Commentaries: Gojek is going big or going home 💥

Dear Readers,

I had a great dinner with a couple of founders last week. It’s always refreshing to listen to other people’s startup stories, pain points, and perspectives.

I laughed and learned so much, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next dinner. And one of the insights I got is that the grass is always greener on the other side. I guess it’s a gentle reminder to be contented with what you have. By all means, go and shoot for the stars, but don’t forget to trust and enjoy the process.

You can find last week’s Commentaries here. If you’re a TIA subscriber, you can read all our Commentaries here.

Enjoy reading! 🙂

– Willis, Tech in Asia

P.S. Check out our season 1 podcast and details about our flagship Tech in Asia conference in Jakarta this coming October 8 and 9.

Stories with commentaries

1. Gojek: Go big or go home 🚗

Go-Jek CEO Nadiem Makarim on stage at Tech in Asia Jakarta 2016 / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

Gojek said last week that it’s on track to raise up to US$2.5 billion this year and is looking to enter two more countries in the near future. It also intends to continue investing in its native market of Indonesia and experiment with new areas such as games and accelerator programs. It will keep backing companies including Mumbai-based Rebel Foods and Indonesian fintech firm Pluang as well as potentially invest in mobile point-of-sale startup Moka.

⇒ Read: Gojek to raise up to $2.5b

It looks like there’s no dilemma for the Indonesian unicorn: Gojek is playing big or going home. As a reader aptly commented, “What an intense capital battle between Gojek and Grab.”

Perhaps this is what Gojek wants. While a few readers have speculated that it’s happy to be no. 2 or 3 in markets outside of Indonesia, I’ve also heard that for Gojek, it’s all or nothing. The company is in it to win it – Gojek believes it can out-innovate Grab. We also previously wrote that Go-Jek’s subsidies are a potent tool to gain market share. Here’s a short brief explaining why:

“Suppose you give a user a US$5 discount for each ride. You reach 1 million rides in your first month. That amounts to a cost of US$5 million. Now, let’s say you’re the market leader. You’re doing 50 million rides a month. If you want to match the prices of the new player, you’d need to foot a hefty US$250 million bill.”