NextBigWhat’s Ashish Sinha warns Sridhar Vembu; says “don’t let Arattai fall into Nationalism trap”
NextBigWhat founder Ashish Sinha advised Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu against relying on nationalism-driven growth for Arattai, warning it brings downloads but not loyalty, urging instead to build for the silent majority and focus on product excellence.
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Ashish Sinha, founder of tech publication NextBigWhat, has penned a candid note to Zoho’s founder Sridhar Vembu, offering advice on the trajectory of Arattai, Zoho’s India-first messaging app.
In a tweet addressed to Vembu, Sinha acknowledged his admiration for the Zoho chief’s bootstrap-driven journey and recent hustle, calling him an inspiration to entrepreneurs. He then shared observations from watching several India-centric consumer apps rise and fade in recent years.
Dear @svembu
— Ashish Sinha (@cnha) October 2, 2025
Just thought I will share a few notes watching many india centric consumer apps rise and die over the last many years
First of all, I have a lot of respect for you - you inspire a whole lot of bootstrappers like me. Your recent hustle has been all the more…
Drawing parallels with platforms like Koo, Ola’s Krutrim/Maps and TikTok alternatives such as Josh and Chingari, Sinha argued that many of these products leaned heavily on nationalism as a go-to-market strategy. While this approach attracted downloads, he cautioned, it rarely converted into long-term loyalty.
“Nationalism-as-a-GTM only attracts downloads and a certain set of people — who aren’t your target group at all. Their presence ends up corrupting the product team’s mindset,” Sinha wrote, adding that such users often push ideological narratives over product excellence.
He emphasized that these early spikes in traction can distract teams from solving for the true mass-market user, ultimately undermining growth.
Instead, Sinha urged Vembu to resist the “easy applause economy” and focus on building for the “harder, more silent majority”, users who may not make noise online but will remain loyal if the product delivers real value.
“Arattai has the potential to be a genuinely India-first product in infrastructure, scale, and philosophy,” he noted, suggesting that Zoho’s messaging app could succeed by prioritizing product strength over sentiment-driven growth tactics.
Arattai, launched by Zoho as a homegrown messaging platform, has been positioned as a secure, privacy-focused alternative to global apps.
