You Be the VC: Beyond Meat and Go-Jek
Scoring two start-up pitches on team, opportunity, industry and business model.
- Sector
- Plant-based food; ride-hailing and delivery
- Source
- Week 5 tutorial resource (You Be the VC 6.1 and 6.2, Barringer and Ireland, 2018) with student and tutor scorecards
The case in brief
The exercise presents two pitches. Beyond Meat offers plant-based protein foods that replicate the taste, chew and satisfaction of meat; its first line, Chicken-Free Strips, was introduced through Whole Foods Markets and similar health-conscious stores. The full Beyond Meat story is in its own case.
Go-Jek, established in 2010, began as a motorcycle ride-hailing phone service in Indonesia and grew into an on-demand app-based platform operating in more than 25 Indonesian cities, adding logistics, food delivery and other delivery services. It solves a local problem: traffic-congested cities where motorcycle taxis (ojek) are fast but unsafe, unregulated and unhygienic. Go-Jek adds real-time tracking, free head covers and face masks, calls its drivers partners with access to health and accident insurance, and uses a referral code that gives both new and existing users a $2 credit.
Students score each firm from 1 to 5 on the strength of the new-venture team, the opportunity, the industry and the business model, then decide whether to invest. The tutors’ scorecard gives Beyond Meat 4.25 out of 5 (fund) and Go-Jek 4.0 out of 5 (a very good investment, though it needs to establish itself in another major market).
Key facts
- Go-Jek established
- 2010; expanded from Jakarta to more than 25 Indonesian cities
- Go-Jek market share (tutor scorecard, company claim)
- About 50% of Indonesian ride-hailing; 95% of online food delivery
- Go-Jek investment (tutor scorecard)
- A Chinese internet company paid some $1.2 billion in 2017; valuation above $3 billion
- Tutor scores
- Beyond Meat 5/4/4/4 = 4.25; Go-Jek 3/5/4/4 = 4.0 (team/opportunity/industry/business model)
Analysis through module theory
VC scorecard
Beyond Meat scores highest on its team, thanks to high-profile board appointments. Go-Jek scores highest on opportunity, thanks to dominant domestic market share, but lowest on team after a co-founder’s departure.
Industry/target market feasibility
Go-Jek’s industry is growing fast — the tutors cite forecasts for Southeast Asian ride-sharing rising from around $2.5 billion in 2015 to $13 billion by 2025 — but it faces Grab, a regional player, and Uber, a global one.
Organisational feasibility
Both scorecards show that investors judge the people as much as the idea: Beyond Meat bought credibility with experienced directors; Go-Jek lost a co-founder who built its brand team.
Discussion questions
- 1.Would you invest in each firm on the pitch alone? What further questions would you ask the founders?
- 2.Why do the tutors stress that Go-Jek must enter another major market?
- 3.Which scorecard criterion is hardest to judge from a pitch, and why?
Takeaways
- The four scorecard criteria mirror the four feasibility stages; a plan should give evidence for each.
- A strong home-market position can still be a risk if rivals are regional or global.
- A score is only credible with a line of evidence behind it.