Go-Jek to take a big leap forward

Of late I’ve been trying to learn about ride-hailing companies and global ride hailing market in detail. A recent online article which I read had an interesting information on an Indonesian ride-hailing firm, Go-Jek, one of the most promising startups in Southeast Asia. Google, Temasek, and Meituan-Dianping are gearing up to invest in Go-Jek, and this might skyrocket its value to a whopping $3 billion. KKR and Co LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, its existing investors, too might join the new funding round.

For those who haven’t heard about Go-Jek yet, here is what I learned about the ride-hailing startup. Founded by Nadiem Makarim in 2010, Go-Jek is a leading provider of on-demand transportation, food delivery, logistics, and mobile payment services in Indonesia. It was founded with the aim of bettering the lives of underemployed motorcycle taxi and cab drivers, by providing a whole new set of opportunities in the form of transportation and food delivery orders. Go-Jek, which began as a bike taxi company, currently has over 200,000 drivers across 25 cities in Indonesia. Why bike taxis? They are highly effective in most of the busy and congested streets in Indonesia. Over the years, Go-Jek has grown by leaps and bounds, expanding their business and advancing into car-hailing and several other areas like grocery and meals delivery services. GoCar, its car-hailing service, is similar to Uber and Singapore-based Grab. The Go-Jek app was launched in 2015. The app has till now amassed about 10 million downloads, with a user rating of 4.3 on Google Play Store. It is quite admirable (Uber enjoys a 4.2 rating and so does Lyft, whereas the rating of Grab is 4.5.).

In addition to its commendable presence in the home market, Go-Jek has a strong development team in India as well. The company acquired C42 Engineering and CodeIgnition in 2016. Go-Jek has bettered the lives of almost a million bike taxi and cab drivers, and empowered as many as 100, 000 restaurant partners and many other small and medium businesses across Indonesia.  Isn't that a praiseworthy achievement, given the intensifying market competition and increasing customer expectations? Recently, Go-Jek acquired three financial technology businesses Kartuku, Midtrans, and Mapan, thus foraying into digital payment services, aiming to become a major player in Indonesia’s payment sector. Go-Jek may soon expand their business with overseas operations, boost rider and driver subsidies, and develop their digital payment business.  The new magnanimous funding will undoubtedly give Go-Jek an upper hand while facing market competition from deep-pocketed competitors.

Southeast Asia’s largest internet economy, Indonesia alone is home to nearly 261 million people. Yet, the current Uber CEO said in a statement that Southeast Asia is unprofitable (as per a TechCrunch article). I can't figure out the rationale behind his words, given that Southeast Asia has more than 600 million customer currently.  It sounds like a defensive effort to conceal Uber's inability to keep up its foothold in Southeast Asian market. Growth of ride hailing industry in the region is expected to hit $20.1 billion per year by 2025, says a report co-authored by Google. Will Go-Jek become the next Uber or Grab, or surpass them all in growth, profitability and customer satisfaction? Have to wait and watch.

What no one tells you about losing weight

Stop having dinner, cut down on fat, you can skip meals if you are not hungry, workout as much as possible, eat protein supplements– I was told all these and more when I started my weight loss journey a few months back. Back then, I weighed a whopping 75 kilos. I was morbidly overweight and wanted to do all that it takes to lose the excess weight. I was surrounded by body shamers, I was embarrassed beyond words, and my self esteem was at an all time low. Weight loss, career, or life, a bad approach yields bad results, and I didn’t want to end up in tears or frustrated about not being able to shed the extra pounds. But self-confessed diet experts around me kept recommending all the misinformed and counterproductive ideas that have been repeatedly proven wrong.  They kept tossing around those unscientific plans incessantly, and I knew that I had to figure out one on my own to deal with my weight gain woes. Let me share some of the insights that I’ve picked up.

At the outset, you needn’t drastically change your lifestyle or eating habits to lose weight. Let things happen in a natural progression and you'll get the needed results in no time. Excess weight is the end result of bad eating habits and sedentary lifestyle. It also depends on age, hormone changes, health problems, daily activities, stress, food preferences, and so on. Starting off by getting the facts right and change or fix what’s wrong, in a slow and steady pace. Let me also remind you that you needn’t shell out lots of money on gym memberships. Yes, you don’t need to slave away for long hours in the gym to lose weight. 45-60 minutes of brisk walk in the morning and evening is more than sufficient if you can stick to it diligently. Does walking alone help get fit and toned? No! You have to eat right, eat well, eat on time, drink ample amount of water, and say no to all junk food.


My first step was to deal with my stress eating disorder, and I have curbed it to a significant extent. I never used to hesitate mindlessly loading myself up on coffee and junk food or munching on chocolates when I used to get stressed and upset. I’ve changed it over the past few months and I am extremely happy about the results. Believe it or not, the whopping amounts of junk food I’ve gobbled over the years are not as tasty and enjoyable as what I currently enjoy having each day. That said; if you intent to completely cut out the bad food one fine morning, you shouldn’t. I’ve been there myself, and the impact is extremely dangerous, because, it can lead to uncontrollable cravings, and you will end up binge eating and falling off the track soon. One-size-fits-all diet plans too can rain on your parade, because, what’s right for me might not be right for you. Most of us battle food allergies, intolerances, and so on, the reason why a professional help from an expert dietician is indispensible to figure out a diet strategy based on your body and nutritional needs. Wrong diet plans can leave you unwell, weak, and perennially tired.

Here is another lesson that I have learned the hard way: never fall for any of those gimmicks that you read online; or pop pills and consume supplements with potentially dangerous side effects. Instead, go to a trained professional and seek and follow recommendations that are best for you. My friend Deepa George did a phenomenal job to help me decide my diet plan. In short, I didn’t adopt a caveman diet nor did I compel myself to avoid the indispensable morning and evening tea or breakfast. But I managed to shed 6 kilos in the first month and I continue to adhere to my chosen routine. Let me concisely put down what I’ve learned within this short yet significant time span - Always be realistic and realize that weight loss doesn't happen overnight, and no one can adopt that perfect eating habit to lose weight “in the blink of an eye”. Instead, you can make gradual alterations in what, how and when you eat, and stick to what you opt. Work smart and success will be yours.