Aug 2026
Why I Will Never Build For India First
Pocket FM makes seventy percent of its revenue from fifteen percent of its audience, the Western slice. OpenAI made ChatGPT Go free for a year in India. Google gave away eighteen months of its premium AI plan through Jio. Three different companies, three different categories, the same conclusion: India is a market you win on engagement, not on willingness to pay. I would rather have 100,000 users who pay than 500 million who never will.