Tokopedia on the go

FOR months William Tanuwijaya kept a secret close to his chest: the operating funds of his company, Tokopedia, were set to run out this November. Dozens of candidate investors tried to approach him. He knew he had to carefully think over their offers before making a decision.

Then a very special invitation arrived on his desk in early October. It came from Masayoshi Son, founder of Japanese telecommunication and Internet company SoftBank Corp. William has long idolized Masayoshi. That was why, without needing much time to think it over, he flew to Tokyo to take up the invitation.

November 18, 2014