What kind of early team would you build for a trust-led consumer internet startup in India?
Hi everyone,
I’m currently exploring a consumer internet opportunity around trust, useful discovery, creators, content, and genuine products.
My background: I’m an IIM graduate and have spent 8+ years building a China–India sourcing and logistics business. That gave me a close view of products, suppliers, small businesses, buyers, and how difficult it is for genuinely good things to get discovered without large marketing budgets.
The problem I keep coming back to is this:
People have more content than ever.
More product options than ever.
More influencers than ever.
More reviews than ever.
But decision-making still feels broken.
For many categories, people still depend on friends, WhatsApp groups, Reddit threads, YouTube comments, or personal recommendations before buying.
That makes me feel there is still room for a more trust-led discovery layer in India.
I’m thinking deeply about the zero-to-one stage and would love opinions from this community:
- If you were building in this space, what would your first 90 days look like?
- What would you validate before building the full product?
- What early roles would matter most — product, engineering, growth, content, community, creator partnerships, or something else?
- What kind of people would you bring in early?
- What are the biggest traps in building consumer internet products in India?
Especially interested in views from people who have built or worked in startups, consumer products, marketplaces, content platforms, creator economy, D2C, or community-led businesses.