Indonesian Lifestyle Portal Updaterus.com Talks About its Transformational Decision [INTERVIEW]

Seven months ago we talked about Updaterus.com after the rather unique news portal launched. Now the site has pivoted, ditching the format of news mixed with beautiful women, evolving into a mens’ lifestyle site – which still (to our relief) has plenty of beauties. So, Updaterus has ditched its unisex market approach and opted to focus on just one niche – the guys.

We talked with Jonathan Marga Luhur, the CEO of Updaterus, about the site’s transformation and progress.

1. Can I say that Updaterus is the Indonesian version of AskMen?

Jonathan: Well, lots of people commented that we are the Indonesian version of Askmen.com. We initially never targeted ourselves to be like Askmen; however, since we share the same vision as it, many people commented positive things about our similarity.

2. How would you describe it then?

Jonathan: Some of the core ideas about our mens’ portal come from my personal experience. I was a total geek who did not know how to dress properly or how to talk to women, nor did I have a clue about my career. It took me years and lots of books to learn about all these. Our mens’ portal focuses on giving tips on how to be a better man. I found out that a guy does not have to be handsome or own fancy cars to attract women — he does not even have to be rich. But a guy who has an attractive personality, self-confidence, knows how to dress just right without being overly ‘metro’ will automatically be more appealing. We also take our content seriously, and that’s why we bring in established experts to write in our [columns] instead of just Googling each topic. In short, Updaterus.com is a mens’ portal that can improve a life with basic tools and knowledge.

3. Why did you decide to do this transformation?

Jonathan: Our first version, a unisex website, was a trial aimed at a bigger market [male and female]. Two months after we launched it, we encountered difficulties in how to serve that market because we had to satisfy both sides. Also, since my partners are all men, we felt that the mens’ market is one that we are good at. Without thinking much, we pivoted to become a mens’ portal. I used the lean startup method of “Build, Measure, Learn,” so as soon as we felt the unisex thing was not working, we pivoted.

4. Can you share any website statistics? How had the adjustment gone so far?

Jonathan: The transformation is super awesome. Serving just one market is easier than trying to do two markets. Our pageviews have rocketed about ten-fold. And also our recent video has 52,000 Youtube hits in less than a week.

In the era where there are big media [sites] like Kompas, Detik, Viva, Kaskus, it is more likely for us to [succeed] in this niche market.

5. Male readers must be loving the ‘Beauties by the Minute’ feature. How many “beauties” do you have there? Can the users chat and connect with them?