Theory-driven 2/4

2/4 3
3

Effective actions

Fundraising Theory-driven 4/4

4/4 17

Opportunity recognition Theory-driven 4/4

4/4 7

Entrepreneurial intention Theory-driven 2/4

2/4 3
3

Strategy and business models Data-driven 2/4

2/4 2
2

Recruiting Theory-driven 1/4

1/4 1l

Growth and scaling Theory-driven 1/4

1/4 1l

Other enviornmental factors

Culture Data-driven 3/4

3/4 9

Government policy Data-driven 4/4

4/4 8

Homophily and discrimination Data-driven 2/4

2/4 4
4
 41

5. Dicussion
When interpreting our results, particularly the general finding that Indonesian technology
co-founders are not statistically more likely to have transnational experience than their
non-technology, it important to consider the local context.

Given that in 2017, just 16% of Indonesians had attained a tertiary qualification (OECD,
2019), the transnational experience (61.5%) and education (56.1%) rates of successful
Indonesian technology co-founders is extraordinarily high, compared to the general
Indonesian population. Therefore, the fact the data did not support hypothesis 1l and 2 should
not be interpreted as a low rate of international experience among technology co-founders, but
rather an unexpectedly high rate of transnational experience (47.8%) and education (45.7%)
among non-technology founders.

In our discussion below, we will weave together insights from our quantitative and qualitative
findings to help explain this phenomenon, and also explore the underlying mechanism
contributing to high rates of transnational experience found generally among successful
Indonesian entrepreneurs. Drawing from the key themes outlined within our qualitative
analysis, we offer category-by-category explanations of interview insights and relate these
back to findings within key sources of academic literature. Finally, we offer a revised
conceptual framework to demonstrate how transnational experiences
expenences influences the
performance of Indonesian entrepreneurs.

5.1 Transnational Education Investments

Klingler-Vidra et al. (2021) found that Vietnamese technology entrepreneurs were 35 times
more likely to have a US education than non-technology entrepreneurs, advancing a ‘placed
'placed
based’
based' theory of entrepreneurship that implies non-technology entrepreneurs are much more
dependent on local knowledge and networks for success. Our quantitative research did not
reveal a statistically significant difference between the transnational education experiences of
technology and non-technology co-founders, with both groups possessing high levels of
international education experience. The finding was unexpected. A detailed explanation for
this variation between Indonesia and Vietnam is outside the scope of our report; however, our
qualitative interviews suggest this discrepancy could relate to the structure of local elite
networks in Indonesia.
42

While Indonesia and Vietnam share similarities in their current state of economic
development, the two nations have markedly different political and economic histories, and
different levels of economic integration with the US and other western nations. Vietnam has
a relatively recent history of economic cooperation with America, with Bill Clinton first
normalising relations in 1995 (US Department of State, 2021). In contrast, Indonesia’s
Indonesia's
relationship with America, and its history of US-trained technocrats, dates to Suharto’s
Suharto's
pro-western New Order in the late 1960’s.
1960's. (Rieffel, 2008). Our qualitative research indicates
that transnational education experiences in the Indonesian context may help mediate access to
local elite networks, with several interviewees citing the importance of international education
qualifications for demonstrating legitimacy and opening doors back in Indonesia. Therefore,
our findings do not necessarily contradict the Klinger-Vidra et al. (2021) notion of
non-technology entrepreneurs being place-based, but rather underscore the importance of
international education qualifications for non-technology or ‘place-based’
'place-based' entrepreneurs in the
contemporary Indonesian business environment.

" ...when I came back to Jakarta and I applied for jobs, there is a discrimination
“…when
between those who studied only locally, and those who actually graduated
abroad
abroad. The more competitive the role you're seeking to get, the more
discriminative they are. At [large consultancy firm], there's two different class
of consultants. The second class are those who studied locally, and the first
class is those who have studied abroad
abroad. But again, there is this distinction,
where did you study abroad? If you look back 20 years ago, when there were
not so many university graduates in Asia, they would ask “do "do you have a
degree?"
degree?” And then, as time goes by, it's like, “where
"where did you get your degree?"
degree?”
And then it moves to “did
"did you get it locally or abroad?"
abroad?” And then “where
"where did
you get it abroad?"
abroad?” that kind of thing.”
thing."Participant
Participant 3

While our research found that technology co-founders were not more likely to have studied in
the US than non-technology co-founders, our research did find that a high proportion of
Indonesian technology co-founders were educated at American universities (31.2%). It is
useful to draw comparisons between the US and Australia to understand this
overrepresentation, because both countries are major exporters of education services to
Indonesia. Despite Australia hosting more Indonesian students than the US, the US has
educated a much higher proportion of Indonesia's
Indonesia’s foreign-educated entrepreneurs (i.e.
technology = 49%; non-technology = 44%) compared to Australia (i.e., technology=
technology= technology = 16%;
non-technology = 20%). A detailed investigation of the overrepresentation of the American
universities (or underrepresentation of Australian universities) among Indonesian
 43

entrepreneurs 1s
is also outside the scope of our research; however, our one US graduate
interviewee emphasised the stark contrast between the cultures of the US and Indonesia, noting
that while the Indonesian education system emphasised traits consistent with a collectivist
society, such as teamwork and conformity, the US system maintained a sharp focus on the
individual, which instils a great focus on innovation and personal development.

“So,
"So, in America, everybody is, is trained to be individualistic. So, you can
make your own decision, your independence. So, you being independent is
one of the keystones of American education. Whereas in Indonesia, it's all
about all about family. It's all about musyawarah. Even in our constitution
is musyawarah. Musyawarah means everybody, let's get together and let's
discuss it as a family. So that's why you see a lot of Indonesian, they always
do things in a group, because that's where Indonesian culture is. Whereas in
the startup world, you need to be an outlier, you have to be the guy who is in
the front. And leading a battle.”
battle."Participant
Participant 1I

Interestingly, the acquisition of academic or analytical knowledge through transnational

experiences was not referenced at any point throughout our interviews; however, participants
did mention how their studies helped them acquire other task-relevant outcomes (i.e.,
intercultural skills, leadership skills, strategic thinking). The task-level outcomes of
international education investments appear to vary according to each co-founder. One
interviewee, a graduate of an elite American university, also emphasised the value of the
network he was exposed to throughout his studies. Superior networks may also help explain
the superior performance of the American university system.

5.2 Transnational Work Investments

The only statistically significant distinction between Indonesian technology and

non-technology co-founders occurred in respect to transnational work experience. Indonesian
technology entrepreneurs appear to be 5.3 times more likely to have transnational work
experience than their non-technology counterparts. This finding implies that technology
co-founders extract additional value from transnational work experiences which specifically
helps them with the creation of technology companies.

Qualitative interview data indicates that work experiences can help Indonesian technology
co-founders acquire a broad range of positive human and social capital outcomes, although,
again these vary widely according to the individual journey and task requirements of the
44

entrepreneur. Interviewees with international experiences that were unrelated to their focus
industry tended to emphasise the acquisition of general management and soft skills, whereas
those with directly related industry experience also emphasised the acquisition of industry
related knowledge and networks.

"Well, obviously, being an international banker, I think that really helps in

“Well,
developing the network in the financial services industry, when it comes to, you
know, dealing with the private equity guys, dealing with investment banks,
right. So, I think that is very much relevant to where we are at, at that stage of
what we're doing right now, in terms of deal size, in terms of transactions. So,
I think that is something that I think, is key to the success that we 're having
we're
right now."
now.” Participant 2

"For me, it's another way to learn about globalisation. I feel like I need to go
“For
to Europe to understand more about international people. So, I chose there. In
2008, I went to Germany to do an internship in one of Indonesia's Indonesia’s
conglomerate factories. I went to a small city near Berlin. I worked in human
resources because I wanted to understand how Germans actually work. work.”"
Participant 4

Work experiences may also contribute to entrepreneurial intention and opportunity recognition
as entrepreneurs seek to leverage their international expertise and networks in their country of
origin. This aligns with Shane (2000), who says that entrepreneurial opportunities are not
equally obvious to all, and that those experienced professionals with prior knowledge will be
best positioned to recognise entrepreneurial opportunities organically, rather than through a
process of active searching.

"What interested me to shift from a professional standpoint, to running my own

“What
tech startup, particularly in the Fin'Iech
FinTech space, where obviously I had domain
experience in that specific space, and the idea was, how I can leverage my
experience, my network, to solve some of the biggest pain points in the
immediate financial services sector, which is access to finance for small
medium businesses.”
businesses."Participant
Participant 2

A geographic breakdown of work experiences identified the US and Singapore as the most
prominent destinations for international work experience. Many co-founders with American
experience had worked with major West Coast technology companies (i.e., Amazon,
Facebook). Singaporean experiences were more concentrated within the banking and finance
sector. More generally, technology co-founders often had experiences with major
multinational consulting firms and other startups and scaleups.
 45

5.3 Psychological Factors

Arguably the most important and unexpected finding from our qualitative interviews was the
central influence of socio-psychological factors -– cultivated through the international
experience -– on the performance of Indonesian technology co-founders. Our initial literature
review identified passion and purpose as a factor; however, subsequent coding of our
qualitative interview data uncovered three additional psychological factors that were absent
from our literature review: 1)
l) independence; 2) open-mindedness and flexibility; and 3)
confidence and self-efficacy. The importance of psychological factors was widely held among
each interviewee, and each of these four psychological factors was noted by least three of the
four interviewees. The sentiment of these comments implied that psychological development
was central to their transnational experience, and taken together, painted a picture of a kind of
‘coming
'coming of age'
age’ experience taking place abroad which ultimately underpinned the success of
the entrepreneur.

A possible explanation for this finding can be drawn from Maslow'

Maslow’ss hierarchy of needs and
studies of entrepreneurial psychology, with Carland et al. (1995) demonstrating that highly
motivated entrepreneurs are more likely to use their ventures as vehicles for achieving
self-esteem (i.e., a confidence in oneself) and self-actualization (i.e., a desire to reach one’s
one's
full potential). Similarly, Turkina and Thai (2013) found that self-actualised entrepreneurs
were more likely to engage in growth-oriented forms of entrepreneurship, which they
attributed to a greater tendency towards personal achievement, innovation, and creativity.

"So, coming back, I think that also sets the tone for you to become more
“So,
entrepreneurial, you want to do everything on your own, trying to also create
an impact, and make yourself stand out, rather than the continuous business as
usual that you're doing on a day-to-day basis. So, I think that also led to, as I
mentioned, investing, how we can create impact for the small medium
businesses. How can we make finance more accessible? Make it more digital.
So, I think, you know, that contributed to our success, over the years."years.”
Participant 4

Interviewees rarely attributed their psychological development directly to work or education

investments, but rather, as a general consequence of time spent abroad in an unfamiliar
environment. This phenomenon does not appear to be unique to Global South to North travel.
Studies of American college students travelling in Europe showed that students acquired
confidence, independence, and adaptability through their travels. Their personal development
46

was attributed to the daily demands of life, rather than participation in classes or cultural visits
oflife,
(Gmelch, 1997).

"What I learned about going abroad is that you learn about life. You go to
“What
different places alone that shape you, learn things yourself, make friends,
manage your time, find your passion. That’s
That's the benefit that Indonesians who
don
don’t't yet have opportunities to go abroad will never have."Participant
have.” Participant 4

5.4 Human Capital Factors

From our qualitative interviews, we can reason that soft skills, rather than hard skills, appear
to differentiate our well-travelled entrepreneurs from their local peers. The most frequently
cited human capital factor was soft skills and intercultural competence; however, unlike
Holmberg-Wright & Hribar (2016), who emphasised soft skills for internal management, our
interviewees linked soft skills and intercultural competence to the accumulation of external
social capital, particularly with foreign investors. Our interviewees had an obvious
appreciation for the fact that behaviours and communications often needed to be adjusted to
suit different situations and audiences. Closely related to intercultural competence was the
importance of English and other foreign language skills, which were the second most
frequently cited human capital factor. Just as Shehu and Shittu (2015) suggested, language
skills, together with intercultural skills, appear to provide entrepreneurs with a superior ability
to build trust and rapport, and communicate their ideas and interests to stakeholders.

"J think when we did jundraising,

“I fundraising, depending on which country they come from,
I would try to put my head in the country. For example, our first investor was
a Japanese based, VC firm. Luckily because I studied a bit of Japanese, I can
speak some Japanese to the Japanese manager at that time, which I don't know
if that actually helped in getting the trust. When I meet American investor, or
some Taiwanese investor, I tried to speak a few greetings in their language.
That helps to close the gap, to connect the trust level, the power distance. So, I
think having that exposure in my previous time when working abroad helped
me to get close and become friends with strangers very quickly, in a way. way.”"
Participant 3

Our qualitative research also unearthed strategic thinking skills as an important factor that was
previously absent from our preliminary conceptual framework. The development of strategic
thinking skills, which manifest more scalable and disruptive business models, appear to be
linked back to a greater sense of perspective and a more entrepreneurial mindset.
 47

“And
"And also, the business model that they develop, if you're educated abroad,
they always impart upon you on this, shoving it down your throat, innovations.
And, and creativities in Indonesia, are not innovation, but compliance. So, you
have to follow, you have to go with the flow, yes, to do the same business that
is successful somewhere else. Whereas US educated, you need to do something
that is above and beyond, and different rather than make it the same. same.”"
Participant 1I

5.5 Social Capital Factors

Investor networks were the most frequently mentioned social capital factor throughout our
qualitative research. International experiences can allow entrepreneurs to directly build
relationships with investors; however, our entrepreneurs also emphasised having the right
language and intercultural skills to build rapport with international investors.

"So, when I did my executive education, that's where I met significant decision
“So,
makers. And this is consistent with other startup founders that I know. So, for
example, the CEO of [Indonesian startup], which has received $100 million in
funding recently. He did his MBA in Europe, just about 5-6 years ago. And
that's where he met the people who became his early funders. So, through that
connection, he got the early funding. And that early funding propelled him to
funding.” Participant 1I
Series B and Series C funding."Participant

Peer networks were another important aspect of the international experience. International
peers helped our interviewees with a range of effective actions including opportunity
identification, strategy validation and even as source of seed funding.

“In
"In my case, all my seed funding came from my overseas friends. So, there is
not a single Indonesian seed money in my startup, not even one penny, except
for me. I'm the only one, and my co-founders. So, my cofounders have the same
me…
pedigree as me ... they are once again, Singapore and Australia graduates, and
they have parents who graduated.from
graduated from Australia. So, we got a lot of this seed
money from Australia, from Singapore, from Malaysia, from Europe, these are
true connections to friends."Participant
friends.” Participant 1I

Arguably the most important social capital insight from our qualitative research is the central
importance of local networks for Indonesian technology founders. As already noted (see 5.1),
international experiences, particularly education qualifications, appear to mediate access to
Indonesia’s elite business networks. All four interviewees recognised the central importance
Indonesia's
of local connections for doing business and several interviewees acknowledged that their
international experiences had helped expand their local networks, either while abroad or upon
48

return. This enhanced access is a product of a greater sense of legitimacy that comes from
living and working abroad.

"I haven't used my international friends because my business is very local. I

“I
haven
haven’t't used my international friends to actually help me do business. So, what
I can say right now, those who are already working with me are Indonesian
friends that I met overseas."Participant
overseas.” Participant 4

"So many of them [successful Indonesian co-founders}

“So co-founders] come from that
pedigree, and then they end up going to school in, in the United States or the
UK. And so, if you're from that pedigree, it's not only who you know, but who
knows you is a significant help. And in this country, personal connections and
getting introduced will be one of the most important criteria rather than you
cold calling or knocking on someone's door. And being introduced to a decision
rate.”"
maker in a VC company significantly improves your success rate.
Participant 1I

5.6 Effective Actions

Fundraising was the most frequently mentioned thematic factor in our qualitative research,
which speaks to a reliance on foreign venture capital among Indonesian technology
co-founders. Previous examinations of the Indonesian innovation system by the OECD
suggested a weak enabling environment and an absence of property protection rights had
restricted the development of a venture capital industry in Indonesia (Nugroho et al., 2013).
However, the past decade has also seen Indonesia welcome a host of new venture capital funds
and strengthen its position on the Venture Capital and Private Equity Country Attractiveness
Ranking – rising from 55 in 2012 to 43 in 2021 (Groh et al., 2021). This implies that, with the
Ranking-
passage of time, local venture capital will become more prevalent; however, in the meantime,
local entrepreneurs without the requisite language and intercultural skills are at a significant
disadvantage.
 49

"When you fundraise with people coming from different parts of the world,
“When
then they know that I can speak English and they can understand it so that is
university]J or different parts of the
already a plus. Coming from [Australian university
world gives them confidence that II’m 'm a global citizen. Of course, the
connections that I have -– I always talk to my friends in different parts of the
world just to give them some updates about what they 're doing and what's
they’re what’s
happening there. This is just to have some basa basi [chit chat} chat] with the
investors. That is also a plus. Rather than just reading from global news, it is
different when you actually talk with someone in Germany and exchange
messages as it will give you some chemistry."Participant
chemistry.” Participant 4

Even as local venture capital becomes more available to Indonesian co-founders, it appears
many Indonesian technology founders may struggle to connect local investors without
transnational experiences and the requisite intercultural skills because of an emerging bias
towards founders with international backgrounds. This bias of homophily -– a tendency of
people to associate with those similar to themselves -– is not unique to Indonesia. A similar
phenomenon has also been observed in India, with angel investors tending to invest based on
past education and employment experiences as a way of reducing information asymmetry
through smoother information exchange (Venugopal, 2017).

"Because, again, look, I've seen so many startup founders who are much more
“Because,
capable than I am, to be honest, smarter than me, but they didn't get funding
because the funders don't find them to be credible, and trustworthy. But they
feel that towards me, because of my education, because I can communicate in
English better than them. Somehow that makes a lot of difference. So, in the
startup ecosystem in Indonesia, you look at all the people from [local venture
capital firm J, for example, virtually all of them are USA educated, right? So,
firm],
you need to be in that same clique in order to get money from them. There are,
difficult.”"
of course, outliers there. But again, their journey is a lot more difficult.
Participant 1I

Opportunity recognition was the second most frequently cited effective action. As noted above
(see 5.2), international work experiences appear to assist Indonesian technology entrepreneurs
with opportunity recognition. International peer and professional networks may also be
assisting Indonesian technology entrepreneurs with the identification of new entrepreneurial
opportunities, by allowing them to stay up to date on the latest trends and technological
developments taking place across the world. This view corroborates studies of migrant
entrepreneurs, which show that superior intercultural skills and international networks provide
migrants with an increased ability to recognise arbitrage opportunities (Vandor & Franke,
2016).
50

"Most of the startup founders who are not able to go abroad, they are very
“Most
conventional when they see startups. While I was getting knowledge about
corporations from [large tech group], and the ideas that might work when I
was living overseas. I was also having a lot of networks to communicate with
my friends in Germany and other parts of the world to see whether this is also
something new in different parts of the world
world. This gave me confidence to
pursue entrepreneurship. It's
It’s not like “Oh
"Oh okay I want to be an entrepreneur"
entrepreneur”
it's an opportunity after seeing different factors that happened in 2013-
but it’s 20I3-
2014. That I might have a chance to be the first mover in the startup society in
Indonesia."Participant
Indonesia.” Participant 4

The transnational experience was also seen as important for entrepreneurial intention, business
strategy, recruiting, leading, and managing teams, and scaling; however, these views were not
as frequent or widely held among the four interviewees. Business operations, an effective
action identified through our literature review, was not addressed by our interviewees.

5.7 Revised Conceptual Framework

Drawing on the above analysis, we propose a revised conceptual framework to explain how
transnational experiences influence the performance of successful Indonesian technology
entrepreneurs. There are indications within our qualitative data that psychological factors
serve as higher-order factors that might mediate acquisition of the important task-relevant
human and social capital outcomes. For this reason, we have separated psychological factors
and placed them at the top of our model, even though these factors can be easily argued as a
component of human capital. To demonstrate this higher-order relationship, there are
indications that confidence and self-efficacy help facilitate the acquisition of social capital
among technology founders.

"So, I grew up outside, this built my character to be very open, outspoken. Most
“So,
Indonesians are very shy especially when communicating in English. They get
involved in discussions and even though they don don’t't agree, they will say, “Okay,
"Okay,
okay".
okay”. They just don
don’t't want to put effort to answer in English sometimes. This
doesn't
doesn’t happen when you have international experience. Disagreement with
different people is normal. So, I think those experiences have allowed me to
talk with lots of international VCs and just be myself"
myself.” Participant 4

Similarly, open-mindedness appears to serve the acquisition of intercultural skills, through the
development of a greater sense of empathy for others from different circumstances.
 51

“I
"J think it's more of empathy, understanding, trying to, you know, obviously,
it's a different culture, being abroad, trying to understand other people's point
of view, and being able to listen more and adapt to some of the thought process
or local culture within each country, right."Participant
right.” Participant 2

Task-relevant human capital and social capital factors, on the other hand, appear to be much
more contextual, and their importance depends heavily on the unique industry demands and
task requirements of each co-founder. There also appear to be many two-way
interdependencies between social and human capital factors. For instance, human capital
factors like soft skills are important for the acquisition of social capital. Conversely, existing
social capital is often important for gaining access to human capital (e.g., industry knowledge).
We also seek to reflect these interdependencies with arrows in our framework provided below.
Factors in the below model are presented in order of frequency according to our thematic
analysis.
52

Figure 4: Revised Conceptual Framework for the Influence of Transnational Experience on Technology
Co-Founders

TRANSNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
INVESTMENTS
Educational experience I Work experience

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

r
• Confidence & self efficacy • Independence
• Passion & purpose • Perspective & open mindedness

I HUMAN CAPITAL OUTCOMES

I I SOCIALCAPITALOUTCOMES
I
• Soft skills & intercultural competence • Startup & investor networks
• Language skills LJ • Local networks
• Strategic thinking skills • Personal & peer networks
• Leadership & management skills 17 • Legitimacy
• Industry knowledge & experience • Industry & professional networks

• Entrepreneurial knowledge • Academic & alumni networks

EFFECTIVE ACTIONS

• Fundraising • Recruiting
• Opportunity recognition • Growth & scaling
• Entrepreneurial intention • Leading & managing teams
• Strategy & business models

ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS
 53

6. Policy Implications
As noted previously (see 2.2), technology entrepreneurship is linked to innovation and
economic competitiveness, and is increasingly seen as a vehicle to help emerging economies
avoid the middle-income trap. A deeper understanding of how transnational experiences
influence the performance of technology co-founders can help calibrate local education and
innovation policy settings.

Our research has uncovered several features of the external local environment which may be
disadvantaging local technology entrepreneurs without transnational experience. Firstly,
aspects of Indonesia’s
Indonesia's collectivist culture, with a strong emphasis on conformity and group
think, could be hindering the psychological and intellectual development of its population as
it relates to entrepreneurship. Secondly, a scarcity of local venture capital has created a
dependence on foreign investors, which disadvantages those without transnational experience.
Finally, social biases and structural features of the local business environment appear to be
limiting the broader diffusion of knowledge and opportunities throughout the economy.
Pustovrh et al. (2019) argue government initiatives in low-innovation economies should be
focused on improving both the mindset, i.e., local attitudes towards entrepreneurship, and the
toolset, i.e. the resources available to entrepreneurs.

6.1.1 Education Reforms

It is clear from our qualitative research that aspects of the Indonesian national culture are not
well adapted to modern
modem startup culture, and a local tendency towards conformity, engrained
from the primary and secondary education system, may be hindering the performance of local
oflocal
technology co-founders. Indonesian policymakers should consider how to blend the best
features of its collectivist past with the advantages of a more individualistic, American-style
approach to innovation. Reforming the Indonesian education system to allow for creativity
and individual expression can help equip future generations with a more disruptive mindset.

“By
"By the time you get to university is too late. Your personality has already been
formed. So, it's difficult, it's a lot more difficult for you to grow. So, it's at low
formed
education, where you need to develop this entrepreneurship, and innovation."
innovation.”
Participant 1I

Our research also highlights the important role of English, and other foreign languages, for
gaining access to international knowledge and networks (Shehu & Shittu, 2015). School
54

language programs, and particularly digital/physical collaborations with other international

schools, can also help students develop intercultural skills and open their minds to a world of
opportunities beyond Indonesia.

"I think encouraging Indonesian students to pick up not only English, but
“I
actually transforming the primary and secondary schools to provide
mandatory foreign language course, is going to be key if we want to have
international edge.”
edge."Participant
Participant 3

6.1.2 Enabling Environment

The national and sub-national governments of Indonesia can encourage the development of
RIS through policy interventions that build linkages between innovation actors. Continued
liberalisation of the Indonesian economy, particularly for high-tech foreign investment and
labour, can encourage the diffusion of international knowledge and ideas throughout the
Indonesian economy. Business incubator and accelerator programs are important for building
these linkages and drawing resources into local startup ecosystems (Pustovrh et al, 2020).
Online communities and mentoring programs can also help breakdown social and mental
barriers inherent within the startup community and the national culture.

"I think it's always that they're quite intimidated by international exposure or
“I
competing internationally. I don't know whether that should be at the primary
level or education level. There needs to be some sort of guidance, mentoring. I
think this is what's not there. At the end, you need to have these types of methods
to encourage young Indonesian professionals to expand, not only domestically
but also abroad
abroad.”"Participant
Participant 2

However, the national and sub-national governments of Indonesia must also understand the
risks of government overreach and recognise their role as facilitators, rather than conveners,
of local startup ecosystems. For instance, incentivising the establishment of new investor-
backed accelerator programs may be more effective than establishing government backed
accelerators, as research suggests that private venture investments outperform
government-backed venture investments (Luukkonen et al., 2013). Similarly, attempts to
address discrimination and elitism within the Indonesian startup community should focus on
breaking down existing barriers, rather than vilifying or discouraging international
perspectives and global citizenship.
 55

"The number one thing the government should do is switch on your brain. It is
“The
your brain and your innovation that will be successful, they need to create a
successful startup ecosystem, rather than the government saying that you have
to do step 1,
I, 2, 3, and 4, which is exactly what the government is doing. It is
the opposite way of innovation and creativity, which is absolutely crucial for
succeed Now, the government follows the footsteps of other
startups to succeed.
countries, or the country has their own Plug and Play, they have their own
Sequoia Capital. And the government will say we'll do the same. But they do it
in a manner that their ecosystem is more similar to the civil servant ecosystem
than what a startup ecosystem ought to be. So, you know, very prescriptive.
You have to follow a lot of orders and steps in order to get your funding rather
than promote creativity.”
creativity."Participant
Participant 1I

6.1.3 Scholarship Reforms

Many existing scholarship programs, such as the Indonesian Government's

Government’s LPDP program
and the Australian Government’s
Government's Australia Awards, require recipients to immediately return
to Indonesia upon completion of the academic program. Our research indicates that the human
and social capital benefits of international work experience may outstrip the benefits of
international education programs. As a consequence, these immediate return policies embody
an outdated ‘brain
'brain drain’
drain' rather than ‘brain circulation’ mindset, as they deny Indonesian’s
'brain circulation' Indonesian' s the
opportunity to continue expanding their horizons through paid employment opportunities.

Similarly, a singular focus on academic scholarships may not be the best way to encourage the
development of an innovative economy. A new ‘startup
'startup scholarship’
scholarship' program could be created
to provide local entrepreneurs the opportunity to participate in foreign accelerator programs.
Participation in these programs would allow local co-founders to validate their business
models, identify mentors and mingle with foreign investors, while also getting the opportunity
to develop personally from being immersed in a foreign culture and environment.

"What the Indonesian government can do is they can create a program for
“What
entrepreneurs to learn and live outside of Indonesia. Not collaborating with
universities but maybe with institutions that allows them to work abroad or
even validate their business ideas, not just in Indonesia but also abroad
abroad. And
not only tech, but it could also be just businesses -– F&B or whatever. Give
them a chance to live for at least six months or more in Europe, US, Australia.
clients.”"
See how they will get a new mindset, perspective, and new ideas and clients.
Participant 4
56

7. Conclusion
Our research has demonstrated how two seemingly similar Southeast Asian startup ecosystems
can differ greatly in the way they attract and absorb international knowledge. In stark contrast
to our Vietnamese template study, there appears to be no statistically significant difference
between the international experiences of Indonesian technology and non-technology
entrepreneurs. We have attributed this to high levels of international education attainment
among Indonesian non-technology entrepreneurs, which we believe could be a consequence
of high levels of homophily inherent within elite Indonesian business circles. However,
Indonesian technology entrepreneurs were 5.3 times more likely to have transnational work
experience than their non-technology peers. Transnational work experiences appear to provide
Indonesian technology co-founders with an edge on opportunity identification and a broad
range of other task-based human and social capital factors.

Our research does not contradict Klingler-Vidra et al. (2021) and their idea of non-technology
entrepreneurs being place-based. If non-technology entrepreneurs are the local specialists,
then technology entrepreneurs appear to serve as ‘cultural jack-of-all-trades’, distinguished
'cultural jack-of-all-trades',
not necessarily by their intellect or hard skills, but by their ability to facilitate the transfer of
knowledge, expertise, and capital between their extensive international and local networks.
Central to their ability to do this, is a self-actualised psychological maturity, manifest by the
rigours of the transnational experience and characterised by high levels of passion, confidence,
independence, and open-mindedness.

We present a conceptual framework to demonstrate how transnational experiences influence

the entrepreneurial performance of Indonesian technology co-founders. Finally, the policy
implications of our research include recommendations for recalibrating local education and
innovation policy to strengthen entrepreneurial outcomes and equality.
 57

7.1 Limitations
We recognise a number of limitations inherent within our research and offer. An explanation
of these limitations and mitigation approaches taken is provided below.

7.1.1 Data Accuracy and Completeness

While every attempt was made to compile an accurate data set there may be cases where data
was inaccurate or incomplete. For example, when researching the background of co-founders
of Indonesian startups from the technology data set, it became apparent the extracted
information from Crunchbase contained several inaccuracies these co-founders. As it is
common for companies to have at least two co-founders, Crunchbase’s
Crunchbase' s database often fails to
match the profiles of some co-founders with the official sources that can normally be found
on their company websites. More in-depth research from Linkedin,
LinkedIn, media coverage, as well
as Wikipedia would sometimes still omit some of the apparent co-founders.

Finding information about the founders and co-founders from the non-technology data set
proved to be a challenge as Investing.com does not have a database as extensive as
Crunchbase. Many of the high-performing non-technology companies have become
long-standing firms that were set up at least 10
l O years prior, so they tend to not list their
co-founders on their website as opposed to the technology data set (normally co-founders are
old or have passed away, so they are not the current CEOs or part of the board). Searches to
third party websites (not Linkedin)
LinkedIn) were thus undertaken but sometimes information on their
profile was incomplete.

7.1.2 Population Size and Sampling Bias

A significant limitation of our qualitative research was the size and nature of the population
under investigation. We had originally sought to attract a minimum of six interview
participants for qualitative interviews; however, the time poor nature of technology
entrepreneurs made it difficult to secure participant in our research. As a result, we carefully
curated the set of interview questions to maximise the allotted interview time.

Although the sample size for the non-technology group is small, it was chosen on the basis of
the filters from the Vietnamese study. With only 46 non-technology co-founders compared to
58

301 technology co-founders, it is difficult to say whether the sample is representative of the
population. Thus, we cannot generalise our results for the non-technology group.

A further limitation of this research may be that those entrepreneurs who consented to
participate in the interviews may possess a degree of self-actualisation and enthusiasm for the
topic, potentially resulting in a biased sample (or a sample with similar qualities and
motivations). This may have in turn resulted in an overemphasis on the psychological factors
associated with self-actualisation that were identified by the participants as key factors
obtained through their transnational experiences that influenced their entrepreneurial careers.

7.2 Future Research

Given the small interviewee sample size, future research could be undertaken to test whether
similar qualitative findings regarding the development of psychological factors through
transnational experiences could be found in a larger sample of entrepreneurs. Similarly, this
finding could also be tested quantitatively (for statistical significance) through a survey
methodology (as was initially envisaged for this research). Special emphasis should be placed
on participant recruitment given the low survey response rate experienced throughout this
research, as a consequence of the time-poor nature of the target population.

Future research may also consider exploring the relationship between transnational
experiences and psychological development for entrepreneurs from other developing nations
to test whether this finding in the Indonesian context can also be found in other like nations.

As many of our interviewees cited the universal psychological benefits of travel (i.e., open
mindedness, independence, confidence) rather than specific features of Global South to North
travel, future research may also consider investigating the influence of travel experiences on
technology co-founders from the Global North.
 59

References
Adler, P. S., and Kwon, S. W. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy
of Management Review, 27(1), pp. 17-40.

Ali, I., & Cottle, G. W.

W. (2021). Reconceptualizing Entrepreneurial performance: The
creation and destruction of value from a Stakeholder capabilities perspective. Journal
of Business Ethics, 170(4), 781-796.
ofBusinessEthics,

Åstebro, T., and Thompson, P. (2011). Entrepreneurs, jacks of all trades or hobos?. Research
policy, 40(5), 637-649.

Asheim, B.T. and Coenen, L. (2005). Knowledge bases and regional innovation systems:
Comparing Nordic clusters. Research Policy. 34. 1173-1190.

Austrade. (2019). Market Action Plan - Indonesia. Retrieved from

https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/10431/Market-Action-Plan-
https://www.austrade.gov.au/ArticleDocuments/1043 l/Market-Action-Plan-
Indonesia.pdf.aspx

Australian Department of Home Affairs. (2018). Indonesian-Bom

Indonesian-Born Community Information
Summary. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/mca/files/2016-cis-indonesia.PDF

Bailetti, T. (2012). Technology Entrepreneurship: Overview, Definition, and Distinctive

Aspects. Technology Innovation Management Review, p. 5.

Banerji, D., and Reimer, T. (2019). Startup founders and their Linkedin
LinkedIn connections: Are
well-connected entrepreneurs more successful?. Computers in Human Behavior, 90,
pp. 46-52.

Baregheh, A.,
A, Rowley, J. and Sambrook, S. (2009). Towards a multidisciplinary definition
of innovation. Management Decision, 47(8), p. 1334.

Beckman, C.M., Eisenhardt, Kotha, K., Meyer, A.,

A, and Rajagopalan, N. (2012). Technology
Entrepreneurship. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal.

Bontis, N., Dragonetti, N. C., Jacobsen, K., and Roos, G. (1999). The knowledge toolbox: A
review of the tools available to measure and manage intangible resources. European
Management Journal, 17(4), pp. 391-402.

Braun, V., Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in
Psychology, 3(2), p. 78.

A C., & Carland III, J. W. T. (1995). Self-actualization: The

Carland Jr, J. W., Carland, J. A.
zenith of entrepreneurship. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 6(1), 53-66.

Chaminade, C., and Vang, J. (2006). Globalisation of Knowledge Production and Regional
Innovation Policy: Supporting Specialized Hubs in Developing Countries. Lund
University, Sweden.
60

Chen, J. (2021). Survivorship Bias. Retrieved from

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/survivorshipbias.asp

Chopra, A.
A (2017). Go-Jek Integrates Go-Med With HaloDoc To Strengthen Partnership.
Retrieved from https://inc42.com/buzz/gojek-go-med-halodoc/

Cohen, M.D., and Levinthal, D.A

D.A. (1990). Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on
Learning and Innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35(1), pp. 128-152.

Colombo, M., Delmastro, M., and Grilli, L. (2004). Entrepreneurs'

Entrepreneurs’ Human Capital and the
Start-Up Size of New Technology-Based Firms. International Journal of Industrial
oflndustrial
Organization, 22(8-9), pp. 1183-1211.

Crunchbase. (2022a). Nadiem Makarim. Retrieved from

https://www.crunchbase.com/person/nadiem-makarim

Crunchbase. (2022b). Crunchbase: Discover innovative companies and the people behind
them. Retrieved from ://about.crunchbase.com/about-us/

O., and Liu, X. (2009). Returnee entrepreneurs and firm performance in Chinese high-
Dai, 0.,
technology industries. International Business Review, 18(4), 373-386.

Damuri, Y. R,
R., Aswicahyono, H., & Christian, D. (2018). Innovation policy in Indonesia.
Innovation policy in ASEAN, p. 96.

Dencker, J. C., and Gruber, M. (2015). The effects of opportunities and founder experience
on new firm performance. Strategic Management Journal, 36(7), pp. 1035-1052.

Díaz-Santamaría, C., and Bulehand-Gidumal,

Diaz-Santamaria, Bulchand-Gidumal, J. (2021). Econometric Estimation of the
Factors that Influence Startup Success. Sustainability, 13(4).

Dickey, M.R. (2013). Startup with no revenue can be worth a billion dollars. Business
Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-with-no-revenue-worth-1-billion-
https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-with-no-revenue-worth-l-billion-
2013-5?r=US&IR=T
20 l3-5?r=US&IR=T

Drucker, P.F. (1985). Innovation and Entrepreneurship. New York. Harper and Row.

A R
Dyke, L. S., Fischer, E. M., & Reuber, A. R. (1992). An inter-industry examination of the
impact of owner experience on firm performance. Journal of small business
management, 30(4), p. 72.

Eatmon. T.D., Granger, R,

R., Abrentes, B.F., and Forsberge, C. (2019). The entrepreneurial
Dimensions of Transnational Education.

Florin, J., Lubatkin, M., and Schulze, W. (2003). A Social Capital Model of High-Growth
Ventures. The Academy of Management Journal, 46(3), pp. 374-384.

Gmelch, G. (1997). Crossing cultures: Student travel and personal development.

International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 21(4), 475-490.
 61

Google, Temasek, Bain and Company. (2019). e-Conomy SEA 2019. Retrieved from
http://think.storage.googleapis.com/docs/e-Conomy_SEA_2019_report.pdf

Greve, A.
A (1995). Networks and entrepreneurship -- an analysis of social relations,
occupational background, and use of contacts during the establishment process.
Scandinavian Journal of Management, 11, 1-24.

Groh, A., K. and Biesinger, M. (2021). The Venture Capital and

A, Liechtenstein, H., Lieser, K.
Private Equity Country Attractiveness Index 2021. 10th
l 0th edition. Available at
https://blog.iese.edu/vcpeindex/

Hayter, C. S. (2016). A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: the role of knowledge

spinoffsuccess:
intermediaries within an entrepreneurial university ecosystem. Small Business
Economics, 47(3), 633-656.

Holmberg-Wright, K., and Hribar, T. (2016). Soft Skills -–TThe

h e Missing Piece for
Entrepreneurs to Grow a Business. American Journal of Management, 16(1), pp. 11-
l 1-
18.

Honig, and Davidsson. (2000). The role of social and human capital among nascent
entrepreneurs. Article in Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings ·•
August 2000

Indra Arief, P., and Resinta S. (2021). Widodo Underlines Three Focuses oflndonesian's
of Indonesian’s
G20 Presidency. Antara News. 2 December 2021.
https://en.antaranews.com/news/202417/widodo-underlines-three-focuses-of-
indonesias-g20-presidency

Kacperczyk, A.
A (2013). Social Influence and Entrepreneurship: The Effect of University
Peers on Entrepreneurial Entry. Organization Science, 24(3), pp. 664-683.

Kemdikbud. 2022. Program Kampus Merdeka. Retreived from

https://kampusmerdeka.kemdikbud.go.id/program

Kim, P. and Aldrich, H.E. (2005). Social Capital and Entrepreneurship. Foundations and
Trends in Entrepreneurship. Vol 1.
l. No 2. 55-104.

R., Tran, B. L., & Chalmers, A.

Klingler-Vidra, R, AW W.. (2021). Transnational experience and
high-performing entrepreneurs in emerging economies: Evidence from Vietnam.
Technology in Society, 66, 101605.

Lew, Y. K., Khan, Z., & Cozzio, S. (2018). Gravitating toward the quadruple helix:
international connections for the enhancement of a regional innovation system in
Northeast Italy. R&DManagement,
R&D Management, 48(1), pp. 44–59.
44-59.

López-Rubio, P., Roig-Tierno, N. & Mas-Tur, A

Lopez-Rubio, A. (2020). Regional innovation system
research trends: toward knowledge management and entrepreneurial ecosystems.
International Journal of Quality Innovation, 6(4).
62

Li, H., Meng, L., Wang, Q., and Zhou, L. (2008). Political Connections, Financing and Firm
Performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms. Journal of Development
Economics, (87)2, pp. 283-299.

Inklusif Untuk Pendidikan Berkelanjutan. Retrieved from

LPDP. (2018). Beasiswa InklusifUntuk
https://www.lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id/api/Medias/b451a199-6f9d-4a19-af06-
https://www.lpdp.kemenkeu.go.id/api/Medias/b45l a l 99-6f9d-4al 9-af06-
cf529f974368

Lukes, M., and Laguna, M. (2010). Entrepreneurship: A psychological approach.

Luukkonen, T., Deschryvere, M., & Bertoni, F. (2013). The value added by government
venture capital funds compared with independent venture capital funds.
Technovation

A (2017). The Effect of Entrepreneurship

Mahendra, A.M., Djatmika, E.T., and Hermawan, A.
Education on Entrepreneurial Intention Mediated by Motivation and Attitude among
Management Students, State University of Malang, Indonesia. International
ofMalang,
Education Studies, 10(9), pp. 61-69

A 2021. Tokopedia and Gojek Merger Creates Indonesia's

Medina, A. Indonesia’s Largest Digital Services
Company. ASEAN Briefing. 25 May 2021.
https://www.aseanbriefing.com/news/tokopedia-and-gojek-merger-creates-
indonesias-largest-digital-services-
company/#:~:text=On%20May%2017%2C%202021%2C%20two,country's%20large
company/#:-:text=On%20May%20 l 7%2C%20202 l %2C%20two,country's%20large
st%2Dever%20business%20deal.

Mok, K.H., Han, X., Jiang, J,. and Zhang, X. (2018). International and Transnational
education for whose interests? A study on the career development of Chinese
students. Higher Education Quarterly. 72 (208-223).

Indonesia’s first foreign university unveiled. Retrieved from

Monash. 2022. Indonesia's
https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/indonesias-first-first-foreign-university-
unveiled

de Mol, E. (2019). What makes a successful startup team. Harvard Business Review Digital
Articles, 2-5.

Mulia, K. (2021). Gojek’s

Gojek's LinkAja investment opens the door to the government sector,
analyst says. Retrieved from https://kr-asia.com/gojeks-linkaja-investment-opens-
the-door-to-the-government-sector-analyst-says

Muñoz-Bullon, F., Sanchez-Bueno, M. J., and Vos-Saz, A.

Mufi.oz-Bullon, A (2015). Startup team
contributions and new firm creation: the role of founding team experience.
Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 27(1-2), 80-105.

Nugroho, Y., Hutschenreiter, G., Pawennei, I., and Amalia, M. (2013). Indonesia Innovation
Profile: Part of OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy Innovation in Southeast Asia.
Retrieved from http://cipg.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/OECD-Indonesia-
http://cipg.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/0ECD-Indonesia-
Innovation-Profile.pdf
 63

OECD. 2019. Education at a glance 2019: Indonesia. OECD. Retrieved from

https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glance/EAG2019_CN_IDN.pdf
https://www.oecd.org/education/education-at-a-glanceÆAG20l9_CN_IDN.pdf

Politis, D., and Gabrielsson, J. (2005). Exploring the role of experience in the process of
entrepreneurial learning. Lund Institute of Economic Research: Working Paper
Series.

A (2016). Gojek: A Unicorn's

Pratama, H. A. Unicorn’s Journey. Retrieved from
https://www.techinasia.com/how-go-jek-became-unicorn

Prasatya, A
A. (2017). Where and what you should study. The Jakarta Post. Retrieved from
https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/07/11/startup-101-where-and-what-you-
https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2017/07/l l/startup-101-where-and-what-you-
should-study.html

Pustovrh, A., Drnovšek, M. (2020). The role of open innovation in

A, Rangus, K., & Drnovsek,
developing an entrepreneurial support ecosystem. Technological Forecasting and
Social Change, 152, 119892.

PWC. 2022. Jobs Creation Law PWC. Retrieved from https://www.pwc.com/id/en/omnibus-

flash.html

Ratten, V. and Usmanij, P. (2021). Entrepreneurship education: Time for a change in

research direction. The International Journal of Management Education. 19(1).

Rieffel, L. (2008). Suharto’s

Suharto's Legacy and the Future of Indonesia. The Brookings Institution.
28 January 2008. Retrieved from. https://www.brookings.edu/on-the-record/suhartos-
legacy-and-the-future-of-indonesia/

Ruef, M., Aldrich, H. E., and Carter, N. M. (2003). The Structure of Founding Teams:
Homophily, Strong Ties, and Isolation among U.S. Entrepreneurs. American
Sociological Review, 68(2), 195-222.
195–222. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519766

A (2001). Bangalore: the Silicon Valley of Asia?. Centre for Research on

Saxenian, A.
Economic Development and Policy Reform. Working paper 91.

A (2005). From Brain Drain to Brain Circulation: Transnational Communities

Saxenian, L. A.
and Regional Upgrading in India and China. Studies in Comparative International
Development. 40, pp. 35-61

A (2007). Research Methods for Business Students.

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., and Thornhill, A.
(4th ed.). Pearson education.

Shah, S. K., and Pahnke, E. C. (2014). Parting the ivory curtain: understanding how
universities support a diverse set of startups. The Journal of Technology Transfer,
39(5), 780-792.

Shane, S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Organization science, 11(4), 448-469.
64

Shehu, H., & Shittu, K. O.

0. (2015). The bridge to economic prosperity: the role of English
language communication in Entrepreneurship. International Journal of Humanities
and Social Science, 5(7), 189-195.

Smith, A. (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought.

Souitaris, V., Zerbinati, S., and Al-Laham, A. (2007). Do entrepreneurship programmes raise
entrepreneurial intention of science and engineering students? The effect of learning,
inspiration and resources. Journal of Business Venturing, 22, pp. 566-591.

Sutrisno, B. (2021). Gojek to add $17.6b to Indonesian economy: report (updated). Retrieved
from https://www.techinasia.com/gojek-contribute-176-billion-indonesian-economy-
2021

Trippl, M., Grillitsch, M., and Isaksen, A. (2017). Exogenous sources of regional industrial
change: Attraction and absorption of non-local knowledge for new path development.
Progress in Human Geography, 42(3)

Turkina, E., & Thai, M. T. T. (2013). Social capital, networks, trust and immigrant
entrepreneurship: a cross‐country
cross-country analysis. Journal of Enterprising Communities:
People and Places in the Global Economy.

Unger, J. M., Rauch, A., Frese, M., and Rosenbusch, N. (2011). Human capital and
entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical review. Journal of business venturing,
26(3), 341-358.

United States Department of State. (2021). U.S. Relations With Vietnam. Bilateral Relations
Fact Sheet. Retrieved from https://www.state.gov/u-s-relations-with-vietnam/

Vandor, P., & Franke, N. (2016). See Paris and…

and... found a business? The impact of cross-
cultural experience on opportunity recognition capabilities. Journal of Business
Venturing, 31(4), 388-407.

Venugopal, B. (2017). Homophily, information asymmetry and performance in the Angels

market. Information Asymmetry and Performance in the Angels Market (September
16, 2017).

Wang, H., Zweig, D., & Lin, X. (2011). Returnee Entrepreneurs: Impact on China's
globalization process. Journal of Contemporary China, 20(70), pp. 413-431.

Widhiarto, H., and Ayuningtyas, K. (2014). Furniture Business Propels Jokowi's

Jokowi’s Path to
Prominence. The Jakarta Post. 30 June 2014.
https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/06/30/furniture-business-propels-jokowi-
https:!/www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/06/30/furniture-business-propels-jokowi-
s-path-prominence.html

Wiklund, J., and Shepherd, D.

D. A. (2003). Aspiring for and achieving growth: the moderating
role of resources and opportunities. Journal of Management Studies. 40 (8) 1919–
ofresources 1919-
1942
 65

Wood, M. (2011). A process model of academic entrepreneurship. Business Horizons. 54

(153-161)

World Bank. (2016). Indonesia's

Indonesia’s Global Workers: Juggling Opportunities and Risks.
Retrieved from
https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/28937/121691-WP-
p159694-PUBLIC-
P159694-PUBLIC-
IndonesiasGlobalWorkersJugglingOpportunitiesRisks.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
IndonesiasGlobalWorkersJugglingOpportunitiesRisks.pdf?sequence= l &isAllowed=y

World Bank. 2022. The World Bank In Indonesia. World Bank.

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/overview#1
https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/indonesia/overview#l

Yahoo Finance. (2021). GoPay Jago Collaboration Enables Indonesians to Open a Bank
Account Via the Gojek Account. Retrieved from
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/gopay-jago-collaboration-enables-indonesians-
020000924.html

Zheng, H., Piao, X., & Park, S. (2021). The Role of Founder-CEO, Human Capital and
Legitimacy in Venture Capital Financing in China's
China’s P2P Lending Industry.
Sustainability 2021, 13, 1625.
66

Appendices

Appendix A: Interview Script

“Thank you again for agreeing to chat with us. The purpose of our interview today is to
"Thank
understand how your international experiences influenced your career as an entrepreneur.

We have a standard list of 14 questions that we will ask today. The interview should take
approximately 45 minutes. If we have additional time at the end of the meeting, we may ask
some follow up questions.

Before we start, we need to confirm that we have your permission to record and transcribe this
interview today and to use this data for our published research. You are also free to revoke
this consent at any time after the interview.

Do you consent to this? And if so, would you like your name and other identifying information
to be anonymised from our final published research?

Do you have any other questions before we start the interview?"

interview?”
 67

Appendix B: Quantitative Raw Data (SPSS output)

Analysis 1: Techn
Techn// non-tech
non-tech** International experience

International experience Total

No International International
Experience
Exeerience Experience
Exeerience
Techn / non- Count 24 22 46
non-tech tech % within Techn
Techn// non-tech 52.2% 47.8% 100.0%
tech Count 116 185 301
% within Techn
Techn// non-tech 38.5% 61.5% 100.0%
Total Count 140 207 347
% within Techn
Techn// non-tech 40.3% 59.7% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2- Exact Sig. Exact Sig.
Value df sided) (2-sided) (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square
Chi-Sg!:!_are 3.083a
3.083a
1 .079
Continuity Correction
Correction"b 2.542 1 .111
Likelihood Ratio 3.028 1 .082
Fisher's Exact Test .106 .056
Linear-by-Linear Association 3.074 1 .080
N of Valid Cases 347
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 18.56.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Symmetric Measures
Approximate
Value Significance
Nominal by Nominal Phi .094 .079
Cramer's V
- - - - -.094
- - - - - - .079
- -
N of Valid Cases 347

“Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis indicated that the percentage of business owners with international experience
"Pearson's
χ2(1, nn==
and non-international experience did not significantly differ between the tech and the non-tech groups, x2(1,
347) = 3.083,
3.083,pp = .079, Phi=
Phi = .094."
.094.”
68

Analysis 2: Techn I/ non-tech

non-tech** International education

International education Total

No International International
Education Education
Techn I/ non- Count 25 21 46
non-tech tech % within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 54.3% 45.7% 100.0%
tech Count 132 169 301
% within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 43.9% 56.1% 100.0%
Total Count 157 190 347
Techn / non-tech
% within Techn/ 45.2% 54.8% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance (2- Exact Sig. Exact Sig.
Value df sided) (2-sided) (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-S_gare
Chi-Square 1.774
1.7748a
1 .183
Continuity Correction"
Correction b
1.375 1 .241
Likelihood Ratio 1.765 1 .184
Fisher's Exact Test .205 .121
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.769 1 .184
N of Valid Cases 347
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 20.81.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Symmetric Measures
Approximate
Value Significance
Nominal by Nominal Phi .071 .183
Cramer's V .071 .183
N of Valid Cases 347

“Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis indicated that the percentage of business owners with international education and
"Pearson's
non-international education did not significantly differ between the tech and the non-tech groups, χ2(1, nn== 347)
groups , x2(1,
= 1.774,
1.774,pp = .183, Phi=
Phi = .071.”
.071."
 69

Analysis 3: Techn / non-tech * International employment

International employment Total

No International International
Employment Employment
Techn I/ non- Count 41 5 46
non-tech tech % within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 89.1% 10.9% 100.0%

tech Count 182 119 301

% within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 60.5% 39.5% 100.0%

Total Count 223 124 347

% within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 64.3% 35.7% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig.
Value Df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided)
Pearson C
Chi-Square
hi-Sare 14.277a
14.277a
1 <.001
Continuity Correction"
Correctionb 13.056 1 <.001
Likelihood Ratio 16.785 1 <.001
Fisher's Exact Test <.001 <.001
Linear-by-Linear 14.236 1 <.001
Association
N of Valid Cases 347
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 16.44.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Symmetric Measures
Approximate
Value Significance
Nominal by Nominal Phi .203 <.001

N of Valid Cases
------------
Cramer's V .203
347
<.001

“Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis indicated that a significantly higher percentage of tech owners had international
"Pearson's
χ2(1, nn== 347) = 14.277,
employment history compared to non-tech business owners, x2(1, 14.277,pp <.001, Phi
Phi== .203.”
.203."
70

Analysis 4: Techn/
Techn / non-tech*
non-tech * American education

American education Total

Non-US
Education US Education
Techn I/ non- Count 35 11 46
non-tech tech % within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 76.1% 23.9% 100.0%
tech Count 207 94 301
% within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 68.8% 31.2% 100.0%
Total Count 242 105 347
% within Techn/
Techn / non-tech 69.7% 30.3% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests
Asymptotic
Significance Exact Sig. Exact Sig.
Value Df (2-sided) (2-sided) (1-sided)
Pearson Chi-Sgare
Chi-Square 1.012a
1.0128 1 .314
Continuity Correction"
Correction b
.695 1 .404
Likelihood Ratio 1.052 1 .305
Fisher's Exact Test .390 .204
Linear-by-Linear 1.009 1 .315
Association
N of Valid Cases 347
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 13.92.
b. Computed only for a 2x2 table

Symmetric Measures
Approximate
Value Significance
Nominal by Nominal Phi .054 .314
Cramer's V .054 .314
N of Valid Cases 347

“Pearson’s Chi-Square analysis indicated that the percentage of business owners with American education did
"Pearson's
not significantly differ between the tech and the non-tech groups, χ2(1, nn== 347) = 1.012,
groups , x2(1, 1.012,pp = .314, Phi=
Phi = .203.”
.203."
 71

Appendix C: Qualitative Data (salient quotes)

Coding key

Longer form code Abbreviated code

Academic and alumni networks AAN
Confidence and self-efficacy CSE
Cultural values cv
CV
Entrepreneurial intention EI
Entrepreneurial knowledge EK
EK
Fundraising FR
Government policy GP
Homophily and discrimination HD
Independence IND
Industry knowledge and insights INKI
INKi
Industry networks INET
Language skills LANG
Leadership and management skills LMS
Legitimacy LEG
Local networks LN
Opportunity recognition QPR
OPR
Passion and purpose pp
PP
Personal and peer networks PNET
Perspective and open-mindedness PO
Recruiting REC
Scaling SCA
Soft skills and intercultural competence SSIC
Startup and investor networks SIN
Strategic thinking ST
Strategy and business models SBM
 72

Salient quotations

Participant Code Quotation

P1
Pl CV And also, the business model that they develop, if you're educated abroad, they always impart upon
ST you on this, shoving it down your throat, innovations. And, and creativities in Indonesia, not
innovation, but compliance. So, you have to follow, you have to go with the flow, yes, to do the same
business that is successful somewhere else. Whereas US educated, you need to do something that is
above and beyond and different rather than make it the same.
P1
Pl LMS And in terms of human capital, you develop that. And a lot of successful startup founders have been
SSIC developed to be a quarterback, meaning that it is not just their individuality. But how do you work in
a team? And how do you inspire others? And how do you delegate? How do you make people want
“Okay, I have the ball, I want you to run to the
to fight for you and listen to you, and when you say, "Okay,
endzone, and you have to trust me, so I'm going to deliver the ball to you, all you have to do is catch
score.” So, you have that well developed in your freshman and junior years,
the ball and touchdown score."
pretty much. And then when you graduate, you come out as a person with that quality, human capital.
And that actually equipped you with all that you need to succeed in the startup world in Indonesia.
P1
Pl EK And why the United States? Mainly because my parents went to school in the United States, so ljust
I just
followed in their footsteps. So had they gone to the UK or Australia I probably would have gone there.
So that sets my case for others, my peers, other startup founders, who decided to study in the United
States because you know, they recognise the United States has been the most competitive education
providers in the world and the best innovation. So the best founders always seek out the best university
to get their education. So it's a cycle.
P1
Pl IND Having been educated abroad, depending on the school that you go to, of course, where you are, you
cv
CV are put in a very rigorous program, where your individuality must come out, right. So, in America,
CSE everybody is, is trained to be individualistic. So, you can make your own decision, your independence.
LMS So, you being independent is one of the keystones of American education. Whereas in Indonesia, it's
all about all about family. It's all about musyawarah. Even in our constitution is musyawarah.
Musyawarah means everybody, let's get together and let's discuss it as a family. So that's why you see
a lot of Indonesian, they always do things in a group, because that's where Indonesian culture is.
Whereas in the startup world, you need to be an outlier, you have to be the guy who is in the front.
And leading a battle. US education gives you that, it's all about if you look at Bill Gates and Steve
Jobs, if a person is not a group of person that is the lightning rod, or the sharp end of the spear for a
lot of successful startups, in terms of human capital, being educated abroad, you develop that, that
independent, you become more outgoing.
P1
Pl FR I noticed that a lot of the startups who were successful in fundraising, the founders have very similar
LEG backgrounds to me. So, they have overseas education, predominantly US educated. And it kind of
SIN dawned upon me that they were successful, not only because they have the entrepreneurship and the
LANG skills from the US education, but because many VCs prefer to work with them. Okay, so a lot of these
VCs are from the United States. So, when they come to Indonesia and need founders who have been
educated in the United States, there's a lot of rapport and chemistry immediately developed. And you
 73

know, the English language is actually quite important to improve that, that chemistry. So that's
number one. So English familiarity with the US, made me become more confident.
P1
Pl LANG I would not have the confidence, I would not have the confidence. So, confidence is almost 80% of
CSE your success. I've seen many startup founders who are smarter than me, more much more educated
FR than me. But they don't have the confidence. So let me give you an example. I met a startup founder
SSIC who is in the health sector, this is before the big health startups achieved significant growth. This is
pp
PP like five, six years ago. So, this startup, the founders, a health-related startup, very smart people, but
when they appear before funders and VCs, they lacked the energy and the communication skills to
persuade the funders, just because, you know, English is an issue number one, number two, they don't
feel that they are up to the same par of startup founders who are from Stanford University, for
example. So, when you look at all the health startups that made it, you can see a pattern, there are
many Stanford graduates, many of them from Berkeley and, and whatnot. So that's to answer your
question. Absolutely. So, when you, when you have the the US degree, it gives you the confidence to
move forward, even though you're
you’re not necessarily better than others who don't have the US
education?
P1
Pl FR In my case, all my seed funding came from my overseas friends. So, there is not a single Indonesian
PNET seed money in my startup, not even one penny, except for me. I'm the only ones and and my co-
SIN founders. So, my cofounders have the same pedigree as me. That whole my co-founder has graduated
from the UK master's degree. My other co-founders were Europe from Australia and Singapore, they
are one again, Singapore and Australia graduates, and they have parents who graduated from
Australia. So, we got a lot of this seed money from Australia, from Singapore, from Malaysia, from
Europe, these are true connections to friends.
P1
Pl LN In the startup world, there are two things that stands out, right, your paper qualification and your
LEG network, you must have those two. So, your paper qualification will say, like, you graduated from
HD Berkeley, or Stanford, that will stand out. In fact, one of the startup marketplaces, or the Indonesian
SIN version of CrunchBase,
CmnchBase, I forgot what it's called, again, where they actually score startups by looking
at the founders, and they give higher scores for founders that are educated in the United States. So, to
me, that's a little bit elitist, and unfair. But that's that's what they do. If you have a bachelor's degree
from the United States, you get a score of 10. But if you are locally educated, you get five. If you
have a master's degree, you get a score of 20. Especially if you're from Stanford, Ivy League, or MIT,
then you get an even higher score. That's how they do it. The second is who you know, but not just
notjust
who you know, but who knows you. You can say, Oh, I know [venture capital firm]. I know [person].
I know this guy or that guy. But do they know you is very important. And many of the successful
founders, if you look at their pedigrees, they're already in that same category as the decision makers
in VC companies in Indonesia.
P1
Pl LN It's a combination of both. In the startup world, startup founders, funding the entire startup ecosystem
is very elitist. Okay, it's very, very elitist. You need to be a member of some sort of fraternity. People
are very, very gengsi is the word ya, Indonesian word.
P1
Pl OPR Okay, so international experience gives you the abilities to do two things. Number one, you get more
experience, you get more information, more examples of entrepreneurial success. Number two, it
 74

gives you the confidence that you have the information and you can do better, right? So, someone
who has never been abroad do a startup in Indonesia may only have the internet as a way to get
information without actually being there, it's not the same, right? So, let's say you can browse the
internet and, and know what it's like to be in New York City. But that is different from actually being
there, right, you don't smell it, you don't feel the energy, you don't feel people bumping to you. You
don't you don't hear the silence of the police, police cars and so on. Very different from what you can
learn from the internet. So, by being abroad, you have the experience that you can compare with
Indonesia, you have new innovation that you actually experience in person in that other country that
you bring to Indonesia, and then you compare that experience with the situation in Indonesia.
Pl
P1 OPR So, for my situation it’s
it's about data. Okay, so my startup is all about data. In America, data is worth
SBM more than gold. But not yet in Indonesia, right? In Indonesia, people don't see that. But so, I bring
FR that experience to Indonesia. And the VC and the funders, they agree with me because they know the
value of data in other countries. And when they come here, they say, okay, so you have the data that's
very valuable. We agree to invest in you.
Pl
P1 GP So, if the government could help founders development, human capital, yes, but the enabling
environment have to be made easier for startup founders.
Pl
P1 HD So many of them [successful Indonesian co-founders] come from that pedigree, and then they end up
FR going to school in, in the United States or the UK. And so, if you're from that pedigree, it's not only
LN who you know, but who knows you is a significant help. And in this country, personal connections
SIN and getting introduced will be one of the most important criteria rather than you cold calling or
knocking on someone's door. And being introduced to a decision maker in a VC company
significantly improves your success rate. So, you need to have someone that knows someone at
Sequoia Capital, someone who went to school with them in Stanford and can introduce you, you need
to know other startup founders that have received significant funding and have that startup founder
introduce you to the VC company. So that person must have confidence in you that he's willing to
introduce you and vouch for you. So that requires the crucially important decision makers to know
you, rather than you know them.
Pl
P1 GP So, they can start with universities, okay, so it's good that Nadiem is the minister for education,
because that's where it needs to start. It's
It’s at primary and high school, rather than university, by the
time you get to university it’s
it's too late. Your personality has already been formed by the time you get
to university. So, it's difficult, it's a lot more difficult for you to grow. So, it's at low education, where
you need to develop this entrepreneurship, and innovation.
Pl
P1 FR So very cliquey bunch of people, right. So, if you have the requisite education, you've been to the
HD United States, they almost give you the right to succeed. If you don't have it, it's a lot more difficult
SIN for you. I don't know how else to explain it. For me, it becomes easy, a lot easier. Because, again,
LEG look, I've seen so many startup founders who are much more capable than I am, to be honest, smarter
than me, but they didn't get funding because the funders don't find them to be credible, and
trustworthy. But they feel that towards me, because of my education, because I can communicate in
English better than them. Somehow that makes a lot of difference. So, in the startup ecosystem in
Indonesia, you look at all the people from [local venture capital firm], for example, virtually all of
 75

them are USA educated, right? So, you need to be in that same clique in order to get money from
them. There are, of course, outliers there. But again, their journey is a lot more difficult.
P1
Pl FR So, when I did my executive education, that's where I met significant decision makers. And this is
AAN consistent with other startup founders that I know. So, for example, the CEO of [Indonesian startup],
SIN which has received $100 million in funding recently. He did his MBA in Europe, just about 5-6 years
received$100
ago. And that's where he met the people who became his early funders. So, through that connection,
he got the early funding. And that early funding propelled him to Series B and Series C funding
P1
Pl FR So, I did an executive education at MIT. A few years ago, from there, I met one of the directors of
AAN one of the VC companies based in Singapore, that actually linked me up to that company where I
SIN received funding. And also because of my international education, if you look at my CV, I worked
for the World Bank. That was a mandatory prerequisite at the time.
P1
Pl CSE So, I went to numerous events sponsored by
by…... it could be plug and play Antler, Sequoia, they all have
PP these events, right? So, they put the investors up on stage, and they give presentations. And then they
open the floor for questions, right? Everybody that put up their hands, they're all US or UK or
Australian graduates, right? They're the ones like "Oh!"
“Oh!” whereas all the others, they end up at the
back, the locals from Surabaya, from Medan. And they're all in the back. And they don't come forward
because, well, in Indonesia, if you go to local university, it's all about discipline and compliance. It’s
It's
“Iya pak",
all about "lya pak”, "Setuju
“Setuju pak”, “I agree with you sir",
pak", "I sir”, "Yes
“Yes sir”, “Thank you sir".
sir", "Thank sir”. They are very
good at doing that. Whereas that is not the quality that is important to succeed in a founder. Founders
must be willing to fight, kick down doors, be a little bit rude in order to get the attention of the right
people and say, "Hey,
“Hey, you, my startup is the best startup, please invest and trust me”,
me", in order to have
that in you. Whereas if you're educated in an environment when you are asked to be to do the opposite
of that, it's really difficult.
P1
Pl GP Startup founders, the number one thing the government should do is switch on your brain. It is your
brain and your innovation that will be successful, they need to create a successful startup ecosystem,
rather than the government saying that you have to do step 1,
l, 2, 3, and 4, which is exactly what the
government is doing. It is the opposite way of innovation and creativity which is absolutely crucial
for startups to succeed. Now, the government follows the footsteps of other countries, or the country
has their own Plug and Play, they have their own Sequoia Capital. And the government will say we'll
do the same. But they do it in a manner that their ecosystem is more similar to the civil servant
ecosystem than what a startup ecosystem ought to be. So, you know, very prescriptive. You have to
follow a lot of orders and steps in order to get your funding rather than promote creativity.
P1
Pl EK The second part is entrepreneurship. So, when I look at my background, upon graduation, I
SSIC immediately worked for a company where entrepreneurship is the most important skill. And I learned
FR that in the United States, which I feel is a much more competitive entrepreneurship environment
SIN compared to Indonesia. So that immediately improved my confidence. However, I have to tell you
that in Indonesia, the market is very different. So, you, if you bring in entrepreneurship skills from
the United States, and try to implement that in Indonesia, you may not be successful. When you will
be successful in is in your fundraising, because a lot of these VCs are from America or they are
educated in in America, and you will explain it from their context.
 76

Pl
P1 SBM When I compare founders who are locally educated versus founders who are educated abroad, I can
EK see a difference in the way they put together their business model, and the way they communicate
SSIC their business models by their pitch deck. It's a clear difference. Local founders tend to be ‘one
'one word'
word’
CSE is the word that I use here. Indonesians when they communicate, they tend to use double negative,
right so they don't say directly what they want, they don't say, "please
“please give me half a million dollars
so that I can grow my startup and be successful".
successful”. They don't say that. They will say things like, oh,
this startup has potential. Why don't you invest in me? So "why
“why don't you",
you”, it's a negative way to say
things that you want.
P2
P2 FR I think if I look back, I think, obviously, the professional experience has a lot more impact and a lot
LMS more relevancy to building as an entrepreneur. That's my experience, based on my personal
ST experience. Again, I think it's a matter of management skills, it's a matter of strategic thinking. It's a
matter of executing, right? And then lastly, it's
it’s communication. Right? I think that's key to get your
message across and to make others understand what you're doing, what your business does, and how
you can appeal to them. Particularly if you're fundraising for investors. Right. I think that's
that’s something
that's very relevant to my professional experience, as opposed to my education. I think education
always builds the basic foundation, basic skill sets. But I think you know, as an entrepreneur, you
would need a bit of more, I would say hustle, in getting things done a bit. And I think that it's a good
combination to have. Obviously, it's an ideal combination, having that international education,
exposure, but at the same time, I think I put a lot more weight on professional international experience.
P2
P2 GP I think it's always that they're quite intimidated by international exposure or competing
internationally.

I don't know whether that should be at the primary level or education level. There needs to be some
sort of guidance, mentoring. I think this is what's not there. At the end, you need to have these types
of methods to encourage young Indonesian professionals to expand, not only domestically but also
abroad.
P2
P2 ST I think it's more in terms of strategic thinking. In terms of looking at organic opportunities,
INET international exposure definitely helps. Connecting with international networks and mentors. I think
that's one of the keys that helped me. I think mentorship programmes are always very important.
Especially for young, aspiring entrepreneurs. So, I think those are some of the critical factors that I
attributed to helping me scale industry to where it is right now.
P2
P2 PO I think it's more of empathy, understanding, trying to, you know, obviously, it's a different culture,
SSIC being abroad, trying to understand other people's point of view, and being able to listen more and
adapt to some of the thought process or local culture within each country, right. And obviously being
in for example, Dubai, you are in an international city, you interact with different citizens. So
obviously, you need to adapt to their thought process, their point of view
P2
P2 SCA If you talk about a startup, or a successful startup, I think it's possible. But scaling up a startup, I think
it's a different level. And in terms of where we are as a company now, in terms of our growth, I would
say obviously, that's something that I would not have imagined had I not had any experience abroad
or, you know, as a professional abroad? I think that's my view.
 77

P2
P2 FR Okay, so I think, working abroad, I think you have a better understanding, on a professional level,
SSIC how to communicate, how to strategically position yourself in the eyes of, let's say, foreign investors.
ST That's key. Right? You develop a sense of what excites them. Right? And how do you work together
with them? How to, how do you get your ideas, or thoughts across? To, to the international audience?
I think that is key. Right? I think that is related to the experiences I've had working abroad, dealing at
different levels within the corporate world, right? Obviously, you need to convince, you need to
ensure that people get to understand what you're doing, get your point across, and be able to execute.
P2
P2 IND So, coming back, I think that also sets the tone for you to become more entrepreneurial, you want to
PP do everything on your own, trying to also create an impact, and make yourself stand out, rather than
the continuous business as usual that you're doing on a day-to-day basis. So, I think that also led to,
as I mentioned, investing, how we can create impact for the small medium businesses. How can we
make finance more accessible? Make it more digital. So, I think, you know, that contributed to our
success, over the years
P2
P2 LN That social capital angle, especially in Indonesia, where you need to have that network, you need to
build that network. You need to speak to the right people to ensure they're able to understand and to
speak to the key decision makers. And in growing your business.
P2
P2 FR Well, obviously, being an international banker, I think that really helps in developing the network in
SIN the financial services industry, when it comes to, you know, dealing with the private equity guys,
INKi
INKI dealing with investment banks, right. So, I think that is very much relevant to where we are at, at that
stage of what we're doing right now, in terms of deal size, in terms of transactions. So, I think that is
something that I think, is key to the success that we're having right now.
P2
P2 EI What interested me to shift from a professional standpoint, to running my own tech startup,
OPR particularly in the FinTech space, where obviously I had domain experience in that specific space,
INKi
INKI and the idea was, how I can leverage my experience, my network, to solve some of the biggest pain
INET points in the immediate financial services sector, which is access to finance for small medium
businesses.
P2
P2 SBM Yeah, I think, my ex-boss, that I used to work for, that I used to report to when in a multinational
INET bank. So obviously, that helps, as I said, you know, bringing in an international perspective, I think,
provided me with guidance in the early days of [startup name]. And I think just to validate some of
the strategies that I've thought about, strategy validation is obviously very important. As an
entrepreneur in general, so you don't avoid any, or you don't go through a lot of trial and errors. You
know, I think that's, that's key strategy validation.
P2
P2 IND You become more entrepreneurial, right? You become more of a self-starter, you become more
proactive, because you are on your own. And you're trying to develop your own career in another
country, basically.
P3 cv
CV Experimenting is not encouraged. We have this ego where you don't
don’t want to look bad, or you don't
don’t
PO want to make mistakes. When people go to Silicon Valley and say, "I
“I have built three startups and
failed",
failed”, people are going to be like "Well
“Well done, mate. You can do better in your fourth or fifth"
fifth” but
in Indonesia, if you fail in one venture, people are going to be like "What
“What a loser. It's totally useless.
Why don't
don’t you go work in a bank or something? Don't
Don’t waste your time to pursue your dreams".
dreams”.
 78

P3
P3 PP Having that exposure abroad gave me that power to dream -–yyou
o u can be anything. That's
That’s why a lot of
CSE those foreign educated tech founders decide all those crazy things.
P3
P3 LANG I think encouraging Indonesian students to pick up not only English, but actually transforming the
GP primary and secondary schools to provide mandatory foreign language courses is going to be key if
we want to have an international edge.
P3
P3 HD I think having the international reference is very helpful. Because when I came back to Jakarta and I
LEG applied for jobs, there is a discrimination between those who studied only locally, and those who
LN actually graduated abroad. The more competitive the role you're seeking to get, the more
discriminative they are. At [large consultancy firm], there's two different class of consultants. The
second class are those who studied locally, and the first class is those who have studied abroad. But
again, there is this distinction, where did you study abroad? If you look back 20 years ago, when there
were not so many university graduates in Asia, they would ask "do
“do you have a degree?"
degree?” And then, as
time goes by, it's like, "where
“where did you get your degree?"
degree?” And then it moves to "did
“did you get it locally
or abroad?”
abroad?" And then "where
“where did you get it abroad?"
abroad?” that kind of thing. So, it definitely helped me to
have a small edge over the other competitors when I was applying for jobs.
P3
P3 LANG I think picking up foreign language is also very helpful to gain trust and to let the other party know
SSIC that you appreciate their background. So, I think when we did fundraising, depending on which
country they come from, I would try to put my head in the country. For example, our first investor
was a Japanese based, VC firm. Luckily because I studied a bit of Japanese, I can speak some Japanese
to the Japanese manager at that time, which I don't know if that actually helped in getting the trust.
When I meet American investor, or some Taiwanese investor, I tried to speak a few greetings in their
language. That helps to close the gap, to connect the trust level, the power distance. So, I think having
that exposure in my previous time when working abroad helped me to get close and become friends
with strangers very quickly, in a way.
P3
P3 GP I think the current government is or has done quite a lot. First of all, they have permitted a lot of
LANG foreigners to come to Indonesia using visa on arrival. That increases the number of foreign tourists
and that is good for our hospitality industry. They are also providing scholarships to Indonesian
students to study abroad. I think those two actions the Jokowi government has done are positive
towards internationalising our students. But the challenge of getting international exposure first
requires a student to actually speak the foreign language.
P3
P3 PO I think the different perspectives of people that I met, that I hang out with, and also the way people
SSIC do things, which are very different in each company, let alone in each city or in each country, gave
me the ability to connect with people from those places. And that is an edge that I find very useful.
P3
P3 PNET I think the discussions that I had with my classmates gave a lot of ideas and perspectives. When I was
PO doing my undergraduate in the UK, my typical class was about 60 students. And out of that 60, there
were 58 different nationalities. Living in an international city like in the UK, you get that exposure.
And then when I did my master’s,
master's, in a suburb of [city], going south, it was not that extreme. But still,
there was a high level of international perspective, like a lot of Thai, Greek, Korean and even Swedes,
so we had an exchange with a Swedish University at that time. So, I think having that peer-to-peer
learning gave me a lot of insight, not just reading the theories from the textbook, I mean, you can pick
 79

up any textbook anywhere, but more learning about their individual experience, and how they go
through life, which is quite different if you study in Indonesia. I was curious about the experience of
taking a degree in Asia. That's why I decided to do my PhD here. And it's a lot more homogenous.
There were no foreigners in my PhD class. All the lecturers were almost 99% Indonesian.
P3 pp
PP I think the motivation of achieving dreams -– that's
that’s what we can when go abroad. Hopefully, when
EI you are in Norway, getting time to think and ponder, and stargaze "what
“what is the meaning of life?”
life?" that’s
that's
IND don’t really get in Indonesia. We are more encouraged to become employees of a big
something we don't
company or become a state employee.
P3 LMS I think, working in different industries, in different countries, in different companies, you get exposed
PO to different ways of doing things. You get to pick up leadership skills, which are different. And also,
CV the ethics which are different. I mean, if you're working with Koreans, it is very different to the way
you work with Indians or Chinese or Malay, right. And those are the things that I can pick and choose
which one to repeat, and which one not to repeat. And I am also was very fortunate enough to have
been able to work in reasonably good companies. At [large consulting firm], I picked up a lot of stuff
there learning as a consultant. I worked at the telco company in the UK, I worked in small private
equity in Asia and so on. So, I think I was really fortunate that I was able to learn from different bosses
from different backgrounds.
P3 OPR I was inspired by a speech by Tom Friedman, a New York Post columnist, where he said that if you
EI want to be a powerful country in the world, you have to have strong economy, and strong economy
PP comes from strong industries and a strong industry comes from strong companies in the industry. And
a strong company comes from strong employees and the strong employees comes from strong higher
education system. I saw the opportunity in Indonesia because I was accidentally working as an
academic at [Indonesian University] while trying to finish my PhD. And I realised that the Indonesian
higher education level is way behind our neighbours. Forget Singapore, forget Malaysia, forget
Philippines, even Timor LesteÆast
Leste/East Timor, we are lower in terms of the percentage of registered
workers. Out of 150 million registered workers in Indonesia, only about 8% have a bachelor's degree.
Forget about masters and PhD, only 8% which is about 9 million people have a bachelor's
bachelor’s degree. In
East Timor the number is about 11%, in Singapore it is around 55%, in South Korea it is 82%. So, we
will never be able to catch up with our neighbours if we don't fix our higher education. And I saw the
space. Nobody really cares about these universities in going to the next level. While I was at
[Indonesian University], I was running the online [business programmes] and I was asked by our dean
to launch an online version of the [business programme]. And that's where I got the idea if I can do
this for [Indonesian University], I can do it for the other 4800 universities in Indonesia and that's why
I keep on talking to people about this idea of democratising quality affordable education. That's
That’s how
we came up with [Indonesian ed tech company], actually over a barbecue with a friend's friend.
P3 PO It would be difficult. Because one thing I appreciate working in different countries is the
understanding of different perspectives of how the world sees things. Also, the different pace of
change in terms of technology transformation and people's expectations. So, I think it would be a bit
hard for me if I did not get this international experience.
 80

P3 cv
CV Like I mentioned previously, a lot of the business practices that I was exposed to, out of the business
ethics and way of doing business was very important to replicate here. Because as you probably have
experience in Makassar, where you did your time there is very different. The way you do business is
very different compared to when you're in Australia, for example, we don't have a fair dinkum system
like in Australia, that's really important to be fair dinkum. So, I think the best practices and business
ethics were the things that I can use to differentiate us from other companies.
P3 AAN Not really. I have a network of alumni. I'm the alumni representative of my bachelor's
bachelor’s programme
LEG but did not really have any significant value in terms of contribution at all. It's just a brand that I can
put on "I'm
“I'm a graduate of this school”.
school". But even then, that's a big help, because at least you graduate
from a reasonably well-known school like that. But in terms of funding or in terms of other things,
not really.
P3 FR On the other hand, if you do not know anything, it's also a big challenge like my colleagues from
INET different companies provide me with links to people who can act as advisors or supporters or even
REC employees. So, I think having the network is important, and having the know how is also important.
Especially when you are going into more the maturity stage of the company, when you have to do
fundraising, when you have to go and develop partnerships, you do need to have people who can
recommend you to other people.
P3 GP The way we are taught in Indonesia is more about regurgitating stuff. Even the questions that we’re
we're
IND asked in my primary school are not really thinking kind of questions. It’s
It's like yes, no, maybe, not like
CV “Tell us your opinion about this particular topic".
"Tell topic”. I find this reflected in my students now as II’m
'm
teaching in the undergraduate level. Even my previous master’s
master's students are afraid to voice their
They’re not taught to think creatively. They’re
opinions. They're They're just taught to memorise stuff. This contrasts
sharply with education in the US or the UK. Kindergartens in the UK are taught to share their
“What did you do last weekend? Please go to the front of the class and explain what your
experiences "What
like” That's
weekend was like" That’s public speaking at a very early age. Even in the classroom, we are taught
to see particular problems and given the chance to argue our opinions. That's
That’s not the case in the
Indonesian context. A lot of the workforce that we see is basically waiting to be told what to do. If
you have an army of ‘tell
'tell me what to do'
do’ people then you're
you’re not going to create any innovation or
new ideas. That's
That’s one thing that is challenging in the Indonesian context.
P4 SIN Another lucky break for me is one of the biggest incubators in Indonesia, held by the biggest telco
company. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, they always organise events. They would bring
speakers from startup scenes, VC, or startup founders like Tokopedia, Bukalapak, which at that stage
were not as big as they are now. I was eager to learn about it. I went there every day, every night to
make some connections with the VCs, [telco] people, and startup CEOs. From there, I realised there’s
there's
nobody doing this, it's
it’s still a very small portion of people who are doing this.
P4 PNET First, networks and friendships. You're
You’re going to meet with people and have better relationships with
LN them. When you go overseas, if you are poor, you're
you’re at least very smart or if you are rich or come
from a rich family, you are an A list of people.
P4 INKI
INKi For me, it's another way to learn about globalisation. I feel like I need to go to Europe to understand
more about international people. So, I chose there. In 2008, I went to Germany to do an internship in
 81

Indonesia’s conglomerate factories. I went to a small city near Berlin. I worked in human
one of Indonesia's
resources because I wanted to understand how Germans actually work. Compared to Indonesia, it is
of course very different. I learned a lot about automation. The factory had less than 30 people so
everything is like a machine. It was actually mind blowing for us because back in Indonesia in 2006,
I went for another internship (before I went to Germany) in [large technology company] factory which
had like 10,000 people.
P4
P4 PNET From my work experience - it's
it’s only internship. It didn't
didn’t really give me the same effect as someone
who has worked for three to four years. When I was abroad, meeting people who have got the same
lifestyle, family background, and passion actually boosted my career. For example, some of my
investors
P4
P4 LN From the Indonesian perspective, Indonesia is a bit different from US or Europe. Here, you don't
don’t need
cv
CV to be very smart to be successful. You just need orang dalam, you need to know the right people to
get the right projects. If you're
you’re very smart and very [unknown phrase], if you are really ambitious
because you are smart, you go to the US or Australia. You go to developed countries because skills
are more respected than just other things right. That’s
That's why a lot of Indonesian scientists or all the
smart people stay in Europe, Australia, or the US because they are more respected there. But in
Indonesia, I think social capital is more important to understand who knows who and because we still
see clusters of people.
P4
P4 SIN I have one investor from Malaysia. I made a deal with her. The story is simple. She lives in Indonesia
FR but goes back and forth from Indonesia to Malaysia and Middle East. I came to her like "Bu,
“Bu, I really
need you to be my partner. I will have a lot of clients from banks or competitors from banks. I know
you’re very deep when it comes to networking in the banking and financial industry, so I need
that you're
you to be my partner. Whatever your company's
company’s standard to invest, I will follow".
follow”. She said "Oh,
“Oh, yes".
yes”.
“Maybe like 5-10% is okay".
And I replied, "Maybe okay”. She said, "No,
“No, our SOP is 20%”.
20%". I said, "Oh
“Oh okay, if 20%
then my valuation right now is this. So, you need to invest this much money”.
money".
P4
P4 LN I haven't used my international friends because my business is very local. I haven’t
haven't used my
PNET international friends to actually help me do business. So, what I can say right now, those who are
already working with me are Indonesian friends that I met overseas.
P4
P4 SSIC I think my lifestyle requires me to be someone flamboyant, to be someone who is very open with
different people. If you make some deals -– to create events or just to party together, you need to be a
nice and cool guy. I think that has allowed me to make friends with a lot of people with different
backgrounds. That has helped me when I work as an entrepreneur or even as a worker. You can read
people. But the educational knowledge is none. But let's
let’s say, a framework of doing things, timetables,
don’t
making reports yeah but not as big as the social capital and how I require soft skills. Universities don't
teach you soft skills, right? You have to learn it yourself.
P4
P4 OPR Most of the startup founders who are not able to go abroad, they are very conventional when they see
PNET startups. While I was getting knowledge about corporations from [large tech group], and the ideas
CSE that might work when I was living overseas. I was also having a lot of networks to communicate with
cv
CV my friends in Germany and other parts of the world to see whether this is also something new in
It’s not like "Oh
different parts of the world. This gave me confidence to pursue entrepreneurship. It's “Oh
 82

okay I want to be an entrepreneur”

entrepreneur" but it’s
it's an opportunity after seeing different factors that happened
in 2013-2014. That I might have a chance to be the first mover in the startup society in Indonesia.
P4
P4 SSIC So, I grew up outside, this built my character to be very open, outspoken. Most Indonesians are very
CSE shy especially when communicating in English. They get involved in discussions and even though
LANG they don't
don’t agree, they will say, "Okay,
“Okay, okay".
okay”. They just don't
don’t want to put effort to answer in English
PO sometimes. This doesn't
doesn’t happen when you have international experience. Disagreement with different
CV people is normal. So, I think those experiences have allowed me to talk with lots of international VCs
and just be myself.
P4
P4 SSIC Sometimes the way I do fundraising - I need to know the person for at least six months to one year to
FR gain the chemistry and understand what they want. I learned that when you do fundraising, the most
important thing is trust. The most important thing is they have confidence in you. They know you and
they feel like it's
it’s safe to put money in whatever business I’m
I'm creating. I learned in Germany and
Australia that when people make deals, bosses don't
don’t talk about it. But the first thing they want to
know is whether they can trust you. I lived in different parts of the world, China, Japan, Korea,
Singapore and management are all the same. You know what makes us different is the way we talk
to them
P4
P4 FR The most important thing for me is different people, different story. For me that is they will listen to
SSIC you as long as they trust you. It’s
It's the same for every nation but something that Indonesians who
haven't been abroad don't
haven’t don’t understand. Let's
Let’s say, if they’re
they're Sundanese, they will bring their Sundanese
customs of doing business. So, you can’t
can't do this. You need to bring your international pace to talk to
them then they will understand. This is the thing that helped me talk with international investors even
though I only have one right now.
P4
P4 PNET The one that really gave me a boost in my career is my network that I created from parties. From
people that I ran into on the streets, people that I met from my hobbies. Those are the ones who
boosted my career. Sadly, it’s
it's not from my international education or work experiences because I
don't
don’t even remember my master’s
master's degree on international business.
P4
P4 IND What I learned about going abroad is that you learn about life. You go to different places alone that
PP shape you, learn things yourself, make friends, manage your time, find your passion. That's
That’s the benefit
that Indonesians who don't
don’t yet have opportunities to go abroad will never have.
P4
P4 GP What the Indonesian government can do is they can create a program for entrepreneurs to learn and
live outside of Indonesia. Not collaborating with universities but maybe with institutions that allows
them to work abroad or even validate their business ideas, not just in Indonesia but also abroad. And
not only tech, but it could also be just businesses -– F&B or whatever. Give them a chance to live for
at least six months or more in Europe, US, Australia. See how they will get a new mindset,
perspective, and new ideas and clients.

Do you know Y Combinators? What they are doing right now is that they select several startups from
Indonesia and if they pass the interview, they need to be in the US for one or three months. Live there,
exchange ideas, learn directly from mentors in YC bootcamp. I think the rate of success when they
come back is huge.
 83

P4
P4 OPR When I was in Melbourne, the idea was simple. When we want to go out, there are so many platforms
whether it’s
it's offline or online that gives you information about things to do in Melbourne. You will
know there’s
there's a concert on in zoo. You can do this in St Kilda. That was even before social media.
You can go to the website, have flyers, go into some university websites to see what's
what’s happening. It
was so easy to go out. In Jakarta, it's
it’s a bit different. You only go to malls and see what's
what’s happening
in malls back then. That was before Google was big. The idea actually came from my experience
when I was living overseas. I thought it was going to work here in Indonesia where people can have
just one platform or one application to get access about things to do or what's
what’s happening in Jakarta at
that time with one single click. My proposition at the beginning when I created [entertainment
platform] was there's
there’s a problem that people have no access to activities in Jakarta
P4
P4 OPR When you are overseas, you will see something that is already happening there compared to here. If
you see Gojek, they see like Lyft or Uber, right? They recreated Uber with Gojek (Ojek). For me, that
is another value that brings advantages to people who go overseas. You have more ideas; you know
doesn’t work compared to people who don't
what works and what doesn't don’t go abroad. When you are travelling,
you only see and experience the country. If you don't
don’t live there, you don't
don’t actually use the business
ideas that work there on a daily basis like for three months or even two years. Sometimes a lot of
ideas that people see during their travels work for like a week then you bring the idea here, it's
it’s doesn't
doesn’t
work.
P4
P4 FR When you fundraise with people coming from different parts of the world, then they know that I can
SSIC speak English and they can understand it so that is already a plus. Coming from [prominent Australian
university] or different parts of the world gives them confidence that II’m
' m a global citizen. Of course,
the connections that I have -– I always talk to my friends in different parts of the world just to give
them some updates about what they're
they’re doing and what's
what’s happening there. This is just to have some
basa basi with the investors. That is also a plus. Rather than just reading from global news, it is
different when you actually talk with someone in Berlin and exchange messages as it will give you
some chemistry.
P4
P4 LN With the privilege of my parents’
parents' networks, I was able to work where I wanted to work. So, I know
ST that to be an entrepreneur, you need to understand strategy, you need to understand execution. I was
asking my dad to find a job for me in the corporate world but to only do strategy and not operation.
If you are into operation, then you're
you’re going to lose a lot of time doing small things.
P4
P4 PO You’re also going to be open to more values. When you go abroad, you will see people with different
You're
sexual orientations as normal, especially when you're
you’re open to more values and perspectives. You're
You’re
not going to be judging people who are different. In Indonesia, if you are one of these people, it’s
it's not
going to be nice when people notice them. But overseas, it has become something normal. So, this
can give you more value to be more open.
P4
P4 CSE You’re going to find yourself. Your parents or your family won’t
You're won't be with you so you can have the
PO lifestyle you want to have. If you want to party, you can go party. If you want to bartend, you can be
IND a bartender. If you want to do whatever you want, whether it's
it’s your passion or your hobby, you're
you’re
going to be yourself 100% without anyone judging. This is actually something big because then you
You’re also going to be open to more values.
will gain confidence. You're
84
 85

List of Figures
Figure 1:
l: Preliminary Conceptual Framework for Transnational Experience

Figure 2: Technology Co-founders by Study Destinations

Figure 3: Technology Co-founders by Employment Destination

Figure 4: Revised Conceptual Framework for Transnational Experience

86

List of Tables
Table 1:
l: Top 5 Destinations for Indonesian Students

Table 2: Top 5 Destinations for Indonesian Foreign Workers

Table 3: Interview Questions

Table 4: Pearson's
Pearson’s Chi-Square Analysis Results and Descriptive Statistics

Table 5: Thematic Analysis Coding Frequency and Distribution