Founder Who Grew Up in Gated Community Releases Memoir Titled ‘Built From Nothing’
Indonesian startup founder Kevin Gunawan releases Built From Nothing, a memoir chronicling his rise from gated community to Series A funding.
JAKARTA — Indonesian tech founder Kevin Alvaro Gunawan, 29, has just released his long-awaited memoir, Built From Nothing, a deeply reflective 312-page journey through his rise from the halls of his elite international school in Pondok Indah to the corridors of Series A funding.
“This is my story,” Gunawan stated during the launch event, held in the ballroom of a luxury hotel his family partially owns. “A story of grit, rejection, and refusing to let my GPA define me.”
According to the book’s press release, Built From Nothing explores “how a boy with only two drivers, one family foundation, and limited access to authentic street food learned to navigate Jakarta’s unforgiving tech scene.”
The memoir, distributed by Jakarta-based Startup Spirit Press, features chapters with titles such as “Broke-ish in Bali,” and “Living on My Own (With Help).”
Gunawan claims his real transformation began during his “lowest moment”: a 2-week coding bootcamp in Singapore that “really stretched” his comfort zone.
“I had to do everything myself,” he said. “I didn’t even have my regular assistant with me.”
The book describes several key turning points that tested his resilience, including:
The time his family paused his supplementary allowance due to market fluctuations.
His gap year, which involved volunteering at a remote Balinese wellness resort for 6 hours a week in exchange for unlimited smoothies.
A harrowing incident when he had to pitch his app to a skeptical angel investor over a business lunch without the support of his uncle, who was at the time traveling with the President’s entourage.
Friends say Kevin was never one to complain, even when his Range Rover was briefly stuck in traffic during the first week of his Tokopedia internship.
“He’s just built different,” said Arya, a former classmate and current director at Gunawan’s startup, KOPINYAPP, an AI-based kopi delivery platform. “He didn’t let his environment define him. He let his access define his environment.”
Reviews of the memoir have been mixed, with Forbes Indonesia describing it as “a breathtakingly creative reinterpretation of what the word ‘nothing’ means,” while Kompas referred to it as “the most inspiring piece of fiction released under the nonfiction category this year.”
Publisher Startup Spirit Press confirmed that the title Built From Nothing was meant “symbolically.”
“To be clear,” a spokesperson said, “Kevin had everything: emotionally, financially, socially. The ‘nothing’ is about humility, which he has never truly possessed. It’s more of a conceptual void.”
Despite its loose relationship with truth, the book has topped local bestseller lists, especially among aspiring founders, crypto enthusiasts, and people who believe a good sob story is worth at least two rounds of seed capital.
A documentary adaptation is already in development, with early discussions underway with Netflix Indonesia and a potential casting of Jerome Polin to play the role of “skeptical, humble best friend who represents actual struggle.”
We write the headlines that haven’t happened yet, but probably will. Subscribe to The Rambutan for Southeast Asia’s sharpest fake news.