Ming Maa of Grab: How We Grow a Super App in a Highly Diverse and Competitive Region

This show is previously known as 996 with a specific focus on tech in China. You can access all the previous 996 episodes in this same feed.

Today on the show we have, Ming Maa, President of Grab, Southeast Asia's leading super app, providing the everyday services that matter most to consumers. The conversation covered a wide range of topics; how Grab thinks about expansion (markets vs verticals), the tension between product development and scaling, what are the right kinds of high frequency use cases for a Super App, the Uber deal, best piece of advice he's ever been given and what it is like to work with Masayoshi Son from Softbank.

This episode also features a bonus interview with GGV Managing Partner, Jixun Foo, who led GGV's investment into Grab in 2014. Jixun shared how he met Grab's founder Anthony, the reason behind the different growing paths of Didi and Grab, and what he looks for in mobility startups.

Grab offers transport, food and package delivery, mobile payments and financial services to over 36 million users across eight countries in the region. Launched in 2011, it is now reportedly valued at $14 billion, making it Singapore's first "decacorn", and a GGV portfolio company.

Ming has over 12 years of finance and investment experience across the U.S. and Asia. He joins Grab from SoftBank, one of Grab's key strategic investors, where he played a key role in overseeing SoftBank's investments in SoftBank's Series D and F investment in Grab. Ming received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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