Is Maxim’s price right to take on Grab, Gojek?

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Hello reader,

I find Catan to be an immensely frustrating board game.

Don’t get me wrong – I enjoy falling out with my friends over their refusal to swap wood for sheep as much as the next person. But I’m just not very good at the game.

My fatal flaw is a failure to play to my strengths. For the uninitiated, Catan begins with each player claiming numbered sections of the board that provide the various resources they need to build settlements, roads, and cities, which will help them win the game.

I tend to fixate on acquiring the resources I want via trades with other players. Unfortunately, I’m not a great trader as I really enjoy driving hard bargains, which inevitably leads to all the other players refusing to do business with me after they’ve been screwed over a couple of times.

Unlike me, Maxim is playing to its strengths in Indonesia’s ride-hailing sector by offering more affordable services than behemoths Grab and Gojek.

Maybe that’s why the firm has managed to stick around in a tough market for five years, whereas I’m normally out of the running in Catan within five minutes.

Today we look at:

• The ride-hailing firm playing third wheel in Indonesia
• Grab trimming down its financial services offerings
• Other newsy highlights such as a major semiconductor manufacturer opening up shop in Malaysia and funding for an Indian beauty D2C firm.

Premium summary

Maxim-um competition

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Maxim offers a splash of yellow to the predominantly green ride-hailing market in Indonesia.

The firm, which is originally a taxi brand from Russia, has managed to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive market by positioning itself as more affordable than the dominant players.

Grabbing, grabbing, gone

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