For most of our parents, the true barometer of success and more importantly security was getting a government job. The private sector was an employer of last resort. Entrepreneurship was anathema. In most Hindi movies — the villain was usually (ugh) a businessman. So before we got carried away making heroes out of entrepreneurs and mythify-ing founders in distant lands — this was our image of an entrepreneur:
And for most of India, things haven’t changed all that much. One of the most underwritten segments of the Indian start up scene has been the space of exam preparation for government jobs.
Companies like OnlineTyari, GradeUp & TestBook have built fast growing businesses with compelling unit economics and organic demand. They help people appearing for entrance tests for government jobs prepare for their exams. These are exams that aspirants must pass in order to get in to the Railways, SBI, LIC and any number of government departments & PSUs.
Traditionally, this was a cumbersome process involving long commutes and ‘Kunjis’ / ‘Question Banks’ of which few were available in regional languages. The feedback loop was long and in efficient. These companies digitized this content and made it available to users in their native tongue. Not necessarily a very high tech innovation, but a simple solution to a large problem — worth solving.
In terms of App distribution OnlineTyari has broken out of its cohort. Companies like GradeUp & Test Book may seem like they are being left behind but that’s a limited point of view colored with a bias towards app downloads.
Test Book for example has a string of offline learning centers that are not only revenue generative but also provide an element of stickiness that apps cannot compete with. Despite being backed by Times Internet — GradeUp could well be one of the more capital efficient companies in this set. As far back as 2014 they had hit over 400K downloads with just 10 lacs of funding from T Labs.
Average spends by this segment of the population are relatively low but they make it a priority to invest in themselves and to improve their futures. Of course, let’s not forget that a large number of them also look at government positions as a way to make money. But the point is — there’s an App for that, it has product market fit and for once it makes a whole lotta sense.
Thanks for your time,
Ashish
- Team KG
Subscribe to our newsletter here
You can reach me on ashish@kalagato.com
