[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":275},["ShallowReactive",2],{"idea-building-in-public-is-a-privilege":3,"related-building-in-public-is-a-privilege":71},{"id":4,"title":5,"body":6,"cardSize":57,"category":58,"date":59,"description":60,"extension":61,"featured":62,"meta":63,"navigation":64,"path":65,"readingTime":66,"seo":67,"stem":68,"updated":69,"__hash__":70},"ideas\u002Fideas\u002Fbuilding-in-public-is-a-privilege.md","Building in Public is a Privilege",{"type":7,"value":8,"toc":53},"minimark",[9,13,16,19,22,38,41,44,47],[10,11,12],"p",{},"The \"build in public\" movement assumes you have the safety to share your numbers, your failures, your revenue. That is not true for everyone.",[10,14,15],{},"If you are on a work visa, sharing a side project's revenue could complicate your immigration status. If you work for a company with strict IP clauses, sharing code could get you fired. If you live in a country where success attracts the wrong kind of attention, showing revenue screenshots is a bad idea.",[10,17,18],{},"I have friends in Bangalore who build incredible side projects but never share them publicly. Not because they are shy, but because their employer's contract says anything built on their time (including weekends, which is absurd) belongs to the company.",[10,20,21],{},"The people who build in public most loudly tend to be:",[23,24,25,29,32,35],"ol",{},[26,27,28],"li",{},"Based in the US or Europe",[26,30,31],{},"Self-employed or in a flexible job",[26,33,34],{},"Not worried about visa status",[26,36,37],{},"In a financial position where failure is uncomfortable but not catastrophic",[10,39,40],{},"This is not a criticism of building in public. I think it is wonderful when it works. But I have noticed the movement sometimes looks down on people who keep their projects private, as if they are hiding something or lack confidence.",[10,42,43],{},"Sometimes, they are just being practical.",[10,45,46],{},"I build in semi-public. I share ideas freely (hence this blog), but I keep the specifics of what I am actually building a bit closer to the chest. This is a choice shaped by circumstances, not personality.",[48,49,50],"ul",{},[26,51,52],{},"Mohan",{"title":54,"searchDepth":55,"depth":55,"links":56},"",3,[],"medium","Business","2026-03-18","Not everyone can share their work freely. Recognizing that changes how I think about the movement.","md",false,{},true,"\u002Fideas\u002Fbuilding-in-public-is-a-privilege",5,{"title":5,"description":60},"ideas\u002Fbuilding-in-public-is-a-privilege",null,"2g32X8mH2ou0LeeLa-uzPtOgJcfeDLwiaswmBIXLNN8",[72,129,222],{"id":73,"title":74,"body":75,"cardSize":69,"category":58,"date":121,"description":122,"extension":61,"featured":64,"meta":123,"navigation":64,"path":124,"readingTime":125,"seo":126,"stem":127,"updated":69,"__hash__":128},"ideas\u002Fideas\u002Fthe-database-is-the-product.md","The Database Is the Product",{"type":7,"value":76,"toc":115},[77,80,83,86,91,94,98,101,105,108,111],[10,78,79],{},"I had a realization last week that seems obvious in hindsight: almost every successful internet business is just a database.",[10,81,82],{},"Google is a database of web pages with a search interface. Airbnb is a database of apartments. IMDB is a database of movies. Craigslist is a database of listings. LinkedIn is a database of professionals. Amazon started as a database of books.",[10,84,85],{},"The pattern is always the same. Someone decides to collect a specific type of information, organize it well, and put a good interface on top.",[87,88,90],"h2",{"id":89},"why-this-matters","Why This Matters",[10,92,93],{},"If you are trying to build a startup, you should think about what database you are building. Not what features you are adding, not what the UX looks like, not what framework you are using. What data are you collecting that nobody else has, and how are you organizing it?",[87,95,97],{"id":96},"the-moat-is-the-data","The Moat Is the Data",[10,99,100],{},"The interface can be copied in a weekend. The features can be replicated. But the database, if it is large enough and clean enough, becomes the moat. This is why Wikipedia is still the dominant encyclopedia despite having a terrible editing interface and confusing internal politics. The data is too good and too complete for anyone to replicate.",[87,102,104],{"id":103},"practical-implication","Practical Implication",[10,106,107],{},"If I were starting a company tomorrow, I would pick an information domain where the existing data is either (a) scattered across many sources, (b) trapped behind paywalls, or (c) poorly organized. Then I would spend 80% of my time on data collection and organization, and 20% on the interface.",[10,109,110],{},"The interface is what people see. But the database is what keeps them coming back.",[48,112,113],{},[26,114,52],{},{"title":54,"searchDepth":55,"depth":55,"links":116},[117,119,120],{"id":89,"depth":118,"text":90},2,{"id":96,"depth":118,"text":97},{"id":103,"depth":118,"text":104},"2026-03-15","Most successful internet businesses are just well-curated databases with a good interface on top.",{},"\u002Fideas\u002Fthe-database-is-the-product",6,{"title":74,"description":122},"ideas\u002Fthe-database-is-the-product","okVPH_YnnBz0-eHoTj-EgF4oHyu9Cat9zB4hPPIvhMY",{"id":130,"title":131,"body":132,"cardSize":213,"category":58,"date":214,"description":215,"extension":61,"featured":64,"meta":216,"navigation":64,"path":217,"readingTime":218,"seo":219,"stem":220,"updated":69,"__hash__":221},"ideas\u002Fideas\u002Findia-needs-a-yc-but-different.md","India Needs a YC (But Different)",{"type":7,"value":133,"toc":209},[134,137,141,144,151,157,163,167,170,202,205],[10,135,136],{},"Every few months someone announces \"the Y Combinator of India.\" They copy the format: 3-month program, small check, demo day. Most of them quietly shut down within two years. Not because the idea is bad, but because they are trying to transplant a Silicon Valley model into soil that has very different nutrients.",[87,138,140],{"id":139},"what-is-different-about-india","What is different about India",[10,142,143],{},"The Indian startup ecosystem operates under constraints that YC founders rarely face:",[10,145,146,150],{},[147,148,149],"strong",{},"Capital efficiency matters more."," In the US, if your startup fails after spending $500K, that is considered a cheap lesson. In India, $500K is a life-changing amount of money. Indian founders cannot afford the same \"move fast and break things\" approach because the cost of failure is higher relative to their financial position.",[10,152,153,156],{},[147,154,155],{},"The market is layered."," India is not one market. A product that works in Bangalore might not work in Jaipur. Languages, payment habits, internet speeds, and cultural norms vary enormously. A three-month accelerator based in one city cannot teach you about all these layers.",[10,158,159,162],{},[147,160,161],{},"Family dynamics are real."," Many Indian founders are supporting parents, siblings, or extended family. The idea that you should \"quit your job and focus full-time\" assumes a safety net that does not exist for most people.",[87,164,166],{"id":165},"what-would-work","What would work",[10,168,169],{},"A YC-for-India would need to be different in specific ways:",[23,171,172,178,184,190,196],{},[26,173,174,177],{},[147,175,176],{},"Longer program."," Six months, not three. Indian markets take longer to validate because of the distribution complexity.",[26,179,180,183],{},[147,181,182],{},"Revenue focus from day one."," Not \"growth at all costs.\" Indian founders need to show their families (and themselves) that this is real.",[26,185,186,189],{},[147,187,188],{},"Regional chapters."," Not just Bangalore. Run chapters in 5 cities simultaneously, connected by video but rooted locally.",[26,191,192,195],{},[147,193,194],{},"Family onboarding."," This sounds unusual, but I have seen founders drop out because their parents did not understand what they were doing. A single session explaining the program to families would reduce dropout rates significantly.",[26,197,198,201],{},[147,199,200],{},"Smaller checks, faster."," Rs 25 lakh ($30K) deployed in a week, not months of due diligence for a seed check.",[10,203,204],{},"The founders are there. The ideas are there. The model just needs to respect the context.",[48,206,207],{},[26,208,52],{},{"title":54,"searchDepth":55,"depth":55,"links":210},[211,212],{"id":139,"depth":118,"text":140},{"id":165,"depth":118,"text":166},"large","2026-03-12","Why a copy-paste of Y Combinator would not work in India, and what would.",{},"\u002Fideas\u002Findia-needs-a-yc-but-different",7,{"title":131,"description":215},"ideas\u002Findia-needs-a-yc-but-different","7LbbZNO4F-ogUg_C_SNFeasj00FRU0nZKCZVquUY9t8",{"id":223,"title":224,"body":225,"cardSize":69,"category":58,"date":268,"description":269,"extension":61,"featured":62,"meta":270,"navigation":64,"path":271,"readingTime":55,"seo":272,"stem":273,"updated":69,"__hash__":274},"ideas\u002Fideas\u002Fcoffee-shop-economics.md","The Economics of a Coffee Shop WiFi",{"type":7,"value":226,"toc":265},[227,230,233,236,240,246,252,258,261],[10,228,229],{},"I have been working from coffee shops in Bangalore for years and I keep wondering: how does the math work?",[10,231,232],{},"A single coffee costs 200 rupees. I sit for 3-4 hours. I use their electricity, their WiFi, their table, their air conditioning. Even if I buy a second coffee, there is no way that 400 rupees covers the cost of my occupation of that space for half a working day.",[10,234,235],{},"And yet coffee shops keep offering WiFi. Some even advertise it as a feature. Why?",[87,237,239],{"id":238},"three-theories","Three Theories",[10,241,242,245],{},[147,243,244],{},"Theory 1: I am the marketing."," A full coffee shop looks successful. An empty one looks like it is about to close. The laptops-and-headphones crowd fills seats during off-peak hours and makes the place look alive.",[10,247,248,251],{},[147,249,250],{},"Theory 2: The food margin."," Coffee has an 80%+ margin. That sandwich I eventually order has a 60% margin. The math works if enough laptop workers eventually order food.",[10,253,254,257],{},[147,255,256],{},"Theory 3: They are not optimizing for revenue per seat."," They are optimizing for a certain type of customer. The remote worker crowd brings in other remote workers, who bring in meetings, who bring in groups, who order more.",[10,259,260],{},"I do not know which theory is correct. Probably all three. But I keep thinking someone should build a proper economic model of this.",[48,262,263],{},[26,264,52],{},{"title":54,"searchDepth":55,"depth":55,"links":266},[267],{"id":238,"depth":118,"text":239},"2026-03-01","Why do coffee shops offer free WiFi when their customers stay for hours and buy one coffee?",{},"\u002Fideas\u002Fcoffee-shop-economics",{"title":224,"description":269},"ideas\u002Fcoffee-shop-economics","PjlWNUpQHSWOdl3dqT6AGYV7TVQ9Pv-7BACVcyXraNw",1776214201870]