Case studies

Ground Truth: one real Malaysian business at a time.

Each post takes the line everyone repeats about a business, and the decision underneath that the line leaves out.

• Ground Truth · No. 6

  Shopee asked more than 2,000 shoppers about local sellers. Nine in ten said they trust them.

  Shopee Malaysia's 2024 study covered more than 2,000 shoppers. Nine in ten said they trust local sellers to fulfil orders and address inquiries effectively.

• Ground Truth · No. 5

  Signature Market sold healthy snacks. Its founders said the problem was price.

  In January 2019 co-founder Edwin Wang said the segment's two main pain points were "affordability and accessibility". Revenue rose from RM1 million in 2016 to RM45.7 million in 2020.

• Ground Truth · No. 4

  Dahmakan raised US$28 million. Then it opened a shop.

  In November 2020 Dahmakan became Pop Meals. Its team said customers had liked the new menu since 2019, and the company opened its first shop, in Cyberjaya. By July 2026 it reported 87 outlets.

• Ground Truth · No. 3

  The Chatime name was the part Tealive could afford to lose.

  When Chatime ended its franchise deal with Loob in 2016, Loob renamed 161 outlets in two months and kept the staff, locations, suppliers and customers.

• Ground Truth · No. 2

  ZUS built the app before it built the café.

  "Premium quality at an affordable price" is true, and any chain can say it. What is harder to copy is that in 2019 ZUS built ordering and delivery first, for people with no time to spare.

• Ground Truth · No. 1

  Two shops, same street, same costs, different year-end.

  Malaysian SMEs in 2024, and more than 96% of all the businesses in the country. The closure figures describe what happened. The cause is often a decision someone made about people.