Jesse Bouman: Stubborn entrepreneurship
The founder at Slice Group talks about what drives him.
Jesse founded Slice, a creator analytics platform, based in Indonesia. He started building it around 2019, when he saw the market opportunity—and recognized that he was the right person, at the right place, at the right time to build the software. Entrepreneurship has always been core to who he is, and he keeps an active blog about his experiences.
Take a look at what he’s writing about:
Ritika: For as long as I’ve known you since 2010, you’ve described yourself to be a stubborn entrepreneur.
Where did your founder journey begin?
Jesse: Technically, it started with a blog.
Back in 2005, my college roommate started a Blogspot site to document his summer in Europe. When I graduated and took a job in Thailand, I followed his lead.
I didn’t think much of it—I was just trying to keep friends updated on my life.
But when I moved back to LA and couldn’t get a job, I added “blogging” to my resume. That’s what finally got me in the door.
That moment flipped a switch for me. I realized: writing could be a way in. It could be a calling card.
Ritika: Did that open the door to entrepreneurship?
Jesse: Eventually.
Blogging helped me find my voice—and my community.
Around 2010, I started an anonymous dating blog. I’d give the women I dated nicknames—“Donut Girl,” “Circuits Girl”—and people got deeply invested. Like, really invested. They’d leave comments, root for certain people, even push me to go back to the ice cream shop and ask someone out.
It sounds trivial, but it taught me a lot about audience building. If you bleed, they read. I wasn’t performing. I was being real. And people responded to that.
Ritika: How did that translate into your agency work?
Jesse: I launched a social media agency and later evolved it into a digital marketing firm. Ironically, blogging wasn’t even one of the services we offered—but everything I learned from blogging shaped how I built brands.
Authenticity. Voice. Vulnerability.
These weren’t buzzwords for me—they were muscle memory. When I worked with clients, I wasn’t giving them playbooks. I was trying to help them connect. The same way I connected with strangers through stories about my awkward love life.
Ritika: At some point, you shut everything down and moved to Jakarta. What happened?
Jesse: I hit a wall.
The last startup I tried to launch had promise, but I couldn’t get the product together in time.
I drained my savings, piled up debt, and stalled out my career. I was burned out and stuck in zombie mode—not growing as a founder, not growing as a professional.
An advisor gave me an ultimatum. He said: “Give yourself a deadline. If you don’t hit your goals by then, shut it down. Move on.”
That date came. I let go. And it was a huge relief.
Three weeks later, I moved to Indonesia.
Ritika: What led to that move?
Jesse: A college friend helped me get a job at a global agency in Jakarta.
I packed a single bag and left. I didn’t even know Indonesia was the fourth-largest country in the world.
But it turned out to be exactly what I needed. I started over. I healed. I learned a whole new side of the business.
And for the first time in years, I took a vacation.
Ritika: When did the writing come back?
Jesse: Ironically, when I was writing an article about newsletters for a client.
I decided to start one just to test some ideas. At first, it was a roundup of links. But I’d add a personal paragraph at the top—and that’s what people really cared about.
So I dropped the links and just kept writing. Essays, reflections, updates from my life in Jakarta.
People I hadn’t talked to since high school started replying. People I barely knew from college sent thoughtful responses. It reminded me of that early blogging magic—the intimacy, the connection.
Ritika: What kind of things do you write about now?
Jesse: Whatever’s on my mind long enough to matter.
Aging. Health. Career pivots. Anxiety. Startup fears. I don’t post every week. I wait until something feels worth saying.
When I write, it’s not a therapy session—but it is therapeutic. It helps me see things clearly. Sometimes I don’t even know what I believe until I’ve written it down.
Ritika: You mentioned you’re starting a new company. What’s the spark behind it?
Jesse: Jakarta is an emerging market with real momentum. More startups, more capital, more energy. I see opportunities everywhere—and I want to build something that fits this moment.
In talking to investors, I’ve been more prepared. I’m more aware of what can go wrong.
Writing helps me process that. I’ll sit down and draft something that might turn into a newsletter—or maybe it won’t. But just by getting the thoughts out, I calm down. I see things more clearly.
Ritika: What keeps you coming back to the phrase “stubborn entrepreneur?”
Jesse: Because I know this is who I am.
Yes, I’ve failed. But I’ve also grown. I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone anymore. I want to build something real, something that matters.
I’ve done the hustle-until-you-break thing. I’ve had the identity crisis. I’ve let go.
And now I’m ready to start again—but this time, from a place of strength.
Portrait illustration by Kat Cao