Hooi Tan on startups
From Q&A with co-founder Tan Hooi Ling on her leadership journey with Grab. · · Grab Official
“More often than not the majority of startups actually fail — we are one of the lucky few, one in seven global average of startups and entrepreneurs that actually make it and continue to survive. Survival literally is the biggest challenge and was front and center for us for at least the first eight, nine, ten years.”
On , Hooi Tan, Advisor at Grab Holdings, spoke about startups during Q&A with co-founder Tan Hooi Ling on her leadership journey with Grab. on Grab Official.
About Hooi Tan
Tan Hooi Ling, co-founder and advisor at Grab Holdings, has reflected on the company's journey from a startup focused on taxi safety in Malaysia to a Southeast Asian "super app" offering ride-hailing, food delivery, and financial services. In a 2024 video interview series, she described the early years as a struggle for survival, stating that "the majority of startups actually fail" and that Grab was "one of the lucky few." She attributed the company's resilience to a "super app strategy" that allowed it to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, and she emphasized the importance of defining success metrics before launching experiments to avoid delaying difficult decisions. Tan also discussed her partnership with co-founder Anthony Tan, describing their complementary working styles—her as an introvert focused on internal and analytical tasks, and him as an extrovert handling external-facing roles. In earlier appearances, Tan spoke about Grab's growth trajectory, including its 2021 merger with Altimeter Growth Corp. via a SPAC, which she said enabled the company to attract long-term investors. She highlighted the company's focus on expanding financial services in a region where "six out of ten Southeast Asians are still unbanked or underbanked," and noted that Grab's core businesses had a total addressable market of $180 billion by 2025. Tan also discussed the company's diversity initiatives, stating that Grab monitors wage parity quarterly and has employee resource groups such as "Women at Grab" and "Pride at Grab." She advised entrepreneurs to embrace "the joy of missing out" (JOMO) to maintain focus, and cautioned that startup life is "far from fancy and glitzy."