Your startup probably needs help localizing in Indonesia (#StartupAsia preview)

As more Indonesians come online, tech companies big and small are figuring out how to enter the market and have the maximum impact on the most populous Southeast Asian nation. Aside from learning about their prospective customers, firms have to decide how to localize their products for Indonesian people and their cultures.

It’s a challenge, too, for Indonesian startups, who have to weigh up building something global – perhaps in English – or using their scarce resources to cater to fellow Indonesians with a modified product.

This localization question seems to have been answered recently by several incoming tech firms who are doing well in Indonesia – and the answer is that you’re better off localizing a lot, perhaps even to the extent that your product feels like it’s homegrown. After all, people like a sense of ownership over something. Companies as diverse as Freelancer, Path, and Line are winning the market by tuning in to the culture and realizing how Indonesians use tech differently than in neighboring countries.

See: Asia is an artificial construct. But that’s its greatest strength

It’s all rather complex, and startups need advice. That’s why, at Startup Asia Jakarta later this month, we’ve invited four experts for an onstage discussion as to why localized products thrive in the country. They are Bob Bao (Baidu Indonesia), Tesong Kim (VIP Plaza), Weihan Liew (Mainspring), and Paul Leishman (Coda Payments). They’re all from outside Indonesia and are now building up traction for their respective businesses across the archipelago.

Join us at Startup Asia Jakarta on November 26 and 27 to hear all the advice (that discussion is on day one of our event). You can use the latebird10 code for a 10 percent discount when registering. The code is valid until November 14 (yes, that’s tomorrow). Register here.