Achmad Zaky (CEO of BUKALAPAK) Speaking About “Sociopreneurship: Empowering Community through E-Commerce Innovation” at POLGOV Talk 2nd Series

Yogyakarta, March 2, 2018. Today, Achmad Zaky, as Founder and CEO of Bukalapak, became the second speaker of PolGov Talks public lecture entitled “Sociopreneurship: Empowering Community Through E-Commerce Innovation” organized by the Department of Politics and Governance Auditorium of Fisipol UGM Library, Yogyakarta.

Based on his experience of having initiative to establish Bukalapak and developing it up to now, the important lesson that Achmad Zaky has to say is that successful sociopreneurship was born from two things: 1) the sensitivity to the surrounding problem as a social responsibility and 2) the persistent to change it.

“The idea of ​​establishing BukaLapak comes from my anxiety as a student. It is because he feels a great social responsibility to solve social, economic and political problems,” said Achmad Zaky on this occasion.

“From the experience, I practice to overcome the challenges to bring an impactful solution for all circles of society.”added the CEO of BukaLapak which has stood since 2010.”

The Bukalapak is a combination of sensitivity to social problems, which is the management of SMEs that are not maximized, with the support of creative ideas based on their capacity as an engineer. The knot of both lies in sociopreneurship.

“This idea should be able to ‘democratize’ the business. SMEs that spread, should be able to consolidate well. The result, to this day, Bukalapak has managed to empower 2.5 million SMEs. “added the man born in Sragen 31 years ago.

Indonesia’s largest asset is not its natural resources, but human resources. How this human resources can create change, that’s what matters. Change can start from an innovation, and innovation is born from capturing opportunities. Opportunities are outside. Therefore, it is important for students to not only sit in the classroom, but also to integrate with the community to find out what their problems are, and to seek solutions together.

Innovation and adaptability are key to sociopreneurship. Innovation must be born from a bold idea and the courage must also be followed by the courage to fail. It is because in sociopreneurship, failure is an important point in learning. In addition, in this disruption era, adaptability becomes very important. In order to compete, students must change the mindset that is no longer following the flow, but how to change the flow. There are only two choices; undistorted, or disinfect.

The definition of success in sociopreneurship should be reversed, where it is no longer the first financial or position, but character, creativity, persistence, and then others will follow. Agents of change are those who can create value, those who start, and those who fail. Because, for him, new innovations will be born when we dare to fail.

“This activity is part of the experimental method of learning in the Department of Politics and Government FISIPOL UGM which is not oriented to the activities in the classroom,” explained Amalinda Savirani, Head of Political and Governmental Department FISIPOL UGM, about PolGov Talks who have stepped on this 2nd series.

The plan in the future will be presented by speakers from various educational background and profession, who will share their knowledge and experience to the students of Political and Government Department of FISIPOL UGM.