A masterclass on launching private label brands in rural Indonesia. Hardwon lessons on finding product-market fit in East Java. Stories on thriving as leaders in charge of growth and profitability for rural Indonesia’s leading social commerce platform. Welcoming you back to Season 5 of On Call with Insignia with two women in tech shaping the way everyday goods reach Indonesians, from rice to cosmetics: Aplikasi Super’s Nadira Zahiruddin, Head of Innovation Strategy, and Gisella Tjoanda, Head of Business Development. 

Join our call on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform!

Highlights and Timestamps

(01:18) Adjusting to the (Super) fast pace of a growth stage startup from consulting and banking;

“…the pace here in Super is very insane. I mean, I thought the pace from my previous company was fast already, but then Super is on another level. It’s very fast, but in a good way. I’m still glad to be here because it actually helped me to grow out of my comfort zone, which I believe is the best thing that you could want if you want to grow the most.” – Gisella

(04:15) What BD has to do with expanding inorganic revenue growth and Innovation Strategy with paving the way to profitability;

“With the current market conditions in the tech space, we look at the learnings from other startups, and we know how crucial it is to prioritize building a path to profitability and also building a sustainable business. Therefore the key areas of focus right now for us and my team are margin optimization and also creating efficient processes that minimize redundancies.” – Nadira

(06:20) A Masterclass on Launching Private Label in Rural Indonesia (Thought Process, Learnings, and Misconceptions); 

“For private label brands, at first we were focusing on FMCG products, but then we started to tap into the cosmetics industry for both private label and distributions…the cosmetics industry has grown quite significantly in the last few years, in fact, the revenue for cosmetics market is amounting up to USD7.4 billion in 2022…Usually, it’s double-digit margins for cosmetics…we’ve seen a particular pattern in smaller areas where things need to be trending or viral in the bigger cities before it actually enters smaller cities…there is predictability in the cosmetics business. We basically can predict when the products will run out and when the customers will usually repurchase…making us believe cosmetics is a great idea for us to start private label.” – Gisella

(13:26) Demands of Rural Indonesia’s Complexity (Localization and Product Customizations);

“What we do at Super is we also do a lot of testing or experimentation for different kinds of products. So this is something that we do continuously before we actually decide on which brand we want to focus on or which type of SKUs that we wanna focus on. Because again, since every area has different preferences, what we do is we usually experiment on a smaller scale first with maybe second-tier brands. And then once we do see which are the winning products and really see which products have really big potential, then we focus on those types of products from the experimentation results.” – Nadira 

(19:37) Creating Impact (Defining Success) and Being Impacted (Un-Learnings);

 “Many people actually make decisions based on a few seemingly trivial and non-technical factors. For example, many people will prefer products with better packaging but with slightly less quality than products with bad packaging but slightly better quality. That’s how emotions actually are the main factor that makes those decisions.” – Gisella

(24:49) #MinuteMasterclass: Finding PMF and Monetizing in Rural Indonesia;

“New strategies in rural areas can be quite capital intensive, especially if you are expanding to new areas. But think about leveraging existing infrastructure and internal data that you have for each market. So, like what Gisella mentioned, the white space analysis is something that we leverage a lot for any kind of new strategy. But other than that, leverage also team members or any other resources to kind of start off new initiatives. So that’s also to become way more efficient in rolling out a new strategy.” – Nadira

(29:41) #RapidFireRound;

About our guests

After graduating from Babson College, Nadira Zahiruddin started her career at BCG, then continued to lead the CEO Office and BD team at a Series A startup prior to joining Super. She has also been exposed to the FMCG industry through her family business since she was young. After looking at Super’s mission and success story in the industry, she knew she wanted to join and make a meaningful impact in growing the business.

Gisella Tjoanda graduated from Kelley School of Business in 2016. She then worked at Youtube and WhatsApp at Silicon Valley before going back to Indonesia for good. She continued her career at Citibank through the management associate program before joining Super. She is currently the head of BD at Super, and she’s very excited to make a significant contribution to the company in growing the business and making a positive impact on society, especially in East Indonesia.

Check out open roles with Super on LinkedIn!

Transcript

Adjusting to the (Super) fast pace of a growth-stage startup

Paulo J: Great to have you both. And to introduce you to our listeners, maybe you can share with us how you actually ended up joining Super. I know you guys probably have different experiences of what you first saw or what you first encountered when you joined Super. So maybe you can share a little bit about that. Maybe Gisella first since she was the first to join the company.

Gisella T: Thanks again for having me here. I’m happy to be here. I heard a lot of good things before I joined Super. So actually when the opportunity came, I decided to join Super because, I believe that Super is one of those companies that not only focuses on the company’s development, but also the impact that it can give to society, especially in rural areas. 

That’s why I finally decided to join Super and currently at Super, I’m the head of business development and I’m in charge of growing the cosmetics business through distribution and acquisition as one of the revenue streams for Super. And I actually work a lot with Nadira in growing the cosmetics private label as well.

And so the first thing that came into my mind during my first week at Super was, “Wow, the pace here in Super is very insane. I mean, I thought the pace from my previous company was fast already, but then Super is on another level. It’s very fast, but in a good way.

I’m still glad to be here because it actually helped me to grow out of my comfort zone, which I believe is the best thing that you could want if you want to grow the most. 

Paulo J: So you would say really the pace is the biggest difference because you used to work in Google, Facebook, and Citibank.

Gisella T: Yes. Correct. My most recent experience was in Citibank. And usually, people in that industry always say that Citibank already has a very fast pace, but then Super’s pace is faster than Citibank’s. 

Paulo J: Definitely a different organization for sure. How about you Nadira, how did you end up joining Super? How did you find out about the company and what were your first impressions like? 

Nadira Z: Yeah, of course. So at Super, I’m currently the Head of Innovation Strategy, where I build new revenue strategies and optimize margins to strengthen our profitability.

But prior to joining Super, I have actually always heard great things about the company since their Series A announcement, and have followed their journey since then as well. 

And one of the reasons why I’m very passionate about this business is because growing up I was always exposed to the FMCG industry through my family’s dairy products business but since looking at Super’s success story in the FMCG and social commerce industry, I knew it is just the right company for me to be in, and I wanted to be part of growing Super’s mission as well. 

In terms of my first day or first week, I remember I was immediately thrown into our quarterly OKR meetings with our senior management, and then investor meetings. And to end my first week, there was also an award dinner by Gen T and Credit Suisse. So ever since then, the pace has not stopped and the more I work here, my schedule has become more and more exciting by the week. So, as Gisella said, the pace is on another level, for sure. 

“…the pace here in Super is very insane. I mean, I thought the pace from my previous company was fast already, but then Super is on another level. It’s very fast, but in a good way. I’m still glad to be here because it actually helped me to grow out of my comfort zone, which I believe is the best thing that you could want if you want to grow the most.” – Gisella

Expanding inorganic revenue growth and paving the way to profitability

Paulo J: Must have been quite a unique first week with OKRs all of a sudden and I think with those backgrounds and certainly the theme that you’ve both shared is definitely the fast-paced culture of Super. Maybe you guys can also share with our listeners what those roles entail. I think Nadira you can start first because I think you have an interesting title: innovation strategy. Maybe our listeners are wondering what exactly that means within the context of Super.

Nadira Z: So, it’s actually not just cosmetics, I do cover other categories as well. But my main role at Super is to build new revenue strategies for growth. And since we also want to build a profitable business and make lasting impact, the team and I help to optimize processes and margins to strengthen our profitability through initiatives such as exclusivity deals and private label brands.

With the current market conditions in the tech space, we look at the learnings from other startups, and we know how crucial it is to prioritize building a path to profitability and also building a sustainable business. Therefore the key areas of focus right now for us and my team are margin optimization and also creating efficient processes that minimize redundancies.

Paulo J: So in one line, getting to profitability or maintaining that profitability, rather. 

Nadira Z: So building that playbook to pave the way to profitability. 

Paulo J: Awesome. And Gisella, how about you? I mean, business development should be something that a lot of people are already familiar with. But maybe for Super’s mission to build what Steven calls like the Walmart of Indonesia minus the offline stores, what does that mean? 

Gisella T: Actually, while Nadira’s team focuses on monetizing the existing infrastructure of Super, my team and I focus more on finding new initiatives to boost Super’s revenue inorganically, which is done through cosmetics distribution as well as cosmetics private label brands.

And we actually believe that cosmetics shares the most similarity with FMCG, which is Super’s specialty, on top of having high margins. That is why we actually decided to go into the cosmetics business, to actually boost the revenue of Super. 

“With the current market conditions in the tech space, we look at the learnings from other startups, and we know how crucial it is to prioritize building a path to profitability and also building a sustainable business. Therefore the key areas of focus right now for us and my team are margin optimization and also creating efficient processes that minimize redundancies.” – Nadira

A Masterclass on Launching Private Label in Rural Indonesia

Paulo J: So I think that’s a pretty interesting insight that you shared there about cosmetics being the vertical that makes the most sense after Super had already built its position with FMCG. Since Nadira focuses on monetization and then Gisella you focus on finding out what are these new opportunities to then monetize, going back to Nadira, maybe Gisella you can share a little bit more about how that private label business has grown or evolved within the context of your role.

Gisella T: So when I first started with private label brands I think it was in the pipeline, but we didn’t start with cosmetics. So for private label brands, at first we were focusing on FMCG products, but then we started to tap into the cosmetics industry for both private label and distributions.

Before I mentioned that we believe in the cosmetics industry, right? So this is actually based on three reasons. First is that the cosmetics industry has grown quite significantly in the last few years, in fact, the revenue for the cosmetics market is amounting up to USD7.4 billion in 2022.

And then they’re also known for having high margins, right? Usually it’s double-digit margins for cosmetics. And then the third thing is that in Indonesia we’ve seen a particular pattern in smaller areas where things need to be trending or viral in the bigger cities before it actually enters smaller cities.

With this, we believe that the demand for these products will grow even more in rural areas, this year and in the following years. The last thing that I would like to point out is that, similar to FMCG, there is predictability in the cosmetics business. We basically can predict when the products will run out and when the customers will usually repurchase.

Whereas in other industries, let’s say the fashion industry, it will be harder because we cannot really predict or know when clothes will expire or not, because clothes don’t have any expiry date or they cannot run out. So that’s another thing that made us believe cosmetics is a great idea for us to start private label.

As of now, we’ve actually been working quite intensely on this. We’ve been talking to some potential local brands regarding this opportunity with Super. 

Paulo J: Thanks for bringing us through that thought process and it really shows the different considerations that need to be made when thinking about entering a new vertical. So Nadira, you can take on from that and talk about more of the monetization or even from just from a consumer perspective, right? Because I think it’s pretty obvious why FMCG would be needed by tier two, tier three, rural Indonesia. But when it comes to cosmetics, where is the spending there? What is the behavior when it comes to buying cosmetics in those areas? 

Nadira Z: So maybe from my end, I would also like to highlight that at the moment, we’re focusing on three categories for private label. So one is we are focusing on sembako products. 

So far we’ve already launched our two rice brands. The main reason is that they are the number one GMV contributor to Super. It is a main necessity and we see constant demand consumption for these types of products as well. 

But we also have F&B, so we launched our crispy macaroni snack in November. And this is also one of the top GMV contributors to Super. And we also see that the margins are pretty high and can go up to double digits, hence why we have actually balanced out sembako and F&B to boost both the GMV and the gross margin side.

So other than health and beauty, which is pretty much straightforward why we have gone into these areas — health and beauty are known to have high margins — we are also focusing on sembako and F&B. But in terms of my role, in the private label, since I have been exposed to the FMCG industry, I help to leverage existing connections and network for suppliers and vendors to negotiate the best margins when we can.

I also leverage the knowledge that I have on FMCG on choosing the right types of products and using best practices to build and grow a product for our private label. So meaning setting up OKRs and targets, the right north stars that we need to focus on for each quarter to really achieve our goals for private label and building the number one product in each category. 

But so far, since I joined, private label has grown to contribute 2% to our monthly GMV. So after this it’s just growing our existing private label. And we also already have a few more private label brands that are in the pipeline, which are also in line with our goals for both profitability and revenue generation.

Paulo J: And just to add a little more detail to that. So for private label, what percentage of it is from scratch and what percentage is looking out for some of these smaller brands, which I think Steven mentioned in a previous panel — looking out for some of these what he called “underdog” kinds of businesses to help them.

Nadira Z: So we have two approaches to build Super’s private label brands. One is what we call organic, where we actually develop the products and brands from scratch. And then the other approach is called inorganic, where we actually acquire existing brands in the market that have already achieved PMF.

So far the three brands that I mentioned, the two rice brands, and also the macaroni snack are all organic. So far we have only been developing our brands organically. But we have recently started to look for existing brands in the market that are doing well. And if everything goes well, then we’ll be acquiring them for majority ownership essentially.

Paulo J: Okay, great. I think that’s really interesting and it should be exciting to see what brands you guys are able to bring into your portfolio. Maybe you can share with the listeners, if you were to give a class to them on launching white label brands, what would be the key takeaways you’d like them to have, or maybe even some misconceptions that you’d wanna break when it comes to launching these kinds of brands? 

Gisella T: I will be sharing the key takeaways and Nadia will share the misconceptions. So for the key takeaways, there are three main points that I would like to share.

First is that we need to understand the market that we are serving. It’ll always be better to focus on smaller areas and markets and really understand the playbook that works there rather than starting in many areas, but don’t have a deep understanding of the market that we’re in. 

And then second is choosing the right SKUs or categories, including doing experimentation and sales testing. Last is establishing strong brand awareness and trust.

Nadira Z: So there are a couple of misconceptions about private label as well, which are quite interesting. The first one is how specific tastes in different regions are different. So usually what we see is that every area or even every district might have different tastes or different interests, right? 

Another one is that something that is appealing to one area might not be appealing to another area. And something as simple as something that is appealing to me might have a really big potential in other areas, especially rural areas. And another one is the misconception that rural areas have minimum to no potential. So we might need more effort in penetrating rural areas, but once we are in, the potential there is humongous. And I mean they have many needs, but limited access or limited infrastructure compared to tier one.

“For private label brands, at first we were focusing on FMCG products, but then we started to tap into the cosmetics industry for both private label and distributions…the cosmetics industry has grown quite significantly in the last few years, in fact, the revenue for cosmetics market is amounting up to USD7.4 billion in 2022…Usually it’s double-digit margins for cosmetics…we’ve seen a particular pattern in smaller areas where things need to be trending or viral in the bigger cities before it actually enters smaller cities…there is predictability in the cosmetics business. We basically can predict when the products will run out and when the customers will usually repurchase…making us believe cosmetics is a great idea for us to start private label.” – Gisella

Demands of Rural Indonesia’s Complexity

Paulo J: So I actually wanted to ask if you had any example to share with regards to, especially since Gisella talked about having to really break down things into smaller areas and really understand the markets that you are in, because rural Indonesia isn’t just one big monolithic thing, there are lots of different considerations depending on geography. And then you already also emphasized that by talking about different preferences, across different areas. Maybe you guys have an example with regards to one of the brands that you guys already launched when it comes to that.

Gisella T: Probably I can start, so, for example, we were talking about — since Super is mainly in rural areas, I’m gonna mainly focus on the difference between the bigger cities and the smaller cities. So in major cities, people will expect instant deliveries, but instead, in rural areas, they don’t really focus on the amount of time for delivery. So let’s say next-day delivery is also okay. 

That might be one of the examples of the difference between rural and major cities, which actually plays a huge role in creating strategies to penetrate rural areas. We need to really understand what the market wants and what the market needs in that area. Instead of just basically copying whatever works in the major cities. 

Paulo J: So you guys wouldn’t want to optimize as much for that speed of delivery, but are there also differences within the tier two, tier three rural cities that you guys serve? What are some of the interesting differences across those cities? 

Nadira Z: I guess some that I’ve seen, and not just in terms of the categories that we focus on in private label, but for example, one area in the west part of East Java tends to purchase more products that are maybe sweeter in terms of flavor. They are the ones who like sweeter flavors, maybe for ready-to-drink brands, whereas in other parts of East Java, they maybe favor other products that are more like the original flavor kind of products. But it really is about experimenting. 

So what we do at Super is we also do a lot of testing or experimentation for different kinds of products. So this is something that we do continuously before we actually decide on which brand we want to focus on or which type of SKUs that we wanna focus on. Because again, since every area has different preferences, what we do is we usually experiment on a smaller scale first with maybe second-tier brands. 

And then once we do see which are the winning products and really see which products have really big potential, then we focus on those types of products from the experimentation results.

Paulo J: So how much customization do you guys have to account for when it comes to these products, especially white label, or is it something that’s not really something that you guys think about? For example, say one area tends to buy more spicy stuff than another area. So for the crispy macaroni brand, will you have a spicy version sold in that area, and will you just have a regular one distributed to another area? Do you think about this? Is that a huge consideration on your part or are you just trying to focus more on SKUs that maybe wouldn’t require that kind of nuance? 

Nadira Z: I would say since I cover both exclusivity and private label, the first thing that comes to my mind is the exclusivity deals. What we do for exclusivity is actually try to secure, exclusive deals for different areas. For example, for certain cities like Probolinggo for example, we become like the sole distributor for a type of product. So for that, definitely it’s a huge consideration. For that specific area, what are the kinds of products that they usually use or purchase? 

And what we do with exclusivity, same with private label, is that we typically run like a couple of weeks of trial where we see what is the demand in that area for that type of product. And then if it makes sense, then we approach them for exclusive deals.

But for private label, I think, maybe less consideration. I would say still a big consideration, but less than exclusivity because with private label you are serving the whole of East Java, right? And for example, something like rice is quite general. Everyone consumes rice and Indonesia is a big consumer of rice. Hence rice is also one of the top categories on Super. And hence also why we have focused on rice first and foremost before other categories.

Paulo J: My takeaway here at least from this conversation thus far is that it’s really hard to just simplify things. Like there are really different levels of thinking going into this. 

Nadira Z: There’s definitely a lot of complexities to rolling out in rural areas but even infrastructure-wise or logistics-wise, it might be different in each area as well, right? There are definitely a lot of things to consider. 

Gisella T: Probably just to add to what Nadira just said, I’m on the same page with her where I believe that knowing, let’s say, something that might be interesting or something that this area might like might be different with the other areas, it’s actually important to really able to understand what they want.

So, at Super, we also have been doing a white space analysis where we’re able to analyze the data in specific areas to actually understand what these areas might really be like compared to other areas. So we try to make customizations for specific areas, especially for the private label, to ensure that when we launch private label products, we really know which areas the product targets and that the product launch is actually really matched with the market needs for that specific area.

“What we do at Super is we also do a lot of testing or experimentation for different kinds of products. So this is something that we do continuously before we actually decide on which brand we want to focus on or which type of SKUs that we wanna focus on. Because again, since every area has different preferences, what we do is we usually experiment on a smaller scale first with maybe second-tier brands. And then once we do see which are the winning products and really see which products have really big potential, then we focus on those types of products from the experimentation results.” – Nadira

Creating Impact and Being Impacted

Paulo J: In other words, product market fit. We always throw the word product market fit around, especially in the startup space. But it’s nice to hear it from a really concrete example of how you guys do things at Super. Just zooming out, how would you measure impact when it comes to these roles that you have and the work that you guys are doing? I know we got a little bit into the details, but maybe zooming out into the big picture, how would you say that you’ve achieved success in your roles, especially when it comes to this white-label business? Nadira? 

Nadira Z: So if we talk about the impact from a business standpoint, we measure this by executing strategies that add value to both our top and bottom lines, especially since we are focusing on strengthening our profitability through the initiatives that we’ve already mentioned.

And we also do this by, again, studying OKRs and North Stars to ensure the team is working towards the same North Star and focusing on achieving important goals. However, building our white label business is more than just the business metrics itself, but how do we actually add value to the rural population, for example, by creating a local product that is cheaper than national brand counterparts, or with better quality, or a product that becomes their main necessity and one that they cannot live without? 

And we’re aware of how these products can enhance Super’s platform value and make them more attached to our platform, which is ultimately our goal — to create a platform that cannot be replaced.

Paulo J: I really like what you mentioned about providing more choices and more options for consumers, especially in these areas. How about you Gisella? How would you consider success or how would you measure impact when it comes to your role? 

Gisella T: Probably I’ll just start by adding more to what I just said because I think basically what Nadira said sums up everything, but just to add a bit on that is that relationships are also another thing that we really focus on. It can be relationships with vendors or the brand founders that we are going to for the private label or even the agents and customers. 

Because by having a great relationship, we could have a better understanding of what each other needs. And by understanding each other’s needs, we can ensure that the value we are giving, whether it is the private label products that we’re launching or even the platform that we built will be tailored to their needs.

Paulo J: So like speaking of learnings and how you guys have grown in your roles. One thing that I’d like to ask a lot of our guests here on the show is things that they have had to let go of when it comes to their roles as leaders. So for you, what are some of the things that you’ve had to unlearn as leaders since you joined Super, especially since you guys also manage teams and also manage people? Gisella? 

Gisella T: So there are three things that I would like to share that were actually the things that I have had to unlearn.

The first thing is that people actually make decisions depending on emotions. Many people actually make decisions based on a few seemingly trivial and non-technical factors. For example, many people will prefer products with better packaging but with slightly less quality than products with bad packaging but slightly better quality. That’s how emotions actually are the main factor that makes those decisions. 

The second one is the importance of good storytelling because good storytelling is exciting, it’s captivating and it makes you fall in love with the main characters. Data, like numbers, graphs and charts are also important, but what draws people the most is actually the emotional attachment that you can create. So good storytelling is very important when you’re actually founding or doing any business. 

And last is slowing down to speed up. I think back in university, we always thought that being more productive meant that we can do everything in a short period of time, right? But throughout the years, I realized that it’ll be better to focus on fewer things and master those things rather than doing everything but only having a surface-level understanding of it. 

Paulo J: A lot of great tidbits there. Thanks, Gisella. How about you Nadira? 

Nadira Z: I mean, prior to Super I started my career at BCG and then I moved in to join a series A startup as the Head of BD. But there are three things that I also had to unlearn or kind of adjust to moving from consulting to early stage and then growth stage at Super. 

The first one is since all my previous experiences and management consulting as well as my previous startup taps customers in tier-one cities, we often overlook the underserved population as an opportunity and we have realized that the potential there is actually immense. 

And then the second one is serving tier two, tier three, and especially having this kind of underdog mindset that our CEO Steven also always mentions and also the value of humility in the company. It really means embodying humility in everything you do, especially going on the ground and really executing the ops side of it really brings humility in everything that you do. 

And then the last one especially moving from consulting to startups, maybe not every project has to have a clear direction, scope, and structure. In startups, especially in a big tech like Super, it could be very chaotic and also overwhelming, and you just have to kind of adapt to this kind of work environment.

“Many people actually make decisions based on a few seemingly trivial and non-technical factors. For example, many people will prefer products with better packaging but slightly less quality than products with bad packaging but slightly better quality. That’s how emotions actually are the main factor that makes those decisions.” – Gisella

#MinuteMasterclass

Paulo J: I think some counterintuitive stuff from both of you, with Gisella about going slow to go fast and Nadira talking about how too much structure may be a bad thing if you want to be able to be adaptable.

On that note, I want to move into a new corner actually, that we’re starting for season five, which is this more technical kind of sharing corner, where we wanted to dive a little bit deeper into certain concepts that perhaps our listeners would be familiar with building their own startups, and maybe contextualize that with the business that you guys are working on.

So for Gisella, we talk a lot about PMF and you’ve certainly described a lot of the thinking, a lot of the market research that you guys have done in order to figure out what products are best to distribute to different areas. So is there a difference between achieving PMF in rural Indonesia versus other market segments? If there is, what is it?

Gisella T: So, actually when we started building Super, we actually thought of building it for the end consumers assuming that they will understand the benefit of e-commerce for the rural areas. But after learning from our research and also our experience, we actually had to change the way we build products and whom we build them for.

So instead, we are building our products for the community leaders instead of directly for the end consumers in the rural areas. And we empower these community leaders with technological tools, which enable them to learn how to sell FMCG products to their communities. It not only helps to improve the accessibility and the inequality of FMCG products, but it also allows them to support their family and put food on their table, especially for those in rural areas.

And when we build products for these agents, we also think about how we can maximize their output, which is their commissions, with limited constraints, which is their time. So in a sense, we need to prioritize the agent’s productivity as we build the product for them. And we hope that by providing these tools to our agents, we can help them improve their quality of life.

And also I mentioned before that the needs and the wants in the major cities and rural areas are very different. So we really need to be able to empathize with the users’ perspectives and tackle what they need and what they want instead of assuming everything is the same with major cities.

Paulo J: I think it’s pretty interesting, I guess people will assume social commerce, therefore PMF is end consumer sales, and optimizing for that. But then you talked about really thinking about the agents. So that’s an interesting point. And for Nadira, do you have any go-to framework or mental model that you use when it comes to executing on monetization or innovation strategies in the context of retail, which can be very commoditized, and the context of rural Indonesia where consumer preferences may not be super differentiated, right? They just want whatever’s cheapest…

Nadira Z: So executing new strategies in rural areas is definitely very different. Maybe three things that I’d like to highlight.

The first one is, again, always look at the market that you are serving for each initiative and continuously experiment with the best strategy to roll out. So for us, we always do experiments on a smaller scale, as I’ve mentioned as well, to really see which ones have the great potential, and then we then roll out on a large scale for the ones that do work out right.

But another thing that I would like to say on this point is that in rural areas, we also cannot introduce too much tech upfront as well. I mean, it creates an intimidating environment for some of the people there. So with tech-related strategies, we always see how we can simplify the journey and also leverage social capital to build awareness with the consumers there.

So for example, if one of them sees their friends do it or their family members use it, then it’s something that they would kind of follow as well. But on the second point, I also want to highlight that you should be resourceful and leverage existing resources when you can.

New strategies in rural areas can be quite capital-intensive, especially if you are expanding to new areas. But think about leveraging existing infrastructure and internal data that you have for each market. So, like what Gisella mentioned, the white space analysis is something that we leverage a lot for any kind of new strategy. But other than that, leverage also team members or any other resources to kind of start off new initiatives. So that’s also to become way more efficient in rolling out a new strategy. 

And the last one is of course, always think about the impact. I think for me, innovation is not just merely inventing something new or a great product, but it is creating something innovative that is impactful to society, especially serving millions in tier two and tier three cities. So how do we impact their lives before and post executing the new strategy, which is very much aligned with Super’s mission and values.

“New strategies in rural areas can be quite capital intensive, especially if you are expanding to new areas. But think about leveraging existing infrastructure and internal data that you have for each market. So, like what Gisella mentioned, the white space analysis is something that we leverage a lot for any kind of new strategy. But other than that, leverage also teams members or any other resources to kind of start off new initiatives. So that’s also to become way more efficient in rolling out a new strategy.” – Nadira

#RapidFireRound

What for you are the top three traits of a super leader?

Nadira Z: Humility, positivity, and simplicity, all of which are part of Super’s company core values. 

Gisella T: Actually the same. Humility, positivity, and simplicity. 

What is one thing, in a word or a line, that you have learned from each other, since you guys work very closely with each other?

Gisella T: It’s the importance of agility at work because it is very necessary, especially in the startup where sometimes changes is inevitable. 

Nadira Z: Gisella taught me how to navigate the complexities within the social commerce and FMCG industry.

What digital technology or innovation excites you the most today? Doesn’t have to be related to Super at all, or what you guys do.

Nadira Z: Satellite-based internet that could give accessibility to online services, especially in emerging areas across Indonesia, like Starlink. They’re not there yet. 

Gisella T: ChatGPT. 

Looking back now, what is a skill, soft skill or hard skill, you believe you should have learned back in your time as a student?

Gisella T: Probably, for soft skills, it’s how to face failure. And then for hard skills, more practical projects as a student that give exposure to real-life working experience instead of just learning all the theories about it. 

Nadira Z: For me, more hands-on and larger scale case studies of creating structure out of chaotic, business operations that have a lot of complex moving parts. 

If there’s something that you could automate in your job just by wishing for it, like what aspect of your role would that be?

Gisella T: Probably scheduling meetings, because sometimes it’s really a headache to schedule everyone’s time. 

Nadira Z: Maybe making PowerPoint slides for weekly updates, or just any PowerPoint slides.

What’s your favorite go-to destination in Southeast Asia or is there any trip that you’re most looking forward to taking in the region soon?

Nadira Z: For me, not just one like a specific destination, since I love exploring other beautiful parts of Indonesia, such as Labuan Bajo, but I’m most looking forward to visiting Sumba.

Gisella T: I just love Bali. I’ve been there a few times this year, but if I can go back, I would still go back to Bali. I just love everything about it, like the vibes, the culture, everything.

What’s your favorite activity to de-stress? 

Nadira Z: A good meal, puzzles and binge-watching.

Paulo J: What’s the last thing that you binge-watched?

Nadira Z: I feel like I just watched a series, but I forgot what it is. But probably Knives Out. 

Gisella T: Watching TV series or movies, good food, and also hanging out with friends or family. 

Anything that you’ve read or taken up recently that you’d like to recommend to our guests? It could be a book, or if you haven’t read a book in a while, any resource that you’ve come across that you’d like to recommend to our audience or something cool that’s useful. 

Gisella T: It’s probably gonna be Zero to One by Peter Thiel, because I think it’s better to have a unique value proposition that no one else has than just to copy what it is there, which is basically what the book is all about. And I think this is what Super basically does also because we’re adapting the business model of Pinduoduo, but we’re adjusting it to the Indonesian market.

Nadira Z: Malcolm Gladwell’s David versus Goliath. So applicable to building Super’s business as well. We strive to become the best by serving the markets that are often overlooked by bigger players in the industry.

Paulo J: Thank you so much, Nadira and Gisella, for coming on the show. We definitely covered a lot of ground, went into a lot of detail, and also gave very useful advice and learnings even for folks who are not really in the same space that you guys are in. I think just the concept of trying to find PMF in rural Indonesia, trying to think about product launches going into new verticals, which apply to a lot of businesses, I think should be very useful for our listeners. So thank you for coming on and sharing that with us. 

And if you guys want to join Super, they are very much hiring, we’ll leave the link in the podcast description in case you are interested in learning more about their open roles, and also links to our past conversations with Steven and Garret in case you wanna learn more about the company. In the meantime, thank you once again, Nadira and Gisella, and stay tuned for our next episode.