Yenny Yusra Journal

I recently had a casual but insightful online conversation with Dr. Guntur S. Siboro. Many know him from his leadership roles as the former Country Head at HOOQ and Lionsgate Play Indonesia. These days, he wears several hats: a part-time venture scouts at Kinetic Investments, a growth strategist, and an advisor at Circles, a global tech company that’s helping telco operators modernize through its platform.

We talked about his career journey, the ups and downs of the OTT industry, the role of AI in business today, and his current work in the venture capital world.

From Telco Veteran to Lifelong Learner

Guntur started his career at Indosat, spending 21 years there. He became part of the board at just 42. But at 45, even with a top position and deep knowledge of the telco business, he chose to step out of his comfort zone.

“I was still eager to learn,” he said. “Even though I’d worked in strategy, investor relations, and regional operations, I felt like I was growing less. As a marketing director, I realized I never formally studied marketing.”

After leaving Indosat, he joined a pay-TV company, which gave him the flexibility to pursue a PhD in marketing at Universitas Indonesia. That combination of work and study helped bridge the gap between experience and theory. That move opened new doors.

Entering the OTT World

After completing his studies, a headhunter reached out. The opportunity? A brand-new OTT platform: HOOQ. That became his entry into the streaming world, which later led to a position at Lionsgate Play. But OTT, he explained, is a tough market in Indonesia.

“There’s a fundamental issue,” Guntur said. “The business model is B2B from the supplier side but B2C for customers. That mismatch makes it hard to scale. Costs are high on one side, but users expect cheap or even free content.”

According to Guntur, the high cost of content acquisition collides with the reality that millions of Indonesian users are extremely price-sensitive. Even with Lionsgate’s advantage of owning content, conflicting priorities across teams made things difficult.

He also pointed out that even global giants like Disney have run into similar walls. While they once tried to pull users toward streaming platforms, there’s a shift back toward theatrical releases, which help recover content costs before it goes digital.

Only Netflix, with its end-to-end model of content creation and distribution, has maintained a unique position, but even then, profitability continues to be a challenge. He added that Google Movies has quietly become one of the strongest OTT competitors.

“Users just rent or buy, no subscription needed. Google handles distribution and payments like a marketplace. It’s simple, and people like that.”

His Role in Kinetic Investments and Circles

Today, Guntur works part time as Venture Scouts for Kinetic Investments, which focuses on early-stage startups in the AI space, specifically consumer-focused applications, not just deep tech.

“That makes it a bit tricky,” he admitted. “Most of the startups we see label themselves as AI companies, but the AI is only added as a feature. We want startups where AI is at the core of the business.”

While Kinetic focuses on Southeast Asia, many of the promising startups are in Indonesia. The challenge is finding AI companies that meet their specific criteria. Still, he’s optimistic. “Over time, we’ll see more real use cases.”

He believes the real value in AI won’t come from the tech alone, but from how it’s applied. To train and apply AI effectively, Guntur believes businesses need people who understand operations, context, and long-term strategy.

“AI is not for the young. It needs people with deep experience to guide it in the right direction. Prompting AI well is not easy. It requires business knowledge, pattern recognition, and maturity.”

At the moment, a number of Indonesian AI startups are under review by Guntur and his team. Kinetic Investments focuses on providing pre-seed and seed-stage capital to startups. Guntur is also cautious when dealing with capital. “In VC, you have to be responsible for your LPs. We’re more careful now.” 

Another area where Guntur is active is Circles, Platform as A Service for telco operators. Circles lets users access telco services entirely online, think eSIMs and app-based packages, without traditional infrastructure. He currently advises Circles as they explore markets like Indonesia

“They’re redefining the telco model,” he explained. “In some countries, like Singapore, Circles can sell data packages without even having a physical office.”

Looking Ahead: Staying Curious, Staying Relevant

Throughout the conversation, Guntur kept circling back to one theme, growth through learning. His career path isn’t defined by job titles or companies, but by his willingness to stay curious and question what’s next.

“You’re never done learning. When you feel too comfortable, that’s the signal to move. Whether it’s telco, OTT, or AI, it’s all about staying open and moving forward.”

It’s a perspective shaped by decades of experience, but one that feels especially relevant now. As industries shift and technology evolves, Guntur’s approach is clear: keep learning, stay grounded, and look for real value, not just the hype.