Another Day, Another Nightmare: Indonesian CEO Says Failure is Your Friend (Yeah, Right)

From Xenomorphs to Mortgages: It's All About Survival

Alright listen up. Ripley here. You think facing a Xenomorph is tough? Try starting a business. This woman Dayu Dara Permata CEO of Pinhome over in Indonesia is talking about failure like it's a walk in the park. 'You have to be ready to fail,' she says. Well I've been ready to fail since the Nostromo went to hell. Only difference is my failures involved acid blood and face huggers. Hers involves… property transactions? Still sounds like a nightmare if you ask me. The whole thing reminds me of Burke. 'I'm a company man,' he said. Turned out he was just another corporate slimeball sending us to our doom for a profit. So forgive me if I don't exactly trust 'entrepreneurs' and their shiny success stories.

Garage Days and Humble Pie: The 'American Dream' Indonesian Style

Permata started Pinhome in her garage. Her husband was her first employee. Sounds quaint doesn't it? Like some twisted version of the 'American Dream.' She bootstrapped the whole thing while still working full time. I’ll give her credit that takes guts. I remember waking up from cryo sleep wondering if my cat Jonesy was still alive if I was going to be debt bonded because the company lost all the cargo from the Nostromo meanwhile Permata’s balancing startup risks 150 grand down the drain and a demanding Indonesian real estate market. Still the 'humble beginnings' story is a classic. Everyone loves a good underdog... until that underdog becomes a corporate overlord. Then it’s time for the flamethrower if you catch my drift.

Real Estate? More Like 'Real Nightmare'

So Permata wanted to fix the Indonesian real estate market. She saw the pain points: manual processes fragmented information strangers on WhatsApp. Sounds like a bureaucratic swamp monster. She figured technology could save the day. I’m not sure tech can save anything but hey if it keeps people from getting ripped off I’m all for it. Still I gotta wonder if these 'innovators' ever stop to think about the actual people they're supposedly helping. Are they making life better or just making it more… efficient for the company to make more money? I never understood the concept of earning money by trading houses and properties back and forth I guess that’s why I’m a warrant officer and not a CEO.

'Fail Fast Learn Fast': The Corporate Mantra of Doom

'Fail fast learn fast,' Permata says. It sounds like the Weyland Yutani motto. That’s how they were on Hadley’s Hope except the fast failure was for the colonists as well. They tested different business models went through iterations every few months. It's a lot like when I was trying to get the Company to believe me about the Xenomorphs. Fail fast learn fast doesn't work when you're dealing with something that wants to kill you. In a corporate board meeting though sounds like a winning strategy.

From Crowdfunding to Home Services: The Pinhome Pivot

Apparently crowdfunding real estate didn't work. Neither did property management or co ownership. But finally they stumbled upon the magic formula: an end to end property transaction platform. Brokerage mortgage home services… the whole shebang. Launched in January 2020 now they have over 3.5 million monthly active users. It seems that at first Permata and her husband Pinhome’s initial team members went through business models from crowdfunding for real estate property management to co ownership of real estate. It took them four iterations to land what is known today as Pinhome. So it took them 4 facehuggers to finally win the game. I hope this doesn’t mean they are going to go beyond our galaxy to continue their success.

Energy Management? More Like Damage Control

Permata says you have to manage your energy well or you might quit before you reach success. I would say it’s more like being trapped in a spaceship with a rapidly growing alien and an android that’s gone haywire. Quitting isn't an option. You either fight or you die. It's the same with entrepreneurship I guess. Except instead of acid blood you're dealing with venture capitalists and market trends. 'Stay frosty,' as Hicks would say. And always ALWAYS have a backup plan… and a flamethrower.