‘I’m out!’ Former boss of Indonesia’s legendary online forum Kaskus drops mic

Andrew Darwis and Ken Dean Lawadinata (l-r).

Ken Dean Lawadinata, former CEO of Indonesia’s legendary online community Kaskus, has exited the company.

He announced his departure to friends and partners yesterday in an email that thanked everyone along the journey and ended with an emphatic “I’m out!”

I think right now the IT market is in a bit of a bubble in Indonesia.

GDP acquired Ken’s remaining shares

“The reason is actually pretty simple,” Ken told Tech in Asia today.

“GDP offered to acquire mine and Andrew’s (Kaskus founder) shares with a valuation that we think is quite fair. So we had a negotiation and everything was done within two months. Now I’m fully out of Kaskus and Andrew maintains a tiny percentage in Kaskus as a memento.”

GDP is a venture capital firm associated with Indonesian tobacco company Djarum. It first invested in Kaskus in 2011. Andrew Darwis is the forum’s original founder. Ken partnered up with Kaskus in 2008. As CEO, he helped grow it into a professional business.

Ken’s and Andrew’s departure from their own startup wasn’t all that sudden. It happened in stages. In 2013, a few years after the GDP investment, the duo left their positions as CEO and CTO, taking on roles as chairman and advisor, respectively. Both were still involved in the company’s day-to-day operations, but former COO Sukan Makmuri – a respected industry veteran – took over the lead.

That didn’t last long. Sukan returned to the US in 2014, which meant Kaskus was now managed by the head of GDP ventures, Martin Hartono. At this point, it’s still unclear whether GDP plans to put a new full-time CEO in place.

Looking at opportunities beyond the tech sector

Ken is ready to move on. That might mean turning his back on the tech sector for a while, though he still helps two startups, Smartmama and Tororo, as a mentor.

“As for me I think right now the IT market is in a bit of a bubble in Indonesia, with everyone asking ridiculous valuations without any signs of profit in the near future. So I believe diversifying my assets especially with the cash I got now, to other fields such as mining or other commodities […].”

“That’s about it. In short I’m in a discovery mode for investments outside of the IT sector at the moment, until valuations make a little bit more sense.”

This post ‘I’m out!’ Former boss of Indonesia’s legendary online forum Kaskus drops mic appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Tech in Asia https://www.techinasia.com/ken-lawadinata-leaves-kaskus
via IFTTT