Essay · Long read

India2, English Tax and Building for the Next Billion Users

Sajith Pai · SajithPai.com Free Intermediate India

Before you optimize a byte, you need to know who you are building for, and Pai's India1, India2, India3 framing is the clearest map of the Indian market you will find. He explains the English tax and why the vernacular, low trust, price sensitive India2 user behaves so differently from the metro user founders usually resemble. This is the market context that makes the technical advice matter.

  • India is several distinct markets, and India2 is not a smaller India1
  • Language and trust barriers can matter more than raw speed
  • Design in the user's own language rather than translating English later
Open on sajithpai.com ↗

It answers 5 questions

  1. How do I size a market for India specifically when data is messy?
  2. What makes an Indian startup idea work when the market is so price-sensitive?
  3. How do I size a market I want to sell to businesses outside the big Indian startup hubs?
  4. How do I design for users in India who are on cheap Android phones and slow, patchy internet?
  5. My ideal customer can't afford my product. Did I define them wrong?

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