Skip to content

05_business_model.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
86 lines (56 loc) · 3.33 KB

05_business_model.md

File metadata and controls

86 lines (56 loc) · 3.33 KB

Business Model

Studex — Working Document

Honest State of Revenue

Pre-revenue. Pre-launch. Zero paying users.

The model is built on earning the habit first, then asking for the subscription.

The Model

Free — always. Schedule, folders, attendance tracker. The core daily utility is free forever. Students with no income shouldn't be gatekept from a tool that solves a genuine daily problem. And practically: a free core is what gets the density and daily habit that makes everything else possible.

Pro — ₹250/month (~$3). AI-powered features for students who want more:

  • AI material search across all uploaded PDFs
  • Lecture digests with spaced repetition (day 3, 7, 30)
  • Smart bunk predictor — full semester predictions
  • Deadline alerts + submission reminders

The pricing is in line with PhysicsWallah's online ARPU (₹306/month equivalent) — an already-proven psychological threshold for Indian students. 40% of Indian digital users maintain 3-4 active subscriptions simultaneously. The "students won't pay" argument is dead.

Industry standard freemium conversion in India: 2–3%. Not assuming more.

Institutional — ₹100–500/student/year (Phase 2). Colleges that want to plug in officially can pay for an institutional seat. Not the current strategy. The natural extension once student adoption is real.

What the Numbers Look Like

At 1,000 Pro users × ₹250/month = ₹2.5L MRR. That's milestone 1. At 2,000 Pro users × ₹250/month = ₹5L MRR. The team is properly funded.

These are not impressive numbers. They are real numbers. A company at ₹2.5L MRR is alive, learning, and not dependent on anyone else.

Why ₹250 Works

  • PhysicsWallah online ARPU: ₹3,682/year = ₹306/month. Studex is inside that threshold.
  • Willingness to pay for digital utility in emerging markets: ~$2.40–3.00/month (cross-market studies).
  • Urban college student discretionary wallet: ₹4,000–5,000/month. ₹250 is 5–6% of that — utility-level spend, not a luxury.
  • Positioned as "student rate" — Gen Z 90% more likely to purchase with exclusive student pricing.

What We Need Right Now

Claude API credits — primary ask. Studex is a claude-heavy build. Timetable extraction, conversational onboarding, attendance intelligence, AI material search — all of it runs on claude. None of this works on a free tier. Credits = ability to actually test with real users.

Everything else is bootstrapped — hosting, design tools, dev stack. ~$150/year out of pocket. That stays.

If seeking seed/grant:

  • ₹2–4L founder runway (6 months)
  • ₹50K–1L infra + hosting + claude API costs during beta
  • ₹25–50K device testing (Android fragmentation is real)
  • Total: ₹3–5L

Non-Dilutive Pipeline

Udyam registered. DPIIT recognition in progress.

  • SISFS (DPIIT): up to ₹20L for product dev
  • SAMRIDH (MeitY): up to ₹40L for MVP-stage scaling
  • Combined non-dilutive available: ₹60L

Applications filed: a16z Speedrun, Z Fellows, Eigenprize. In queue: 100X.VC, NASSCOM 10K, College E-cell.

The Path From Here

  1. Build MVP (1 week)
  2. 10 daily active users (Month 1)
  3. 100 daily active users, one college (Month 2–3)
  4. First Pro conversions (Month 3–4)
  5. Ramen profitability at ₹2.5L MRR (Month 12–18)
  6. Expand to second college (when beachhead works, not before)