[typescript] Typescript ReferenceError: exports is not defined

I had the same problem and solved it adding "es5" library to tsconfig.json like this:

{
    "compilerOptions": {
        "target": "es5", //defines what sort of code ts generates, es5 because it's what most browsers currently UNDERSTANDS.
        "module": "commonjs",
        "moduleResolution": "node",
        "sourceMap": true,
        "emitDecoratorMetadata": true, //for angular to be able to use metadata we specify in our components.
        "experimentalDecorators": true, //angular needs decorators like @Component, @Injectable, etc.
        "removeComments": false,
        "noImplicitAny": false,
        "lib": [
            "es2016",
            "dom",
            "es5"
        ]
    }
}