Is Indonesia’s Startup Scene Failing Because Everyone’s Just Too Nice?
No one says “bad idea,” and bad ideas keep growing. Is politeness quietly killing Indonesia’s startup potential?
Indonesia’s startup ecosystem is bruised and battered, and everyone’s searching for a culprit. Was it:
The global downturn that pulled the rug out?
The oversaturated e-commerce apps selling slightly cheaper fried rice?
The regulatory chaos that turns compliance into a full-time job?
These are the usual suspects, trotted out in every post-mortem analysis. But could the root problem be something far simpler; something far more culturally ingrained?
What if the Achilles’ heel of Indonesian startups isn’t economics or competition, but sheer, unrelenting niceness? You know, the kind that ensures nobody ever utters the words, “This idea is trash,” even when it is. In Indonesia, startups die not in fiery disputes but in a quiet chorus of, “Good job!” and, “Keep going, ya!” Harmony is so sacred that not even a terrible app concept can disrupt it.
Disruption is fundamentally at odds with a society where disrupting anything is taboo. How do you shake up markets when your team can’t even survive the earthquake of a critical meeting?
“Wow, Great Idea!” (Said With Absolutely Zero Sincerity)
Pitching an idea in Indonesia is an exercise in receiving fake enthusiasm. You’ll walk into a room armed with your pitch deck and a dubious business model and leave convinced you’ve struck gold. Why? Because the room erupts into nods, murmurs of “very interesting,” and polite applause as if you’ve just solved world hunger with a mobile interface.
What they don’t tell you (read: what they will never tell you) is that your idea is terrible, that it doesn’t solve a problem anyone actually has, and that it will almost certainly fail. Because in Indonesia, saying that would be rude. Instead, they say things like, “This has potential!” or the classic, “Let’s explore synergies!” which loosely translates to: “I’m deleting your pitch deck the moment you leave the room.”
This relentless politeness has consequences. Bad ideas don’t get killed early. Investors, trapped in the same web of niceness, nod along too, throw cash at half-baked concepts they secretly know won’t survive. Startups churn out one redundant app after another, all while nobody dares to ask, “Do we really need another platform for cashback on coffee orders?”
And so the cycle continues. Terrible ideas flourish in the absence of honest critique, startups burn through funding with little hope of sustainability, and everyone’s left scratching their heads wondering why the ecosystem is struggling. But at least nobody’s feelings got hurt.
Rote Learning and the Death of Creativity
From the moment kids step into a classroom, they’re trained like academic robots, memorizing formulas, reciting textbook answers, and ensuring no toe ever strays over the line of innovation. The goal is to follow the rules, avoid mistakes, and above all, don’t ask why. Questioning authority? That’s a one-way ticket to a parent-teacher conference. Risk-taking? That might mess up your perfect attendance record.
Fast-forward to adulthood, and these same individuals are dropped into the startup world, where chaos reigns supreme, ambiguity is a feature, and breaking rules is mandatory. You can almost hear the gears grinding as these well-trained conformists try to adapt.
Imagine giving someone who’s spent their life acing multiple-choice exams the task of inventing the next big disruptive app. What happens? They freeze. Creativity? Forget it. Instead, they lean on what they know: structure. So, instead of groundbreaking innovation, we get startups proudly announcing, “This app lets you order fried rice!” Great. Except your neighborhood warung has been delivering nasi goreng with a smile and zero app fees since forever.
And it’s not just fried rice. It's countless platforms solving problems no one really has: apps for booking barbers who already accept walk-ins, and creating digital prayer reminders. But at least there’s a platform now!
Ultimately, Indonesia’s education system churns out startup founders who excel at following rules but flounder when faced with the terrifying blank slate of originality. Until we can unlearn the obsession with “getting it right,” we’ll keep digitizing problems instead of solving them.
"Startup Culture" Is Just Corporate Culture in Sneakers
At first glance, startup culture in Indonesia looks like the real deal. But peel back the façade and you’ll find something more familiar: a corporate hierarchy masquerading as a tech playground. It’s like putting sneakers on a bureaucrat and calling them a trailblazer.
In theory, startups should be messy, rebellious, and alive with creative anarchy. In Indonesia, they feel more like government offices that traded batik for hoodies. Sure, there’s a “flat hierarchy” on paper, but good luck getting anyone to challenge their boss in a culture where authority is practically enshrined in law. Employees nod along, obediently following orders, and the only thing “disruptive” is the occasional late-night snack run.
Then there’s the micromanagement. Leaders, petrified of giving their teams autonomy, hover over every task. Instead of fostering innovation, they focus on controlling everything down to the font size in the pitch deck.
Many people also join startups not for the mission but for the perks. Free snacks, flexible hours, and a photo op for Instagram (“Look, Mom, I’m working in tech!”) often overshadow any genuine drive to change the world.
So where’s the chaos, the risk-taking, the boundary-pushing? Nowhere to be found. Instead, we’ve got “status quo lite.” Startups gently nudge them while making sure everyone stays nice and comfortable.
Everyone’s Too Busy Being “Nice” to Call Out the Crap
Founders pitching a platform for crowdsourced matchmaking between goldfish? Applause! Team members nodding along while silently screaming, “Why am I here?” Of course! Investors smiling through yet another presentation on “The Uber for Shoelaces”? Naturally!
The problem runs deep. Criticism, even when constructive, is seen as an act of aggression. No one wants to be that person who says, “Uh, actually, this idea is terrible.” So instead, everyone smiles, claps, and throws around phrases like, “Very interesting!” or “Let’s circle back on that.” Translation? “This idea will crash and burn, but I’ll be damned if I’m the one who lights the match.”
And the investors are just as guilty. They’ll attend pitch after pitch, nodding sagely, asking safe questions like, “What’s your total addressable market?” instead of the obvious: “Who even needs this app?” They’re stuck in a kind of politeness paralysis, tossing out vague compliments about “potential” while quietly drafting exit strategies in case the founder actually expects a term sheet.
This culture of relentless niceness builds an ecosystem of unspoken truths. It’s the startup equivalent of pretending your friend’s new haircut looks great, even as you wonder if they’ve joined a cult. Founders never hear what’s wrong with their ideas. Teams waste months executing doomed strategies. And the whole ecosystem teeters on a foundation of polite half-lies.
At some point, someone needs to channel their inner child and yell, “The emperor is naked!” Because as it stands, Indonesia’s startups are failing because no one has the guts to say they’re bad ideas in the first place.
Indonesia’s startup ecosystem is brimming with untapped potential. The market is massive, the talent pool is brimming, and the digital economy is fast growing. But potential alone doesn’t cut it. If Indonesia wants to turn its startup scene into a global powerhouse, it’s time to trade in its endless supply of high-fives for a healthy dose of reality checks.
Startups don’t succeed because everyone agreed to be nice. They succeed because lots of someones challenged the status quo, poked holes in bad ideas, and asked the tough questions. “How does this make money?” or “Does anyone actually need this app?” aren’t insults. They’re the kind of uncomfortable but necessary truths that save founders from wasting millions on a digital dumpster fire.
So, Indonesia, enough with the performative clapping for every terrible pitch. The next time your friend proudly unveils an app for scheduling karaoke sessions with their cat, don’t just smile politely. Say it loud: “This is ridiculous.” Because if the ecosystem keeps sparing feelings at the expense of progress, the only disruption we’ll see is in the wallets of investors and the dreams of would-be innovators. Tough love is the secret ingredient to success.
At StratEx - Indonesia Business Advisory we help founders and investors ask the hard questions that lead to better teams, sharper strategy, and stronger companies. Contact us to foster candor, fix culture, and bring in leaders who won’t just smile and nod.