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Hello reader,
Ask Jeeves, Lycos, and AltaVista – you would be forgiven for not recognizing any of those names, but these brands were in fact among the very first search engines on the market. Google came later and the rest is history.
Examples like these make me wonder if the first- or early-mover advantage is often overhyped. This is, of course, not the only instance first movers have blown a lead.
Blackberry’s fall from grace culminated exactly a year ago, with the one-time smartphone leader decommissioning its legacy software for its phones. Even now, pioneers such as streaming giant Netflix and electric vehicle behemoth Tesla are showing signs of losing market share to their deep-pocketed incumbent competition in their respective industries.
Perhaps it’s as the saying goes: “Reaching the top is one thing, but staying there is quite another.”
One firm that is currently stamping its authority as an early mover, however, is rental car startup Zoomcar. After several twists and turns in its business model, the India-headquartered company has greenlit a public listing in the second quarter of 2023 via the SPAC route after making strides as the “Airbnb for cars.”
Our featured piece today charts Zoomcar’s decade-long, topsy-turvy journey to the stock market and traces the roots of its Airbnb-inspired business model in the car rental space. Further, Greg Moran, Zoomcar’s co-founder and CEO, shares with Tech in Asia the rationale behind merging with a blank-check firm and going public even as bears overrun the market.
Today we look at:
- Zoomcar’s journey to the stock market
- Mamaearth parent firm Honasa Consumer filing for an IPO
- Other newsy highlights such as VNG taking a massive valuation cut to go public and Tesla facing fine in South Korea for allegedly overstating the driving range of its EVs
— Shravanth
P.S.: If you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding, fill out this form to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.
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Journey to the stock market
Image credit: Timmy Loen
IPO due date incoming
AMA about founding teams
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