Developing economies like India do not have state institutions to enforce trust in industry and people, thus the power or word-of-mouth and reputation (brands) goes much further in India. This is probably why conglomerates like Tata can exist that work in automobiles, F&B, telecom, IT etc.
In India it’s easy to get high DAUs (daily active users) but hard to get ARPU (average revenue per user). With India’s low-income demographic, convincing users to part with their hard-earned cash is difficult. To account for India’s cultural differences, founders should pursue freemium models, tiered subscriptions, in-app purchases, or ad monetization to build trust and convince Indians of their product’s value proposition.
Value of time
Most Indians (at any job level) do not know their hourly pay.
Indians are paid by the hour (they are paid as a salary) which makes it hard for them to value time
And thus makes them skeptical (and cheap) when it comes to pay for products that save them time or create efficiency
Delta 4 Framework - It says that for a consumer product to have a chance at gaining traction, it must be at least four points superior to current solutions. The score is assessed by users ranking your product against alternatives on a scale of 1 to 10. If the difference (delta) is ≥4 compared with existing solutions, it’s indicative of a highly engaging and “sticky” product.
India is not used to layoffs. They make headlines and start discussions across the country. This can be a inhibiting factor in growth and risk taking.
Indian business has been goods-trading-style businesses until recently. The concept of growth and losses for market capture and behavioural change which lead to profitability later is not understood in India
Hindu Mythology and Founders - Brahma (creation), Vishnu (maintenance), and Mahesh (destruction). Like Brahma, founders innovate and take risks to create; like Vishnu, they adapt to sustain their creations; and like Mahesh, they discard outdated practices to transform and grow. Embracing this cycle helps founders understand how to operate, given the stage they are at.
Inefficiency is the largest employer in the world
Learnings from Cred
Income and the value for time is concentrated in 25% of India. They are also global in their mindset - Thats who we are targeting
Startups that go 0 to 1 often don’t excel at going 1 to 100. You need to “gentrify” your startup as it grows.
But you also need to allow the 0-1 and 1-100 mindsets to coexist
Kunal spoke about divorce rates a surprising number of times in this podcast 🙄
Profit pools of a country can tell you a lot about what they value.
Female fashion spend in India is less than men’s fashion spend. In most other countries female spend is much higher. This is due to lower female participation in the workforce.
Retailers profit among top Indian companies is very little compared to the US which signals how the US is a consumption economy.
Patriarchal societies have a lot more in financial services than consumption
~30% of US market cap is tech. That is ~3% in India.
On criticism
You need to have a thick skin in India. People are not kind. Because you were once like them, but are now successful.
Envy is hyperlocal
Elements with lowest valency are called “Noble” gases because they are hardest to get reaction from
Why one should build for India right now:
World class digital public infrastructure
State support
Strong talent
Looks at global technology companies in admiration. “I wish I could have an internship or a front row seat to watch the inner workings at Meta, Apple etc”
Operation theater comes from the fact that operations used to be a paid show that people could watch to see the blood and gore
Curiosity
Someone who is isn’t constantly demonstrating their expertise.
Superpower is being great at learning, and not what they have already learnt
Not afraid to ask questions and show vulnerability
Every thing you learn should be to make you more porous to the next piece of learning
Traits of animals who have been around for long:
Can slow down their metabolism
Burns the least amount of calories to earn the most - High ability to convert opportunity to a meal
Living through anomalous events
I don’t like favorites because that makes it seems like I want to be limited to being just like them. I rather look at great ways and people of solving problems.
I ask people who report to me what is the biggest challenge they worked on in the last quarter. Extraordinary people are always trying to make big shifts and be ambitious. Others are continuing to do what needs to be done.
The GenAI assisted world will make the people with great questions perform better than people with great answers
How to ask better Qs:
Look into how people you admire make a choice when they have many options. Whether that is dating, hiring, anything…
Second order thinking is a key skill to be successful. Strategy games are a good place to practice this mindset.
Have one Q a day that makes you look into the history of the question. Eg: Why do people wear jewellery? Why is the Superbowl so expensive?
The only thing that successful parents will not be able to give their kids is the gift of struggle
Whom do you look up to? What books are you reading? - Dodged these questions
Recommended themes to read:
Human behaviour - customer insights
Evolutionary biology - what drives people
Autobiographies - learn how people recover from failures
Interview questions you ask:
Hypothetical Q that needs multifunctional thinking. If all the <> were to disappear, what would happen to heath, money, markets, governments etc - second order thinking. Looking for depth of causation also. Not just breadth.
I want to ask (all roles) a question that cannot be answered well without using AI. Employees need to be AI savvy, otherwise they will be close to being obsolete in 5 years.