John Kurniawan Young, BCom (Hons), MBA
I am a serial entrepreneur and managing director of national-scale family business. As the third generation, I have successfully transformed the company’s systems and considerably improved its performance. Besides spearheading the family business, I have spent most of my career exploring new business and I have ventured into F&B, tech startups and other manufacturing businesses.
Along the way, I’ve found countless detours, interesting projects through which I got knowledge and made friends and business partners. Despite my education and experience, I believe that I still have a lot to learn and I'm happy to share my experiences. If you're interested to work or get in touch, please do not hesitate to contact me.
John Kurniawan Young, BCom (Hons), MBA
I am a serial entrepreneur and managing director of national-scale family business. As the third generation, I have successfully transformed the company’s systems and considerably improved its performance. Besides spearheading the family business, I have spent most of my career exploring new business and I have ventured into F&B, tech startups and other manufacturing businesses.
Along the way, I’ve found countless detours, interesting projects through which I got knowledge and made friends and business partners. Despite my education and experience, I believe that I still have a lot to learn and I'm happy to share my experiences. If you're interested to work or get in touch, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Education and Professional Experience
I studied Accounting, Management Information Systems, and e-Business at University of British Columbia (UBC), in Canada. During my undergraduate, I entered the national business competition, called RBC Next Great Innovator Challenge, and awarded with $20,000 grand prize winner. Eventually, I managed to complete my Bachelor of Commerce degree with Honors in 2008. In 2011, I completed my MBA in entrepreneurship at Babson College, and Management and Leadership Program at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
After my bachelor graduation, I worked in the Big Four consulting firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, where I internalized the concept of professionalism and learnt how organization dynamics the corporate performance. In these firms, I involved in various projects from internal audit, performance improvement, to strategic development in various industries.
Organizations and Communities Involvement
As a business leader, one could easily become fixated with daily routines and overlooked opportunities and market development. Therefore, I joined several local and global business organizations, where I met with like minded leading business owners and international speakers to share, learn, and grow. In 2015, I become a pre-launch membership chair, supporting organization's expansion to the east of Indonesia. After two years preparation, the organization was finally established.
Entrepreneurship
Despite my involvement in the family business (Pakerin Group). I also develop several business ventures:
Along with Babson’s classmates, Michael Kasseris, Rahul Aggrawal, and Ankit Jalan, I co-founded a nutritional food seasoning business, called VitaFlavor, in 2010. We believe that eating is not only about filling our stomach, but also vitamins and nutrients intake. We pitched the business plan to VCs and participated in several business competitions in New England, Massachusetts to obtain the seed funding. With this funding, we successfully developed the product sample for mass production in collaboration with UNICEF.
In 2014, I partnered with a hotel owner in Surabaya and co-founded Open Oven Bistro – a fusion restaurant targeted towards youngsters, socialites, and professionals. By building the restaurants in the hotel, I was able to secure recurring income from the hotel guests, while developing an independent restaurant brand.
In 2015, together with my brothers – Kent K. Young and Rich K. Young, I co-founded a software house, called Kuryotech Indonesia. Besides developing customized software based on clients’ requirements, we launched its own ecommerce startup, called beoku.com (Belanja Online Favoritku). As our business and partnership grows, we developed media business, ERP systems, building material, and water-based ink factories supplying various industries.
Young Leader with Professional Experiences
Being a leader means I get to inspire, serve, and empower people to achieve a greater purpose. I firmly believe that professional experience and understanding of business principles would not be enough to bring the company forward. It is the ability to lead and move the right people in the organization that will make a change.
I believe that commitment can be built through a continuous contribution. Therefore, I always encourage initiatives and expect inputs from my team by treating them as a part of the organization strategy.
Expanding Creativity through Entrepreneurship
Looking for new opportunities has always been my instinct as an entrepreneur. Travelling around the world has introduced me to various kinds of business and it has inspired me to implement any possible improvement to current businesses or even create a new one in Indonesia.
Lead and Manage the Company with Integrity
I highly value integrity as it is the foundation of all business relationship. I have learned it the hard way. Good integrity from both sides will result in a long-term business partnership. It’s crucial to maintain a good partnership for a greater benefit. Upholding self-integrity is just as important. When you decide to do something, you’d better make sure to make it happen. Otherwise, you will lose faith within yourself.
Running Business with Passion and Determination
Developing a scalable and agile business through good corporate governance and the use of technology has always been my true passion. I would spend days attending business seminars that will improve my understanding of running the company, productivity improvement, and governance.
Proper Execution as the Center of Development
I believe that idea is as good as it execution. To ensure proper execution, I always start by dividing the project into key activities; breaking into detailed tasks, developing a timetable, and assigning a person-in-charge. During execution, I always maintain to work according to plan. People might perceive that I am relatively inflexible. Though, my intention is to execute each project thoroughly and achieve high-quality results. Changes should be done with proper preparations, when it is fundamentally required and will positively affect the overall project timeline and ROI.
Featured In
What Friends Say About John
Having been his close friend for more than a decade, one can say that I know John more than anyone. When I think of John, the word "trustworthy" comes to mind. He is a reliable friend who will always have your back and he will always try to help. He likes to chat a lot, and having him as a company for long journeys is a treat. These days, he is as busy as ever, but he always makes time. He is also not shy to strike up a conversation first to break any ice in any gathering. I sure hope these qualities will help him along in his ventures.
Stony Limanto
CEO of Mega Elektrik
What Friends Say About John
Having been his close friend for more than a decade, one can say that I know John more than anyone. When I think of John, the word "trustworthy" comes to mind. He is a reliable friend who will always have your back and he will always try to help. He likes to chat a lot, and having him as a company for long journeys is a treat. These days, he is as busy as ever, but he always makes time. He is also not shy to strike up a conversation first to break any ice in any gathering. I sure hope these qualities will help him along in his ventures.
Stony Limanto
CEO of Mega Elektrik
Let Us Connect!
I am open to discuss about business opportunities and how we can work together