Billion-buck idea

Ever heard of Go-Jek?

I haven't.  At least, not until yesterday.  "What was it?" I asked.  "It's a ride hailing app," my friend, a leading member of Indonesia's business community, replied.  Oh, another one of those, I thought to myself. After more than a year of riding Uber (and I have tried Grab, although I like the experience of riding in an unmarked car better), another entrant to the competition wasn't that remarkable.

But wait.  Not so fast.  It seems Go-Jek just received a cash infusion of US$550 million.  No, the currency is not denominated in Indonesian rupiahs where three alcoholic drinks in a stylish hotel bar can cost half a million.  (I'm not admitting that's how much we spent last night).  We are talking about more than half a billion American dollars, about as much as building a power plant in the Philippines.

What?  Why would a ride haling app, that isn't even primarily about cars, but only about motorbikes, trigger this much enthusiasm from private equity investors?  Did someone think of something more innovative? Apparently, yes.

While crawling through Jakarta's notorious rush-hour traffic, my friend opened up the app (which has been downloaded 20 million times in Indonesia and is available in 10 cities) and started extolling its virtues.

First, it began with motorcycles. It's easier and much cheaper to zip around the traffic choked streets astride a bike rather than a car.  That is why motorbikes are an essential component of public transportation in this Southeast Asian city.  So Go-Jek enables "ojek" (motorcycle) drivers and passengers to hook up.  But Uber and Grab do this in Jakarta as well, so what makes Go-Jek that investible?

Go-Jek next extended to cars, a natural move if it wanted to occupy the same space as Uber and Grab.  But here's where the exciting part of Go-Jek comes. One can utilize Go-Jek in the delivery of various services, with the only limit, apparently, being imagination.

Food. A basic necessity. Your stomach grumbling and you have a hankering for noodles from a restaurant? No problem. The app will connect you and the restaurant and the motorbike driver.  The noodles get handed over to the driver, who zips to your neighborhood and then he collects your payment.

Imagine what this does to the delivery services of McDonalds and YellowCab.  That eliminates all the motorcycles they have to invest in and the motorcyclists they have to employ. As the business owner, that diminishes my risk for liability in case of vehicle accidents, I need to pay less insurance, and I have less labor issues with finding the right drivers I can trust. If I were a retail company, I'd want to invest in this business myself!

Out of milk or salt? Oh yes indeed. Go-Jek will collect your groceries for you, much like what Walmart is contemplating to do in America.   Need a shampoo or a manicure?  Not a problem!  The salon can deliver its best manicurist to your home!  Massage?  Oh please! Not only can you order a massage on demand, Go-Jek can transport your masseuse to where you're lying prone, ready to be pummeled into submission!

There's (of course) courier service, so if you forget your scarf at home, just get Go-Jek to your home to pick it up from your maid, and then deliver the scarf curbside to your office. Fashion disaster averted!

And on and on and on.  If I had a billion dollars, I'd invest in this myself! (Well, perhaps only half, with the other half allocated to art.)

This might just create a new breed of entrepreneurs, much like Uber drivers who like the idea of spare cash.  Now motorbike owners can turn idle assets into revenue generating machines.  So even though the Philippines is less reliant on motorbikes, this country may still be attractive to the start-up.

Expect Go-Jek to Go-Phil soon.  Don't say I didn't warn you!