Kaskus founder leaves company, says IT sector becoming too risky

Kaskus founder Ken Dean Lawadinata has resigned from his position as chairman of PT Darta Media Indonesia, the operator of the Kaskus online community. Ken plans to invest in property and commodities instead of Information Technology (IT).

Ken released his shares in Kaskus to GDP Ventures.

“That’s right, I have left Kaskus. I released all my shares to GDP,” he said on Saturday as quoted by kompas.com.

Ken was one of the founders of Kaskus and elevated Kaskus to its current status as the biggest online community in Indonesia.

Ken said that after Kaskus, he was not interested in the IT industry anymore. He has his eyes on property and commodity investments such as mining and timber.

He said the IT industry in Indonesia was still growing and demand was healthy and new ideas kept emerging. However, Ken said the risks in IT were now too high.

“IT was a sector with low-risk, high-return, but it has now become a high-risk, high-return sector. In this industry, US$10 million is now meaningless,” Ken said.

Ken also founded Smartmama, a media company for mothers, and Tororo, an online baby products shop. He plans to hold on to these companies.

“In IT, I will focus on Smartmama and Tororo,” Ken went on to say.

Another Kaskus founder, Andrew Darwis, who is still chief commercial officer of Kaskus, offered his thanks to Ken for Ken’s dedication in growing Kaskus. He stated that Ken’s resignation would not disturb the company’s performance.

“Kaskus is focusing on its mission to become the biggest social commerce platform in Indonesia,” Andrew said.

Kaskus was founded in 1999 by Andrew, Ken and two other friends.