Samira Shihab serves as Principal, Head of Value Creation at AC Ventures. She leads a team providing the firm’s portfolio companies with strategic and operational support for growth, corporate governance, business development, government relations, as well as organization and capital advisory.
Samira is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive. She returned to Indonesia in 2014, after spending over 25 years abroad, to realize Southeast Asia’s tech and digital opportunities. She began her career as a tech entrepreneur, building a SaaS for the hospitality industry. She then joined a private equity consulting firm, where she played a strategic role in setting up operations, management, and marketing structures for newly invested businesses.
Since 2016, she has been the CEO of Indonesia’s leading preloved fashion e-commerce startup. A passionate supporter of gender equality, she founded Stellar Women, an organization for female leaders and entrepreneurs.
Samira has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Psychology, and International Studies from Penn State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
The essence of a successful startup is in its people, products, and processes. As a founder-turned-strategic operator, my goal is to find people with more than just skills; those with a passion for innovation who aren’t afraid to challenge norms. These individuals create transformative products, which redefine market standards and offer a fresh perspective on problem-solving.
But even with the right people, groundbreaking products need a sound strategy and well-oiled processes to make a startup thrive. I am keenly interested in systems, agile methodologies, and new forms of management that streamline operations, eliminate wasted efforts, and foster innovation.
These elements coalesce to propel a startup to an inflection point – a moment of exponential growth that shifts the startup from surviving to truly thriving. My aim is to create an elite startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia where reaching this tipping point is an achievable goal for more founders with ambition and grit.
Samira Shihab serves as Principal, Head of Value Creation at AC Ventures. She leads a team providing the firm’s portfolio companies with strategic and operational support for growth, corporate governance, business development, government relations, as well as organization and capital advisory.
Samira is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive. She returned to Indonesia in 2014, after spending over 25 years abroad, to realize Southeast Asia’s tech and digital opportunities. She began her career as a tech entrepreneur, building a SaaS for the hospitality industry. She then joined a private equity consulting firm, where she played a strategic role in setting up operations, management, and marketing structures for newly invested businesses.
Since 2016, she has been the CEO of Indonesia’s leading preloved fashion e-commerce startup. A passionate supporter of gender equality, she founded Stellar Women, an organization for female leaders and entrepreneurs.
Samira has a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, Psychology, and International Studies from Penn State University and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Press & Media
