Christopher Eko is the co-founder and CEO of  Kick Avenue, which was founded in  2017 to cater to Indonesia's sneakers boom, which grew to become the largest e-marketplace for buying and selling a variety of collectibles such as footwear, apparel, and luxury products.

‍

They raised their seed funding in 2019 from Insignia Ventures Partners. Fast forward to 2023, the company raised their $2.9M Series A from KREAM and SneakerLAH.

‍

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

Being born into a family of 5 children and being the eldest influenced my work ethic. Being the big brother for those working at Kick Avenue describes my typical day-to-day work.

Metaphorically speaking, as a big brother, my duty is to act as the bridge between my parents' goals and expectations for my siblings, with 'parents' being customers and 'siblings' being my employees.

‍

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

I've always been a sales person, but to most people, what usually surprises them is that my previous job was in the property business, such as flipping houses. Now I'm flipping shoes and luxury products for a living.

‍

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

Being trusted by my peers to sit in this CEO chair and run this fast-growing company, it's as if I'm driving a nice sports car on a highway with no speed limit restriction.

‍

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

Fashion has been a stable growing industry, and lately, we have noticed some shift within this sector. The main cause of this is digital developments in live shopping, preloved, and luxury products that are seen as investments. There are already several startups doing each of the three separately, but in Kick Avenue's case, we aim to meet the demand for those three shopping behaviors on the same platform.

‍

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

Find people who share your interest in the sector, and once you do, be laser-focused on the product instead of solely relying on marketing efforts.

‍

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

I have a particular interest in human behavior, especially when it comes to monetary spending. This is something that I always explore from people with different perspectives, buying power, and preferences. I believe business is all about satisfying the other parties' interests, but this interest most of the time gets obscured by their egos, and thus by knowing others' behavior, you can be successful in doing any kind of business.

‍

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Movie: The Godfather trilogy

TV shows: Breaking Bad, Narcos, and Squid Game

‍

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

Baskin-robbins' Mint Chocolate Chip and Häagen-Dazs' Pralines & Cream