Forbes Indonesia - February 2021

In this issue

INDONESIA HAS EXPERIENCED an upsurge in digital content consumption in the past few years. Fueled by rising internet adoption, huge consumer population, smartphone ownership, and heavy use of social media platform, the trend will maintain heading north going forward. The trend has also begun shifting of ads spending from conventional media of print, radio, and television to digital platforms. Data from market research company Nielsen showed that advertising spending in those conventional media are declining, growing only by 2% from the third quarter of 2018 to the second quarter of 2019, compared to 6% grown in the same period of 2017 to 2018. On the other hand, despite lacking clear data about the actual ads spending in digital platforms in Indonesia, people believe the numbers are going up inline with the viewers.

Why Investors in 2021 Need to Bet Against the Usual VC Dogma

It is now just over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, and at a glance, early data from venture capital (VC) investing activity in 2020 paints a rosier picture than the gloom and doom that was foreshadowed during the first wave of cases. US VC investment activity totaled $156.2 billion last year, up from $138.1 billion in 2019. It was the first time funding has surpassed $150 billion, said Pitchbook. Full-year numbers for ASEAN are not in yet, but based on an August report by Cento Ventures, the first half of 2020 saw $5.6 billion invested, lower than the $6.4 billion in the first half of 2019.

4 mins

Killing It

Ryan Hogan and Derrick Smith are cashing in on the pandemic’s deadly combination of boredom and screen fatigue by selling immersive murder mysteries packaged in monthly subscription boxes.

3 mins

Health vs. Wealth

The world is awash in cheap antibiotics. So why is biotech billionaire Bob Duggan trying to make a new one—and how can he possibly make money from it?

4 mins

The Remote-Work Absolutist

GitLab CEO Sid Sijbrandij built a developer-tool business valued at nearly $3 billion without maintaining any offices. Now he’s warning companies against doing telecommuting halfway.

4 mins

The Prophet and Her Profits

CATHIE WOOD has leveraged her zealous belief in innovation into a $29 billion-in-assets investment firm and a $250 million net worth. Among her predictions: Tesla will build a fleet of robo-taxis worth $1 trillion.

6 mins

BREXIT Done: Time For a UK Trade Reset

On December 31, 2020, after numerous stalls in discussions and negotiation deadline postponements, the United Kingdom exited its transition arrangements with the European Union – BREXIT was officially completed. Few will remember when the UK originally joined the Common Market, and fewer still may be aware that it was British World War II Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, who in 1946, conceived of the idea of an ‘United States of Europe’, as a measure to prevent future wars on the continent.

5 mins

High Rise

Zuo Hui has built KE Holdings into China’s largest platform for residential property transactions and services. And he sees plenty of growth ahead.

6 mins

MAKING MILLIONS FROM BEZOS' BILLIONS.

Deep-pocketed investors are rushing to bet on Amazon’s third-party sellers. The stampede will change retail forever.

10+ mins

WOMEN IN TECH

IN THE DIGITAL ERA, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) jobs are expected to grow exponentially in the near future. While it's already challenging to fill in the positions with qualified individuals, attracting women's talents to the industry is even more challenging. According to the non-profit organization American Association of University Women (AAUW), women in the US make up only 28% of the workforce STEM, and men vastly outnumber women majoring in most STEM fields in college. The gender gaps are exceptionally high in some of the fastest-growing and highest-paid jobs of the future, like computer science and engineering.

5 mins

THE LOOMING SPAC MELTDOWN

What’s driving SPAC mania on Wall Street? Not the billionaires and bankers making headlines daily, but a mob of little-known hedge fund investors, the “SPAC Mafia,” who are incentivized to gobble up these opaque public offerings with little concern over whether they ultimately succeed or fail.

10 mins

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Forbes Indonesia Magazine Description:

Forbes Indonesia is a world-class business magazine of uncompromising quality and scope, providing insights and information to readers critical to their business and inspiring them to greater success