I thought I understood cultural differences – until I tried scaling in Southeast Asia.
With previous experience expanding digital businesses, I expected the usual hurdles: legal, linguistic, maybe some UX localization. But what I found on the ground required something deeper – a full rethinking of go-to-market strategy, not just by region, but country by country.
Southeast Asia is incredibly diverse. It’s not one market – it’s a mosaic of deeply distinct behaviors, cultural nuances, and expectations that go far beyond language or regulation. And ignoring those nuances can derail even the best-funded, best-designed products.
I should have known better
Years ago, I wrote my master’s thesis at the Warsaw School of Economics on Uber and Ola’s expansion into India. I interviewed executives, studied strategic alliances (like Uber’s with Bharti Airtel), and compared their wildly different go-to-market (GTM) approaches.
- Ola launched in more cities early on, prioritizing scale over polish.
- Uber focused on a more premium positioning.
- Ola accepted cash (critical in a low-card-penetration market like India),
- Uber initially didn’t.
- Ola added auto-rickshaws to its offering – Uber did not.
- Ola integrated seamlessly with local payment platforms and leveraged their own “super app” ecosystem.
From a strategic lens, Ola read the room better. They understood the market not just as a set of demographics, but as a living culture with preferences that required local innovation, not just global replication.
Then came my Southeast Asia experience
Living in Thailand and traveling through Malaysia and Vietnam over several months, I started to see how similar dynamics play out here. Grab, the regional ride-hailing leader, is a perfect case study. As a regular user, I experienced the challenges of operating in a market full of informal workarounds and savvy, entrepreneurial behavior from both drivers and passengers.
Examples?
- Drivers accepting a ride and then asking me to cancel – citing false reasons like “too far” just to avoid platform penalties.
- Others accepting the job, arriving, and then asking to be paid in cash, bypassing the app entirely (and Grab’s fees).
- Some gave me their business cards to book future rides directly via WhatsApp or Line, sidestepping the platform.
- In the past three months alone, I counted that 45–55% of my drivers did this.
- In total, I booked over 20,000 THB (~$550) in rides off-platform, simply because it was more flexible, cheaper, or more convenient.
Multiply this behavior across thousands of users and drivers, and you can imagine the impact:
- Leaking revenue
- Lower customer lifetime value (CLTV)
- High churn
- Weak platform loyalty
And this is happening despite Grab being the regional market leader.
The takeaway? Even if you’re leading in market share, you can lose in cultural alignment.
Culture as an operational strategy
Scaling a SaaS or digital product in SEA isn’t about cloning your model and flipping a switch. It’s about localizing every single layer – from user acquisition, to payment methods, to trust-building mechanisms, to how retention is measured and improved.
Your AARRR metrics – acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue – will likely behave very differently across countries, even within the same region.
So here’s a practical tip for anyone scaling in emerging or culturally distinct markets:
Build your GTM strategy like a modular product.
Have a global framework – but execute with local nuance.
Partner with local firms, recruit local leadership, and run deep behavior-driven research before launch. Culture is not “soft stuff.” It’s deep infrastructure that affects everything from UI to payment flow to customer support.
Uber vs Ola: The clearest example
To illustrate, let’s return to Uber in India.
- Uber had the tech and capital.
- Ola had local understanding.
And that made all the difference.
Uber entered India in 2013. Ola was already there and quickly adapted to local behaviors: they accepted cash, expanded fast into Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, added rickshaw rides, and integrated with mobile wallets. Uber lagged behind on many of those fronts.
Eventually, Ola captured the majority of the market – while Uber retained a smaller, often more premium slice.
The story repeats elsewhere:
- Uber exited China, selling its business to Didi.
- It exited SEA, selling to Grab in exchange for equity.
- In India, Uber Eats was sold to Zomato. Ride-hailing still exists – but Ola dominates.
Local insight and cultural adaptation beat global brand and funding. Every time.
Final thought
Southeast Asia taught me what books and case studies couldn’t: that scaling is not about copying what worked elsewhere – it’s about rebuilding what fits here.
Whether you’re launching a B2C app, a SaaS product, or entering a new vertical – culture must be part of your core operating model. Ignore it, and you risk not just poor traction – but a slow, silent exit from the market.
