Last week at Echelon Thailand 2014, GrabTaxi took the stage and I had the following Twitter conversation following @HUBBAThailand‘s tweet.
"We are not monetizing yet. We are a social enterprise & by focusing on that we're confident the money will come" @GrabTaxiTH #echelonTH
— HUBBAThailand (@HUBBAThailand) September 19, 2014
@HUBBAThailand @GrabTaxiTH Is this misquoted? Social Enterprise? Not currently monetizing? Does not calculate.
— Chris (@chrisada) September 19, 2014
In retrospect, I should have find out a bit more about them before firing that off.
@chrisada @GrabTaxiTH This is not a misquote! #echelonTH
— HUBBAThailand (@HUBBAThailand) September 19, 2014
@chrisada @HUBBAThailand @GrabTaxiTH the 25 surcharge that passengers pay goes 100 pct to the drivers for now, hence not monetizing yet
— GrabNina (@Thailander) September 19, 2014
That week, GrabTaxi’s @GrabNina is tweeting the @Thailander account.
@HUBBAThailand @GrabTaxiTH I see. I take your point on monetization. Respectfully disagree on branding this service as SE.
— Chris (@chrisada) September 19, 2014
As I talked about this with my wife afterward, she pointed out not monitizing does not always equal being charitable or socially responsible. A competitor will say this is buying market share.
I am hardly the first to call into question GrabTaxi’s claim to be, in their words, first and foremost a social enterprise. This Straits Time article is an example of those wary of such use of the terms.
@chrisada @HUBBAThailand @GrabTaxiTH large portion of proceeds goes to social welfare for drivers, who come from TH's poorest areas
— GrabNina (@Thailander) September 19, 2014
@Thailander I wouldn't personally call Tesco an SE for buying mangoes from rural planters.
— Chris (@chrisada) September 19, 2014
@chrisada @Thailander but does TESCO start an emergency fund for mango farmers during a drought? Give them insurance to give job security?
— GrabTaxi Thailand (@GrabTaxiTH) September 19, 2014
@GrabTaxiTH @Thailander Where can I read more about these? New information for me, and I may have to swallow my words.
— Chris (@chrisada) September 19, 2014
@chrisada @Thailander you can ask our drivers for now. We will be publicising soon…we just now have a full marketing team #startuplife
— GrabTaxi Thailand (@GrabTaxiTH) September 19, 2014
My final remarks is, if you have been calling your service a Social Enterprise for several years, shouldn’t you have share the extent of the social aspect by now? I am quite interested to see what amounts to “large portion of proceeds”.