GudangAda: Building a Business Based on Empowerment Vs. Disruption

Stevensang, who grew up working in his parents' shop, founded GudangAda in 2019 to connect wholesalers directly to a variety of merchants, ranging from large retail chains to independent ‘mom-and-pop stores’, or warungs. The startup has quickly become one of the country’s largest online business-to-business marketplaces. In this episode of Moonshot, Stevensang talks with Sequoia India & SEA Managing Director Abheek Anand about how he drew on more than two decades of experience in leadership roles in Indonesia’s FMCG industry to assess the market size and industry structure - and design a business model that empowers wholesalers and retailers alike. Show notes: Digitising Indonesia’s FMCG supply chain [1:18] Evaluating the market size, industry structure and opportunity in Indonesia’s FMCG supply chain [6:35] Choosing to empower instead of disrupt the industry [9:14] How GudangAda hacked distribution [12:00] Securing supply by building relationships and trust with wholesalers [13:52] Building out GudangAda’s team in the early days [16:57] What aspiring founders can learn from GudangAda’s journey [22:29] Tips on assessing industry structure and designing your business model [27:46]