GRAB: Checklist Score
Running Grab through my Quality Score
To cut through the noise, I ran Grab through my Quality Score checklist, a weighted scoring framework that is used to compare businesses on factors that I believe matter most for long-term value creation.
The maximum score is 20 and the ranking system is as follows:
10 and below: High Risk / Pass
11 to 13: Viable Business
14 to 16: High Conviction Business
17 to 20: Best-in-Class Business
1. Founders and Vision
Visionary Founder: (2/2)
What first got me interested in Grab was learning about Anthony’s history with his family and the business.
Anthony was born to a rich family. His grandfather started Tan Chong Motors, a well renowned MNC from Malaysia that is in the automotive manufacturing and assembly business. They have been the sole distributor of Nissan vehicles in Malaysia for decades.
In Asian tradition, these businesses are meant to pass from generation to generation, mainly from father to son. Anthony’s reluctance to takeover the business and instead start Grab was a source of huge shock and disappointment to his father.
Anthony’s father disowned him and till this day Anthony still holds hope that his father will one day forgive him.
That is a convicted founder and CEO if I have ever seen one, and a person that is hungry to prove that the path he chose was right.
He has pivoted Grab from a mere ride-hailing app to a SuperApp that is the regional “everyday everything” platform from mobility to deliveries, to payments and insurance. Also key to note, he is just 43. He has decades ahead of him.
Skin in the Game: (1/1)
Anthony Tan holds 2.3% of the company’s stock, a relatively small number owing to Grab’s many dilutive rounds in the past as they raised billions in VC dollars to fend off competition. His super-voting Class B shares still give him 60%+ voting power, ensuring alignment on long-term value creation.
That 2.3% stake is the bulk of Anthony’s wealth and therefore proves significant skin in the game.
2. Market Dynamics
Exposure to Emerging Markets & Secular Tailwinds: (2/2)
I’ve been vocally bullish about Southeast Asia’s digital economy. The SEA digital economy is projected to reach $1T in GMV by 2030 with 70-80% of transactions expected to be fully digital.
Southeast Asia has a median age of just 32 years old and will see a huge demographic tailwind of higher earners and a rising middle class in the decades to come.
Without a doubt, this will be a huge tailwind for Grab and its services.
Large and Growing TAM: (1/1)
Grab is seen today primarily as a mobility/deliveries business. That is accurate, today.
However, my thesis lies on the fact that it is merely the beachhead into a whole host of new and emerging services.
Insurance, Financial Services, Ads, Merchant SaaS etc… (I will detail this in a future post!)
For those reasons, I give Grab full marks as it is tackling a enormously large and growing total addressable market.
Contrarian but Right: (0.5/1)
I believe the market still fundamentally misunderstands the Grab business and thinks of it as an “incentive-burning ride-hailing story”.
Yet today the business is free cash flow positive and net income profitable.
The rest of the article is exclusively for paid subscribers, a small way to thank them for their support, especially those who backed this project even before I officially launch the subscription. If you’re considering upgrading your subscription, now would be a great time to do so. (Prices will rise once it officially launches)
As some of you may have noticed, I have started posting more regularly on Substack with both medium and longer-form content. In a few weeks, I will be launching the Paid subscription tier and the beginning of weekly content.
That said, free subscribers will still continue to receive about 80% of what I publish — and I fully intend to keep it that way.
For newer readers, I wanted to share a quick look back at some of the Deep Dives I’ve published over the past 9 months, and how they’ve done since:
Sea Limited $SE: (10th Sept 2024) → +120% since
Grab Holdings $GRAB: (27 September 2024) → +31% since
Robinhood $HOOD: (14th November 2024) → +125% since
Coupang $CPNG*: (30th May 2025) → +1.75% since
* Deep Dive posted just a week ago, performance irrelevant
The current subscription is priced at $20/month or $200/year, designed to offer good value relative to the depth of research and insights I aim to provide.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to bring you many more Deep Dives into what I view are generational businesses trading at attractive valuations.
Lastly, you can also follow me on X (@GabGrowth), where I share additional insights and updates, I’d love to engage with you there!
Thank you all — whether free or paid — for being part of this growing community. I sincerely appreciate it.