computer science

Gojek

Gojek is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Gojek rather than just read about it. In short: PT Gojek Indonesia (stylized in all lower case and stylized j as goȷek, formerly styled as GO-JEK) is an Indonesian on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group based in Jakarta. Gojek was first established in Indonesia in 2009 as a call center to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services.

Key takeaways

Gojek belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Gojek to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Gojek from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

PT Gojek Indonesia (stylized in all lower case and stylized j as goȷek, formerly styled as GO-JEK) is an Indonesian on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group based in Jakarta. Gojek was first established in Indonesia in 2009 as a call center to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services. Gojek launched its application in 2015 with only four services: GoRide, GoSend, GoShop, and GoFood. Valued at US$10 billion today, Gojek has transformed into a super app, providing more than 20 services. Gojek operates in 4 countries: Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines (through the acquisition of Coins.ph). Gojek is the first Indonesian unicorn company as well as the country's first "decacorn" company. It is the only company in Southeast Asia that is included in Fortune's "50 Companies That Changed the World" in 2017 and 2019, ranked at 17 and 11, respectively. As of June 2020, it has about 170 million users throughout Southeast Asia. On 17 May 2021, Gojek and Tokopedia announced the completion of their merger and established a new holding company, called GoTo. Gojek has won financial backing from investors including Astra International, Blibli, Google, Facebook, PayPal, Mitsubishi, Sequoia, Northstar Group, Temasek Holdings, KKR, Warburg Pincus, Visa, Parallon, Siam Commercial Bank, Tencent, JD.com, meituan.com, and Capital Group, among others.

History

The name Gojek comes from the term “Ojek” or motorbike taxis commonly found throughout Indonesia. It was founded in 2010 with 20 motorbike drivers. Gojek app was launched in January 2015, and in less than two years, the app racked up nearly 30 million downloads. Gojek has partnered with Singapore's biggest bank DBS. Gojek was co-founded by Nadiem Makarim and Michaelangelo Moran. Nadiem, a native Indonesian, holds degrees from Brown University and Harvard Business School. He worked at McKinsey and Co. consulting for three years before starting Gojek from a tiny call centre with only 20 ojek drivers, who later became recruiters. As a loyal ojek user, Nadiem discovered that ojek drivers spend most of their times waiting for customers, while customers waste time walking around looking for an available ojek. Gojek was built to solve this problem, by providing a platform where drivers and riders can connect efficiently and allowing those drivers to improve their income. The other co-founder and long time high school friend, Michaelangelo Moran, aside from serving as the company's Brand Director, is also known for designing the company's first iconic logo and branding the whole company. As of May 2018, the app offers 18 services, with 2 upcoming new services in the online content business, which makes for a total of 20 on-demand services under one platform. Being an Indonesian-run startup played to Gojek's advantage in navigating the local regulatory environment, as well as understanding the local market. This enabled them to bundle features into its app that better suit both local drivers and local consumers. Gojek recruited 100 new graduates in engineering domain from India in 2017. In 2020, the company launched GoStore, a solution that helps local micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) set up online stores with ease.

Financing Gojek's journey in becoming a unicorn startup started in late-2014 when it secured its first financing round from NSI Ventures (now Openspace Ventures), the venture capital fund in the Northstar Group. Due to rapid growth in early 2015, Gojek attracted additional investments from Sequoia India and Northstar's private equity fund. After closing a round of funding in August 2016 that raised up to $550 million, two of Indonesia's biggest companies, Astra International, and Blibli.com, invested in Gojek. International investors include tech giants such as American firm Google and Chinese Tencent, along with the global investment company Temasek. A survey revealed Gojek as the most popular ride-hailing app in Indonesia. The company is valued at about $5 billion as of February 2018, which exceeds the total market cap of all transportation companies in Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). In May 2018, it was announced that Gojek is investing $500 million towards its international expansion strategy. In January 2019, the startup closed another round of financing for $2 billion. The total valuation of the company reached $9.5 billion. In March 2020, Gojek announced it has received $1.2 Billion in funding for its Series F round. The valuation it was seeking for was U$10 Billion USD. In June 2020, Facebook's messaging platform WhatsApp and PayPal announced they had invested in Gojek as part of the ongoing fundraising round. The size and nature of the investments were not disclosed, but they were described as "meaningful".

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Gojek's second logo, nicknamed as "Solv", used from 27 July 2019 until 13 December 2022

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Gojek

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Gojek claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Gojek before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Gojek ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Gojek

In research: Gojek appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Gojek in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Gojek is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2021 mergers and acquisitions, Companies based in Jakarta, GoTo (Indonesian company), so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Gojek outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Gojek in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Gojek means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Gojek out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gojek in simple terms?

Why does Gojek matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Gojek?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Gojek.