Lessons learned from building Rocket Internet in Asia (LIVE BLOG)

Founded in Germany in 2007 later reaching Asia in 2011, Rocket Internet has established multiple e-commerce empires all over the world. Lazada, Zalora, Easy Taxi, and PricePanda, are among the self-proclaimed accelerator’s more recognizable companies in Asia, though there are many others.

Rocket Internet has raised $1 billion from multiple investors within a single year year. Yet despite having received such large sums of money from venture capital firms, company isn’t immune to failure, and defines itself in part by its ability to shut down losers as quickly as it builds up winners.

So what are the secrets behind this big name? How big of a priority is Asia to the company? What should entrepreneurs consider if they hope to succeed or fail as efficiently as Rocket Internet has in the past? Stefan Jung, co-founder of Rocket Internet Asia, tells us about the lessons Rocket Internet has learned as its grown throughout the continent:

#12.23: Anh-Minh Do of Tech in Asia and Jung, Rocket Internet Asia co-founder, take the stage to begin the interview.

#12.25: A little bit about Jung: as the founder, he’s actively working with startup founders. Now 80 percent of his time is spent in the VC part and 20 percent in the incubator. Rocket has made one investment in Indonesia already – Traveloka. Rocket Internet is different than other accelerators in terms of the timing. It doesn’t offer a whole accelerator package. Rocket Internet is more like an incubator. It builds up ideas and provides IT and backend advice. Then it looks for an entrepreneur to build the company together until the company exits.

#12:26: E-commerce is one of the biggest categories as far as online business models. That’s why Rocket Internet started there, but now the company is interested in payment systems.

#12.40: Exit strategy for Zalora in Asia: Jung comments he would be surpirsed if Amazon wants to buy it. It could also reach the scale that it would attempt an IPO. There are multiple exit routes – sale, IPO, or just keep it.

#12.42: Online retail is only one percent of the whole retail market. So Rocket Internet and its competitors have to work together to educate the market. It just worked with other brands to start a Cyber Monday of Indonesia. Jung believes that it has to work with others and make them aware of the online industry to make it better. In Indonesia, people are willing to work together. Jung sees the market as growing the pie rather than dividing it.

#12.44: The future of Rocket Internet: Jung believes in the growth of emerging markets and the internet mega-trend. “We will stay focused in the region.”

#12.46: Minh and Jung leave the stage.

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This is a part of our coverage of Startup Asia Jakarta 2013, our event running on November 21 and 22. For the rest of our Startup Arena pitches, see here. You can follow along on Twitter at @TechinAsia, and on our Facebook page.

(Editing by Paul Bischoff)

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