From Mechatronics Student to Tokopedia AVP of Product
Tokopedia AVP of Products Alfredo Setiabudi explained what it means to Find Your Purpose at Tokopedia.
In Tokopedia, we know Alfredo Setiabudi (Edo) as the Associate Vice President of Product, driving product development on payment and logistics services. He was also responsible for the payment innovation at Tokopedia. The general public knows him as the guy behind this success. What we don’t know is his journey and the challenges he encountered.
Seeing his success, many people would think that Edo has fulfilled his purpose and dreams. But, his dreams in Tokopedia remains the same, “Creating products for the benefit of the whole society.”
“Tokopedia is a company with a clear mission and vision. Every day, we strive to discover new products and solutions that we could give to the community to make their lives better. This is what inspires me to work for Tokopedia,” said Edo.
From Mechatronics background
Before joining Tokopedia in 2016, Edo had gone through many phases. Firstly, he had an interest in robotics, so he decided to study Mechatronics at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Upon graduating, Edo surprisingly did not work in the field of robotics. Instead, he worked as a Fire Safety Engineer that manages the security of fire systems at hospitals, malls and other public locations.
“When I was an engineer in one of the technology companies overseas, I spent the majority of my time in the office and I interacted with machines more than people. It was here that I began to realize that there was something missing and that the work culture should not be like this. So I deliberately decided to move to a very different field and became a salesperson for an investment company,” explained Edo.
Working as a salesperson gave Edo a better understanding of business, and this solidified his intention to build a start-up together with some of his friends. Unfortunately, the start-up that he and his friends created did not show any significant development. After only 9 months, he and his friends were forced to close down their business.
Every experience has led Edo to Tokopedia
After quitting his business, Edo began searching for new jobs. It was during this search that he discovered Tokopedia. Realizing Tokopedia’s mission to democratize commerce through technology, Edo was encouraged to join.
“I see that Tokopedia is a mission-driven company that wants to create a positive impact in Indonesia. Understanding their mission, I felt inspired. “There are a lot of challenges in Tokopedia, but at the same time there are people with the capability and enthusiasm to tackle this obstacle together,” said Edo.
Edo feels that he belongs in Tokopedia. He believes that all his previous work experience has led to this moment, to become a product manager in Tokopedia. Every day, Edo comes to work eager and excited as he cannot wait to solve the challenges and problems that exist in the products that he developed.
Edo always considers the responsibility he receives as an opportunity to learn and hone skills. Even when asked to lead the Tokocash migration to OVO Wallet and take care of logistical validation, Edo accepted it with enthusiasm. The trust he received at Tokopedia provided him with a higher learning curve.
Encouraging young people to start
Edo believes that the encouragement to try new things was the key that has helped him reach his current position. He found the enthusiasm in every member of his team, even the fresh graduate.
Understanding that many young individuals do not know their purpose in life, Edo always nurtures his team’s growth and learning. Individuals are not only challenged by people in the team, but also by other teams in Tokopedia. According to Edo, Tokopedia has an immense scale. This means that there are many opportunities available in Tokopedia.
“Tokopedia has many separate, yet connected and interrelated divisions. This facilitates a diverse learning experience that you cannot find elsewhere. Furthermore, there are many business areas that you can explore in Tokopedia, until you find an area that suits you” said Edo.
With diverse backgrounds of his team members, Edo has brought a lot of positive progress at Tokopedia. He proves that learning new things out of our comfort zone can provide valuable experiences that shape us today.
