Lessons on failure from AgenKan’s founder

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I love films that end with some kind of moral victory, even if the protagonists didn’t get everything they wanted.

For instance, in Real Steel – a movie about robots being used for boxing, which is totally cool and not childish to enjoy at all – the robot Atom ultimately loses to the all-time champion Zeus. However, the important thing is that it lasted multiple rounds against Zeus, something that no other boxing robot had ever done.

I think one of the reasons why I love movies like this is because it’s a reminder that even in some kind of perceived failure or loss, there’s always something to be gained. Yes, Atom might have lost the match, but it earned the respect of the entire boxing world and showed others that Zeus was not the godlike robot many thought it was.

With how difficult and intimidating the tech industry can be, failure is usually something that occurs more often than not, even to the most capable. In today’s story, we look at serial entrepreneur Muhammad Aditriya Indraputra, who tells us about his failed fintech startup and what he learned from the experience.

Today we look at:

• A serial entrepreneur looking back on his first startup
• A Hong Kong biotech firm scoring US$12 million for its series A fundraise
• Other newsy highlights such as Indonesia banning imported goods under US$100 on ecommerce platforms and a new crypto firm from Jirnexu’s founders.

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Image credit: Timmy Loen

Muhammad Aditriya Indraputra is the co-founder and CEO of PrimaKu, an Indonesia-based growth and development app focused on childcare. However, his tech journey began with a different kind of startup: a fintech platform called AgenKan. The firm may have been forced to close after just a year and a half of operations but Indraputra says that he learned plenty from the “life-changing” experience.

• A leap of faith: The story begins in 2019, when Indraputra quit his job in the private equity sector to establish AgenKan. Its business model centered around combining peer-to-peer lending with pawn services.
• Caught in the headlights: When Covid-19 arrived, local regulations nullified a big part of AgenKan’s business model. The team tried to pivot but unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to do so.
• Lessons learned: After the business shut down in December 2020, Indraputra says that he learned how important it is for a founder to build personal credibility. For him, this led to an easier time in setting up PrimaKu.

Read more: Serial entrepreneur opens up about failed fintech firm

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