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It is okay to build people’s Car - Model T - rather than the world’s best Car - Rolls Royces

Hi everyone,


I wouldn't give you any impression that I was working at the time, you received or read this short essay (I would never work with my freedom on 31st evening). Unfortunately, I felt sick - it's been 3 days. And there was nothing to do except - stream Netflix and think about a few topics. This is one of the topics I was successfully able to record (a small win). You might encounter grammatical errors because I can't keep my head around them - so please excuse those errors.


At around 12:30 AM, got the idea to have this slide in the YC pitch deck. Hear me out: Most of the investors would be non-Indians. It would be difficult to give them a picture of the opportunity size and scale of the company that we have envisioned. I have seen in the past, Indian and non-Indian startups using

the Association principle to influence investors

  • Uber of India

  • WeWork of India

  • FedEx for local business

But the product that we are building there is no association with developed countries' companies and startups. Jile Health's target group - 1.2 billion Bhartiye - is not even being considered in the formal economy. This means there is no direct association available for Jile Health.


But the association principle works really well. And I must find out something that could give these investors a picture of our vision. I got this idea sharp at around 12:30 AM on the 31st, and when I was thinking about it I wanted to keep note of it instantly. But found myself unavailable to get up and open my laptop, as I have been suffering from a cold, cough, and 102-degree fever because of my one stupid mistake - I slept with an open fan on the 26th Night. Patna is one of the coldest places and the temperate going as below 10 degrees C. But in the morning around 10:00 AM after taking my medicines, I started recording my late-night thoughts.


Here’s how the association slide will go:


We are building the Model T of Healthcare for 1.2 billion Bhartiya. When I was deciding on the opportunity, I had two options either build “Rolls Royces” or Ferraris of healthcare for 5% of Indians or build Model T for 1.2 billion Bhartiya. And irrespective of our intellectual understanding, we all can agree Model T has one of the greatest historical importance in making the USA the world leader.

GDP Per Capita Data is only available till 1960: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=US-GB-IT


I was unsuccessful in finding the right data points online that could help me understand whether these were the factors behind helping the USA becoming a great empire. So, I look towards my stacked books - And here is an interesting graph from “The Changing World Order” by Ray Dalio


It was around the same time when the UK was building Rolls Royce but the USA was building Model T. Even though building Rolls-Royce would have been easier because Ford had a reference to build. But he chooses to build People’s Car - Model T.


The impact of Model T on the economy of the USA is unprecedented. I don’t think it would be ever possible to measure the value. But it’s good learning for all of us. Sometimes, it is okay to not run behind buildings “The world's best product” (Just after one year of launch, Rolls Royce was the world’s best Car). Many a time, it is just about building products/services that can serve a large population - people’s products.


And let me tell you, it is super difficult to not have this temptation of building “The world’s best product/service”. But then I think the raise and fall of a nation is a game of controlling this basic temptation. Just to clarify, there is nothing wrong with building the world’s best products and services. Steve Jobs built Apple a Luxury operating system but Microsoft’s OS is available on 90% of the world’s computers, no? (You can’t disagree (lol))


I started writing this note with the purpose of adding a slide in the YC demo pitch deck to influence investors (as most of them would be non-Indians) using one of the influence principles “the Association Principle” (even though we have applied it late - on 29th Dec - and the last selection confirmation is on 16th Jan. But Manifesting is good - it works!). And ended up writing a short essay. :)


Before I wrap this essay, here is one line from Rene Girard's book: "our similarities cause more conflict than our differences"


Happy New Year, Everyone - Have a wonderful 2023!!


PS: This Model T vs Rolls Royce idea I got from one of the essays shared by Paul Grahm on Twitter: Poetry and Ambition. I was so moved after reading on my computer that I decided I will have a physical copy of this essay on my table. From the day I printed a physical copy, it has been moved to three different spots - My working desk, living table, and near my bed. I think this is one of the reasons, I ended up thinking late at night and writing in the morning. Thanks, @paulg

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