S1E5 | Truths about Lighting Up One’s Own Path and That of 60M Workers in Indonesia | Nelly Nurmalasari, Pintarnya

Hard Truths By Vertex

It’s hard to translate vision into reality - and especially so when you are trying to help workers build a better life. But when you see it happening, the moment is magical! Listen to Nelly and Jessica discuss the highs and lows of building Pintarnya, the huge potential it has to transform blue-collar workers' lives as well as Nelly’s take on how women can be more empowered to take charge of their lives and careers.

In This Episode

• (02:24) First impressions of Vertex and Pintarnya
• (05:46) How Pintarnya was conceived based on personal experience
• (07:26) Being picked to be CEO by her accomplished co-founders
• (10:30) Vertex’ investment thesis for Pintarnya
• (12:44) The hard truth about translating vision into reality
• (17:00) One key difference between male and female founders
• (20:02) A magic moment in the journey
• (22:30) A big vision
• (25:52) Co-founders and spirit animals
• (28:57) Nelly’s thoughts on female empowerment
• (33:28) How her mother shaped her ambitions

Our Guests

Nelly Nurmalasari is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pintarnya, a technology startup based in Indonesia with a mission to unlock employment and financial opportunities for millions of blue-collar workers in Indonesia.

She began her career at BCG, spending over 10 years as a project leader and was chosen to receive a full scholarship towards an MBA at The Wharton School. During her studies, she developed a strong interest in technology and eventually joined Traveloka, where she rose to the position of SVP, leading a business unit with over 600 employees. She also ran a salon on the side, the pain points of which led to the idea that birthed Pintarnya.

Jessica Koh has been with Vertex Ventures SEA and India for close to five years. She is currently an Investment Director at VVSEA&I, and led the investment in Pintarnya. Prior to Vertex, Jessica was at 500 Startups, involved in Investments & Fundraising. She graduated from NUS placing on the Dean’s List, and spent a year in Silicon Valley as part of the NUS Overseas Colleges programme.

Vertex Ventures is proud to be associated with over 20 female-founded startups across SEA and India and this episode is part of our special series for International Women’s Day 2023. Throughout March we will feature four accomplished women business leaders along with their Vertex investors so do subscribe to our show and discover what it takes for women leaders to succeed in what is still a male-dominated space.

Links

• Show notes and full transcript for the episode

Your Host

Elise Tan is the Director of Communications and Community at Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Prior to joining Vertex, she has had extensive experience in investor relations and partnership at global venture funds and accelerators with more than $100m in AUM. Elise also currently runs a Southeast Asia-based startup community of nearly 800 entrepreneurs called the Asia Startup network and actively supports their startup journey through panels, meet-ups and mentoring programs.

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Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a pioneer in investing in tech start-ups in this region and has helped to build a number of unicorns. In this podcast, we seek to share and uncover the Hard Truth - raw, unfiltered insights and venture capital knowledge from across Southeast Asia and India. Tune in to learn from leading founders, innovators, venture capitalists and industry experts in the region and to gain industry insights from those in the know.

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