HANZKY

Akhir-akhir ini lumayan banyak berita nggak enak di dunia startup dan di bisnis in general. Ada e-commerce besar yang tutup, ada perusahaan media yang tidak bisa membayar gaji karyawan berbulan-bulan, ada startup yang udah mengurangi 70% karyawannya, ada yang udah tutup, ada yang runwaynya tinggal 6 bulan, ada perusahaan besar banget yang menutup beberapa unit bisnisnya dan memulangkan puluhan karyawannya dan masih banyak lagi. Sedih dan merinding banget sih dengarnya, dan tentunya juga bikin deg-degan.

 Makanya pas banget sih weekend kemaren nonton film Walt Before Mickey ini, film yang menceritakan perjalanan Walt Disney dari kecil sampai akhirnya menciptakan Mickey Mouse dan sukses. Yupe, it wasn't an overnight success. In fact, he went through two big failures in the process. Gagal sampai nggak bisa bayar gaji, ditinggalin teamnya dan juga nggak bisa bayar sewa kantor dan rumah. Jangankan untuk sewa kantor, untuk makan aja nggak ada sampai-sampai dia nyari makanan dari tong sampah. Ajaibnya dia nggak kapok sih, malah pindah ke California, dan mulai usaha lagi dengan modal pinjaman dari omnya. Gagal lagi dong karena kurang mengerti term-term di bisnis yang akhirnya dia nggak punya copyright atas karyanya sendiri.


Film ini harus banget sih ditonton sama para entrepreneur atau yang tertarik untuk jadi entpreneur. Buat saya, film ini seperti memberi reassurance bahwa yang namanya bisnis memang penuh dengan ups and downs. Ya emang udah tau juga siih sebenernya tapi kalo liat true story seperti ini jadi lebih tenang aja. It makes whatever problems I've been facing look so small compare to what he has gone through.

Film ini juga mengingatkan saya lagi dengan kekuatan mimpi besar kita, bahwa dreams do come true seperti yang ada di lagunya Cinderella 'Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbow will come smiling through through. No matter how heart you are grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true'.

Film ini membuat saya sadar bahwa di manapun dan apapun mimpi kita, akan selalu ada the naysayers, yang menganggap kita aneh, ngeyel dan nggak bisa ngukur kemampuan. Dan kadang-kadang orang yang meragukan kita itu justru dari keluarga sendiri. But don't let that discourage you ever because it's actually not their fault they can't see your vision because that dream is meant for you and only you, it's there for you to pursue, not for them and that's why they can't understand.

Film ini juga meyakinkan saya bahwa salah satu yang paling penting untuk dimiliki seorang entrepreneur adalah: resilient or the ability to withstand challenges and recover quickly after difficulty. Seperti yang dibilang Uncle Walt, "All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you".

Here's to develop more resiliency in life. I do hope that character runs deep in me as my mom and my grandma are the most resilient women I know. I can't thank them enough for being strong for me.

Anyway, must watch movie! Semoga ada kelanjutannya ya 'Walt after Mickey' karena saya penasaran challenge apa lagi yang dia hadapi ya dan bagaimana dia bisa survive the great depression and world war II!

• First, well, I didn't actually meet him. But I watched Rudy Habibie the movie during the flight to Bali :D.  In one of the scenes, he was elected to be the president of PPI (Persatuan Pelajar Indonesia). As soon as he was elected, he developed a roadmap on how he and the other engineering students can contribute to Indonesia's development, particularly the aerospace industry. Sempet-sempetnya ya? Padahal dia di sana juga struggling with school tuition fee, passing the assessment to get the scholarship as well as health issues. Other people would just organize regular activities like charity, cultural night and stuff but not him because he thinks bigger and want to contribute more. 

• Yansen Kamto. I know him since quite a while ago, and we even did an event together called Women Wired Weekend in 2012. So far this was our Female Daily Network biggest event and we did it because of his help. Sometimes after that, he ventured into the digital world and look at him now, already one of the prominent figures in digital industries, flying to Silicon Valley with Pak Jokowi and his entourage. Yansen has a few startups under his belt and under Kibar, he launched a national movement called 1000 startups aim to create new startups that will put Indonesia as The Digital Energy of Asia in 2020. He has been organizing roadshow all over Indonesia, inviting mentors to share their stories to university students and mentoring the selected startups. And actually this was the reason I went to Bali. 

• Andreas Sanjaya. I've been in a panel with him twice and always inspired by his story. He has a startup called iGrow, a platform that connect farmers with land owners, investors/sponsors (you can be one) as well as crop buyers. And they make the experience so fun that the users will feel like they are playing farmville instead. Not that I ever played farmville, but you get the idea, right? Currently they have more than 2000 farmers and more than 10 million trees planted. iGrow is not only a promising investment, but it's also empower farmers, utilize underused land, increase domestic food production and help create a sustainable world. It's mission is far from commercial purposes, but more about preserving life which is very noble.

Well, what do I know because for the past two months this Smartwatch Moto 360 is always the first one I reached for and wear. At least on the days when it wasn't low on battery cause I didn't charge it after I wear it two days. Hey I'm still getting used to having to charge a watch but at least I'm getting better.

So what is Moto 360?
An Android-based smartwatch made by Motorola.

Do I need to use Android phone to wear this?
No, I'm using iPhone and all I need is download Android Wear Apps. Although it can do much more for Android users.

Now how smart it is?

Remember this post? I finally got to try something gold from Dell. You see the keyword here? Try :D So it's not mine, but hey at least I got a chance to look all glammed up while working.



Anyway, Dell Vostro 14 seri 5459 series ini baru launch akhir tahun lalu. Dan ini adalah laptop yang paling serius dibanding dengan Inspiron dan XPS 13 yang pernah saya coba. Serius di sini dalam arti, it's build for heavy duty stuff. Yang jelas bukan untuk anak sekolah yang kegiatannya banyak seputar browsing. Kalo anak sekolah pake Inspiron aja. Ini lebih business-oriented, untuk professional yang memang banyak multitaskingnya. Waktu itu ada masanya saya buka sampai 15 tabs, ada Youtube video dengan Excell dan Word yang terbuka entah beberapa file, dan laptopnya nggak lagging sama sekali.

Trus ukuran monitornya yang 14 inch juga ideal banget sih untuk kerja. Nggak terlalu besar sampai seisi kantor bisa ngintip layar kita tapi juga nggak terlalu kecil sampai kitapun harus melihat dari dekat. Pilihan seputar keamanannya juga lebih banyak/tinggi, ada sensor sidik jarinya, dilengkapi dengan Windows 10 level security.  Trus juga serius dalam arti, hmm..kayanya sedikit lebih berat deh..haha. Atau itu hanya ilusi aja karena memang terlihat lebih mantap?

Ketahanan baterainya juga ok lah, 6 hours! I mean with most gadgets , you have to bring the charger anyway kalo memang mau keluar kantor dan akan dipakai hampir seharian, kan? So this should not be an issue. Trus juga laptop ini dilengkapi dengan dual-fan. Jadi nggak ada cerita deh tuh laptopnya panas.

Tapi walaupun lebih untuk professional, harganya lebih affordable dibanding XPS 13 loh. Vostro ini memang powerful tapi basic, kalo XPS kan lebih banyak extranya dan untuk yang pengen laptopnya lebih stylish.

Jingle Gold not your thing? They also have this in Era Grey.

• Great experience from the start. Even unboxing this was so I easy I did it all by myself. It took me about 10 minutes until I press the start button. Plug N Play at its best. The funny thing though I was looking for a CPU but turned out it doesn't have that boxy CPU like back in the days. It's just the screen, wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse.

• Slim and Sleek design. Always, the key for a great design. This one is so slim you can easily move it from one room to the other with that pop up easer stand. I like that you can tilt the screen easily to accomodate different height in the household.

• Touchscreen! This comes in handy when I want to create a how-to video (like how-to upload a review in Female Daily, etc) also when my kids want to show me what they are working on online. And what I mean by working on is of course Animal Jam or other games.

• Huge and ultra sharp screen. This makes watching movies together much more enjoyable. And when the kids are using it, you can easily supervise from a far.

• It comes with plenty of port, connection, card reader, DVD burner and not to mention huge storage too (1TB). The things that are luxury in laptop are easily available here. 

• How many times do you want to use your laptop only to realize it runs out of battery because your kids forgot to charge it the last time they used it? Happen to me many times. With this one, well since it needs to always be plugged, I won't have to experience that again. 

Look who I hung out with during the 3 days Dell event at Consumer Electronic Show? Some of you know him as the boyfriend in Devil Wears Prada or from the HBO series Entourage.


 

Adrian was recently chosen as Dell first ever Social Good Advocate. He collaborates with Dell to promote healthier and more sustainable choice of living through digital storytelling. Why him, you asked? It's because in reality, he is been living the green life. Many know him as a social activist instead of an actor. He founded shft.com, a lifestyle platform to convey a more sustainable approach of living through film, design, art and food.

Tech in Asia has one column where they invite entrepreneurs or people who work in digital industry to answer any questions from its readers. It's really an interesting column as we can learn from others about how the business and the industry works along with tips and tricks from them. They invited me to do one a few days ago, so of course I said yes. You can read the whole thing here but I warn you it's very long because I try to answer all questions as detail as possible.

One of the intentions of my visit to the US last month was to visit the CES, Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas and witnessed it first hand on the new lineup from Dell. It was quite an experience. I kind of expected it to be boring and kind of intimidated that I would be the least techy one in there but I was wrong!  Well maybe I was still the least techy one but at least no one knew! It was actually fun because there were many interesting installations, demos and eye-catching exhibits.

I just figured that hashtag recently, if not I would have used it for every post about this DELL Inspiron 11 series 3000 :o). Anyway, I've used this laptop for 3 months now. I have to admit, sometimes work gets in the way for me to explore this laptop more. So most of the time, it's just email, browsing, microsoft office, and that's about it! Because of that, I'm still figuring new things that this laptop has to offer, which is a good thing because I keep getting surprises.

In case you're wondering, nope,  my bag is not this neat most of the time. It only happens when I changed bag, or after I clean up the mess on Sunday night.

Anyway, featured here is my Chanel GST that I got 4 years ago. For work bags, I’m always looking for something that fits my daily essential. I don’t want it to be oversized, just enough to fit my laptop to avoid bringing two bags to meetings. Other than the size, leather is a must! Non leather bags can look too casual sometimes, especially when it’s slouchy. Oh speaking of slouchyness, I like my work bag structured to lend a more professional look. It also has to be solid and neutral color so I don’t have to change bag when I wear prints.

So, what’s inside it?

• My Dell Inspiron 11 series 3000 laptop. Thank God for this light and thin laptop I have no problem carrying it in my bag. It weighs in at 1.4 kg. Sometimes, my makeup bag is heavier than this laptop :D. Just like I can be picky with bag, I’m also very particular with my laptop. Specs and features are important but design is ultra important for me. The thinner and the lighter it is, the better! Second requirement is it has to look sleek and modern, techy but feminine. In this Dell laptop, I also like the fact that the body is actually plastic but it’s made to look and feel like aluminium. Plastic doesn’t scratch easily, which is of course a plus especially since I carry it in my bag without a laptop case sometimes. So design wise it’s perfect for me. 
• Louis Vuitton Sarah Wallet. It has more receipt than it has cash..*sigh*
• Michael Kors business card case
• Eyeglasses case that I got from Scoop
• Female Daily Makeup pouch. The makeup pouch and the inside deserves a separate post. 

If you like to see what others carry in their bag, you can see the What's Inside Her Bag column in Female Daily. 

Well, not that I don't need it anymore, but surprisingly I don't use it that much with this Dell Inspiron 11 Series 3000. I charged it all night and I don't have to charge it again during the day the next day if I don't use it non stop.

Yang namanya interview, pasti dong harus siap menjawab berbagai macam pertanyaan dari beberapa interviewer sekaligus. Kalo di Female Daily Network ada ibu HRD dan juga usernya yang akan menjadi supervisor si kandidat ini kalo diterima. Usernya berarti bisa Managing Editor, bisa IT Manager, Account Director, Finance Manager dan lain sebagainya.

Selain siap untuk ditanya, pas interview juga harus siap bertanya, karena akan ada saatnya kamu dipersilakan untuk bertanya. Dan memang seharusnya kamu udah punya banyak pertanyaan. Ini calon tempat kamu kerja, loh...tempat di mana kamu akan menghabiskan waktu untuk berbulan-bulan dan mungkin bertahun-tahun ke depan. If you don't have any questions at all then we take it maybe you just don't care?

Trus..boleh tanya apa aja? Kebetulan kemarin baru Interview 6 kandidat untuk posisi editor. Jadi masih fresh banget di kepala. Basically, you can ask about anything, we are pretty much an open book and we are a bit narsistic sometimes so we love to share our story :p. Tapi pertanyaannya mesti yang pinteran dikit yah, not something that can't be found by a click away dan bikin kamu ketauan kalo belum research. Jadi jangan sampe keluar pertanyaan..'Kalo Female Daily sama Mommies Daily itu satu perusahaan bukan, sih?'..errr...

Trus juga ya, jangan...JANGAN tanya office hoursnya dari jam berapa sampe jam berapa? Plis deh, itu bikin ilfeel banget.

Beberapa waktu yang lalu saya diundang oleh Rosa Djalal untuk sharing di acara inaugurasi yayasan Women For The World nya, yang bertemakan Invest in Women, Transform the World.

With such a strong mission and a cause I truly believe in, of course lah I wouldn't say no to share my story to 200 aspiring women entrepreneurs. Seneng banget sih bisa sharing sama mereka dan juga denger ceritanya mereka, all the triumphs and the struggles. Pulangnya juga bawa beragam oleh-oleh karena banyak dari mereka yang bisnisnya makanan dan kerajinan tangan.



Di awal-awal slide, saya menceritakan tentang Female Daily sekarang, dari mulai misinya, produknya, manfaatnya, komunitasnya, timnya, cara memonetizenya dan lain-lain. Semuanya sebenernya bukan rahasia lagi sih untuk pembaca atau membernya Female Daily.

Nah di slide-slide berikutnya, saya lebih menceritakan hal-hal yang nggak kasat mata, yang di belakang layar, yang bisa membuat Female Daily bisa bertahan selama 10 tahun ini, walaupun secara business mungkin baru bisa dihitung dari 2009 ya. Ternyata, formula Female Daily itu, setelah dipelajari, terdiri dari 5 P.

Passion
Basi sih kedengerannya, tapi bener deh, without passion to write, passion about beauty, passion about women, passion about digital world I wouldn't last this long.

Plan
Passion will only go so far if it's not backed by a solid plan. Dan jangan sedih kalo nggak punya plan dari awal sih, all you have to do is START. Start with what you have and better tools will come along way. In my case, I started with a laptop on my lap. The laptop you own now or about to buy can open you to a window of opportunities asal kita nggak cuma konsumsi apa yang ada didigital aja, tapi juga berkarya di situ.

Setelah mulai, coba dievaluasi lagi, apa sih yang bisa diimprove? Gimana supaya pembacanya naik terus? Gimana supaya isinya lebih berbobot? Kira-kira kerjasama dengan siapa ya yang bisa menaikan kredibilitas? Intinya NEVER STOP Improving and have goals, kira-kira 6 bulan lagi pengen achieve apa. Female Daily juga jalannya gitu kok, mulai dari sebuah blog sederhana, template dan hosting gratisan sampai akhirnya beli domain sendiri, beli kamera supaya foto-fotonya lebih bagus, launching forumnya dan lain-lain. So just st

Purpose
Trus, business has to solve problems. Tapi menurut saya jalan menuju ke situnya bisa berbeda-beda. Ada yang memang udah ketauan problemnya apa dan langsung bikin bisnis untuk memberikan solusinya. It's not the case with Female Daily. I just started with what I like and little did I know ternyata I was filling a gap karena ternyata di Indonesia belum ada, pada saat itu, sebuah blog yang membahas tentang fashion dan beauty, belum ada sebuah online komunitas yang bisa membuat perempuan Indonesia belajar dan kenalan satu sama lain. Dan ternyata, yang mungkin terlihat sepele seperti lipstick dan moisturizer membawa impact yang cukup besar terhadap kehidupan para pembaca dan membernya. Ada yang jadi lebih bisa merawat dirinya, ada yang menjadi lebih percaya diri, ada yang belajar tentang ASI dan sukses menyusui anaknya sampai 2 tahun, ada yang belajar tentang investasi dan lain-lain. Alhamdulillah, ternyata cukup banyak membawa manfaat dan kalau webnya lagi down banyak banget yang protes dan nyariin.

Jadi bisa dicoba tuh, CLOSE DOWN your business for a few days and see if anyone notice it. Kalo ternyata nggak ada yang protes berarti keberadaannya kurang significant so you have to find a way on how make more impact to your customers or suppliers. This brings me to a point that being an entrepreneur is not about what we can get but what we can give or contribute to other people. It's not what in it for us. It's something bigger than ourselves. 

Profit
Well, no business will survive without making money. Well kecuali startup yang belom apa-apa udah diinvest and banking on growth. Saya sendiri cukup conventional, dalam arti, boleh lah fundraising untuk pertumbuhan yang lebih cepat, tapi tetap, kita harus tau gimana cari uangnya kan. Kalo dari awal cuma kepikiran 1 channel untuk jualan nggak papa, begitu kita jalanin, pasti akan ada cara-cara lain untuk jualan asal jangan menghalalkan segala cara. Mommies Daily nggak pernah terima iklan susu formula walaupun tawarannya banyak banget. Tapi kita percaya walaupun satu pintu ditutup, pintu-pintu lain akan banyak terbuka.

Perseverance
Yang terakhir, apalagi kalo bukan ketekunan. Nothing is instant about building a business...it's all about process. Kalo orang yang baru lihat Female Daily mungkin akan mikir 'enak yaa kantornya besar, timnya udah lebih dari 30, baru diinvest' dan lain-lain. Mereka nggak tau kalo dulu kantor Female Daily cuma muat 3 meja yang mejanya juga beli bekas di Manggarai, belum lagi bocor dan kebanjiran, nggak bisa menyediakan laptop dan asuransi untuk timnya. Foundersnya nggak gajian? Trust me, it happened! So if you are facing a challenge right now, don't worry, just focus on what you are going TO not what you are going THROUGH :)

You see, it's a brand that supports entrepreneurship and women! How can I not embrace it? :)

It's sleek, affordable, two-in one, can be used for the whole family, reliable and backed with a remarkable story. Those sealed the deal for me.

I've always loved listening to him and reading his book because for me he shows the real face of Islam. The Islam that is warm, loving and all around beautiful.

In the first few pages I found his quote "Bacalah Al-Qur'an seakan-akan dia diturunkan kepadamu" and I was stunned because I've never thought of that. Now that I see it that way, I can see how relatable it is to our daily life and how it can guides us every step of the way. The answer is all there, we just have to look.

There was a story about his relationship with Soeharto especially since he stepped down, losing the first lady and until the former President took his final breath. He gave his eulogy and stood by his belief that you should just speak good about other people whether they are still alive or not.


This reminds me of the talk he gave during break-fasting event at Mbak Elaa's house two weeks ago. He said that it's not the big thing that Allah is asking from you, like going to Hajj or perform Umrah every single year. Allah likes the things you do on your everyday life, He prefers you to forgive and be nice to people who've hurt you. We never know which good deeds that will bring us to heaven, that's why we have to plant kindness and good deeds.

It was also mentioned in the book that for him, one of the worst things we can do is to stop where we are now, not improving and not trying to achieve perfection. Exactly what he said during the talk that Allah likes those who are willing to go the extra mile!

So note to self: don't stop and never think you've done enough. There's always more you can do and there's always things to improve.