Any investor or grant committee worth impressing will ask what could go wrong. The worst possible answer is "nothing." So here are the real risks, stated plainly.
The risk: The app gets downloaded, used once or twice, and forgotten.
Why it's real: Consumer habit formation is hard. Most apps fail at this.
Our current thinking: The bet is on the Today View — today's schedule the moment the app opens, populated automatically from the timetable extract. No friction. If this doesn't create the daily habit, nothing else will, and we'll know quickly.
The risk: The CR strategy depends on a few key people choosing to onboard their section.
Why it's real: CRs are busy. Adding a new tool is friction even if it makes their job easier.
Our current thinking: We approach CRs we know personally. The pitch is specific: "this makes your job easier." If we can't convince people we know, we have a product problem, not a distribution problem.
The risk: Om can't build this alone. If no one commits, the MVP doesn't get built.
Why it's real: This is the current most critical risk.
Our current thinking: The MVP can be built in ~1 week with AI-assisted tools even without a traditional mobile developer. The goal for Week 1 is a working prototype, not a production app. We're pursuing this in parallel with finding the right co-founder — whoever joins walks into something that already has early users and signal.
The risk: Students say they want this, but usage is sporadic. Not painful enough to drive daily behavior change.
Why it's real: The gap between "yes I'd use that" and "I opened the app every day this week" is enormous.
Our current thinking: This is exactly what the MVP phase is for. The first ten users are the test. Kill signal: fewer than 5 of 10 opening daily after 4 weeks = rebuild or stop. No ego, no sunk cost.
The risk: Studex is a claude-heavy build. Timetable extraction, attendance intelligence, AI material search — real costs per user. If we can't fund the API layer, the AI features don't work.
Why it's real: This is why Claude API credits are the primary ask right now. Without credits, the MVP's AI layer can't be tested at all.
Our current thinking: The pro tier (₹250/month) is specifically designed to gate the AI-heavy features. Free tier is rule-based. Pro tier runs on claude. At even 2% conversion, API costs are covered within a manageable user base.
The risk: Colleges don't like unofficial tools that route around their systems.
Why it's real: This has happened to other student tools.
Our current thinking: Studex supplements, not replaces. Doesn't interfere with official systems. Gives students more visibility into their own academic life — nothing a reasonable institution should object to. Starting at our own college where we have context and goodwill.
After building the MVP and running it with 10 real users for 4 weeks — if fewer than 5 are opening it daily, we treat that as a serious signal to rebuild or stop.
We're not committed to Studex regardless of what the market says. We're committed to finding out if it's real, and being honest about what we find.