India needs Zebras
Reading Time: 5 minutes I think India needs more bottom-up growth and less top-down growth thrust upon it. Zebra companies could be the answer. If, along the way, a Zebra company becomes a unicorn, who am I to stop them?
Zebra vs Unicorn businesses
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Unicorn’s end goal is a billion-dollar valuation powered by VC funding.
The Zebra’s end goal is to build a sustainable business. That’s why they prefer to bootstrap or crowdfund over VC funding. I share the difference between both.
Navigate India with the ‘Category of One’ mindset
Reading Time: 5 minutes I believe that a business needs to operate with the ‘category of one’ mindset to win and scale. Even in a large growing market like India.
Five features of Rural India demand
Reading Time: 3 minutes Rural India contributes on average, one-third, to revenues of consumer goods companies, but five features make it a tricky market
The power law of distribution
Reading Time: 3 minutes Income inequality leads to a distribution power law. Businesses have to be intentional about which shops top focus on first.
Multilevel pricing
Reading Time: 2 minutes Consumer goods need to operate at multiple price points at the same time, to succeed in India
India used to run on tea, now it runs on data
Reading Time: 2 minutes The low cost of mobile data has ensured that Indians now consume more data than tea.
The shrinking packs
Reading Time: 2 minutes Shrinking packs is a common strategy adopted by consumer goods companies to protect profits in scenarios where consumers do not upgrade.
The sachet economy
Reading Time: 4 minutes Low disposable incomes make India an economy of magic price points and a sachet economy
The missing middle class
Reading Time: 3 minutes India’s middle class is not in the middle. Such is the income level, that the upper crust of society is its middle class.