The travails of covering Grab

Check out our top articles for the week. [Read from your browser]( Top Stories of The Week Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Sunday newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only premium content and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. Hello {NAME} You can’t fit everything into an article. To me, knowing what to focus on and what to exclude is just as important as writing with coherence and balance. That was my experience with [this premium article]( which highlights key takeaways from Grab’s Investor Day 2022. The three-hour event - the super app’s first - featured sessions on six topics plus a Q&A at the end. The article did not touch on topics like GrabUnlimited, the company’s new subscription program, and GrabForBusiness, which targets businesses whose employees use Grab’s services. Each session tackled of Grab’s strategic initiatives to drive growth. GrabUnlimited, in particular, seems promising - the company said it drove 19% of gross merchandise value in its deliveries segment in the most recent quarter. It can also drive up user engagement with the app and encourage them to use multiple services. However, I had already written about GrabUnlimited as part of my [coverage of Grab’s second quarter results]( in August. It’s also a very new service, so we’ll need more time to properly assess how it’s doing. That’s why I decided to leave it out. Covering a company like Grab has its pros and cons. People want to read about the company, so your article should be decently written at the very least. But many other people are writing about the same thing, so it takes some effort to find a unique angle. I hope we manage to do that more often than not. As I was writing this piece, I was recounting this dilemma to a friend, who asked what stood out to me from the presentation. I said I found it interesting to see which executives were chosen to speak, the topics they discussed, and how long they talked because one might get a sense of who else could be in Grab’s leadership bench apart from the co-founders. “That’s what you should be writing about!” my friend exclaimed. I toyed with the idea, but decided against it. Pursuing this angle wouldn’t fit with the rest of the article, and I would need much more time to do research - these event-linked pieces have an expiry date. But maybe that’s something I can revisit and chase in the future. -- [Simon Huang]( journalist at Tech in Asia  --------------------------------------------------------------- TOP STORIES THIS WEEK 1️. [GrabFin takes center stage at investor day]( Grab’s inaugural investor day saw the super app hit the right notes, but will that be enough to attract backers? 2. [Why did Carsome lay off 10% of staff? We dig into its finances for clues]( The Malaysian unicorn says that it remains "on target" to break even in group-level EBITDA over the next few quarters. 3. [Hodlnaut can’t pay salaries, benefits for dismissed employees]( The Singapore-based crypto lender laid off 40 employees - 80% of its staff - in August. 4. [Funding Societies swipes right on payments in SEA]( The fintech startup will focus on the “less digitized” business payments segment for SMEs in the region. 5. [Recession Run: Quest Ventures bats for food security, sustainable solutions]( Michelle Ng of Quest Ventures talks about what investors are looking for in startups as the industry faces an economic downturn. 6. [Grab’s digibank will finally enter Indonesia. Can it catch up?]( While others have had a head start, Grab’s partnerships with Singtel and Emtek could make up the difference. 7. [Ant Group-backed 2C2P’s profit, revenue narrow in 2021]( The drop in earnings was mainly caused by a dip in e-merchandise sales, even though revenue from its payments segment grew. 8. [Fintech unicorn Xendit lays off 5% staff in Indonesia, Philippines]( The "uncertain macroeconomic situation” prompted the move, the company told Tech in Asia. 9. [After pandemic growth, Indonesian biotech startup tests post-Covid waters]( Nusantics branched out into making Covid-19 test kits when the pandemic hit, but it’s now exploring other paths to survival. 10. [Covid-19 a sledgehammer strike, recession just like a pinch, says Chope CEO]( With a 32% revenue growth in H1 2022 and a better contribution margin, the restaurant management platform expects smooth sailing despite the recession. ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE MAIN EVENT Secure Hypergrowth Success through Data & AI Scalability Over the years, hypergrowth companies have faced constant challenges in remaining relevant and solvent. 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