A former exec from Stripe and Uber is 'OK to give up 100x growth' to build a new business that will last

Vidit Agrawal, co-founder of Indonesia-based startup GajiGesa, knows brainsick maturation is nice. But staying powerfulness is better.

"Everyone is talking astir profitability nowadays. I anticipation it stays. Building a revenue-based oregon profitable concern is thing I person advocated implicit the years," Agrawal told CNBC Make It.

GajiGesa is successful the "earned wage access" business, which means the steadfast makes it imaginable for workers to retreat their net arsenic they marque them alternatively than waiting until the extremity of the period to get paid. Gaji means "salary" successful portion "gesa" means "haste" successful Bahasa Indonesia.

"Vidit is simply a fantastic idiosyncratic successful presumption of ever pushing the boundaries, ever trying thing caller to assistance the full ecosystem," said Anuj Kumar Maheshwari, main fiscal serviceman astatine retail distributor Kanmo Group, a lawsuit of GajiGesa.

"Our HR section is utilizing [GajiGesa] arsenic [a portion of] leader branding, wherever we tin pull endowment [with the perk] of being capable to retreat [portions of their salaries] earlier month-end," said Maheshwari.

It was a "visually crazy" country — indebtedness sharks circling connected 2 sides of a mill successful Semarang — that led Agrawal to recovered GajiGesa successful 2020 with his wife, Martyna Malinowska, who leads engineering and product.

"On 1 side, they were trying to [lend] wealth to the workers. On the different side, they were trying to cod wealth from the workers," recounted Agrawal, who held enactment positions successful Uber, Stripe and Carro for astir 8 years.

"This is specified a mediocre experience. The workers didn't person a choice," said Agrawal. An mean Indonesian idiosyncratic earns astir 2.9 cardinal Indonesian rupiah ($192) a period and conflict to marque ends meet.

A quality resources manager of edifice absorption PT. Inovasi Kuliner Indonesia said that they utilized to person galore telephone calls from "yelling" indebtedness sharks who had loaned their employees money.

"The telephone calls stopped 2 oregon 3 months aft we started utilizing GajiGesa," said Ria Al'amin.

Today, determination are 42 antithetic features – which see paying energy bills, buying prepaid apical ups oregon petrol vouchers – connected the GajiGesa app.

GajiGesa partners with much than 300 companies and serves much than 750,000 employees. 

Agrawal claims that GajiGesa is the largest earned wage entree subordinate successful Indonesia. "I don't conscionable accidental that [myself]. When you speech to the investors successful the market, who speech to each the earned wage entree players, they archer america that we are the largest," helium said.

"At the aforesaid time, we person ne'er over-hired truthful it is simply a blessing that we didn't person to laic disconnected people," said Agrawal, arsenic tech retrenchments proceed to equine successful Southeast Asia.

The entrepreneur shared much connected however helium runs a concern that lasts:

Agrawal doesn't judge successful utilizing incentives to prolong idiosyncratic engagement, wherever "he has seen truthful galore businesses" doing so. If a merchandise doesn't work, helium volition unopen it down.

"If I person to wage $2 to marque $1 revenue, that's not a business," said Agrawal.

While they bash springiness incentives erstwhile they onboard a caller company, they bash not proceed to incentivize existing users.

The cardinal is to equilibrium maturation with sustainability.

"I'm OK to springiness up the 100% maturation oregon 100x maturation a twelvemonth if I tin physique a revenue-based, sustainable business," said Agrawal.

He said that astatine Malaysian utilized car marketplace Carro, wherever helium was main operating officer, they person a rule called frugality balanced with quality, which helium applies to his startup today.

"We don't privation to springiness up connected prime but we besides privation to beryllium frugal arsenic a company," helium said.

He was truthful frugal to the constituent that his employees get irritated and telephone him "cheap."

"We person ne'er had fancy dinners. But we don't compromise connected fun. We person done events successful the bureau wherever we person catered food. The outgo is low, but we person made definite radical truly enjoyed themselves," said Agrawal.

He would besides bargain for a 5% discount, adjacent though the institution has the wealth to wage for it. "Wherever we spot other abdominous connected the bone, we effort to chopped it out," helium added.

"When radical articulation GajiGesa, they are like: wherefore is the CEO truly caring astir this $10 cost? Does helium not person amended things to do? If I tin devour the cheapest but inactive steadfast meals, oregon I tin question connected budget, I privation my squad to spot that."

They were already cutting costs for the archetypal 2 operating years contempt having $9 cardinal successful the bank, helium said.

GajiGesa raised a $2.5 cardinal effect circular successful February 2021 and a $6.6 cardinal pre-Series A in November 2021. Investors see January Capital, Northstar Group, European earned wage entree institution Wagestream and Next Billion Ventures.

But helium emphasized that they walk connected things that are captious for the business.

"We don't compromise connected engineering. We don't compromise connected tech tools. We don't compromise connected commissions for our apical performers," said Agrawal.

When helium was astatine Stripe, helium learned however to instrumentality attraction of people. "Stripe truly treated you arsenic a quality being, not a number," said Agrawal.

All full-time GajiGesa employees person worker banal options.

"We each person to wage our bills and instrumentality attraction of the family. If the institution does good and determination is simply a bully exit successful immoderate signifier oregon form, the squad gets existent worth retired of it," said Agrawal.