Arief is the co-founder and CEO of Pitik, an agritech startup empowering Indonesian chicken farmers through technology to produce chickens more efficiently. Pitik has a farmer's network that covers the whole of Java island. 

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Pitik has raised $14M in seed and Series A funding including investors like Alpha JWC Ventures and Wavemaker Partners. 

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

I make chickens grow fat efficiently.

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

Contrary to many beliefs in Indonesia, Chickens need their "rest" too. Many chicken farmers in Indonesia do not turn off the lights in their chicken coops because they believe that if the lights are on 24/7, the chickens will continue to eat, thus increasing their body weight. We sell the chicken in kilograms, so weight is vitally important.

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Through our R&D in Pitik, we have confirmed that turning off the lights in the chicken coop for a few hours every night and letting the chicken rest (Chickens need to regulate their metabolism, too) yields better and improved chicken body weight at the end of the cycle.

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Working with the incredibly talented Pitik Team.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

Agritech because we need to solve the world's food demand by introducing technology on the supply side.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Some companies are pressured to multiply the revenues by their investors, causing their sales team to sell the products to bad players causing the account receivables to increase, which usually leads to write-offs. Cash is king, it's not a sale until the money is received in the bank!

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours? 

Aviation, I love flying!

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

Star Wars movies.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

I love classic Vanilla.

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