/startuppedia/media/media_files/2025/09/29/fido-2025-09-29-18-28-35.png)
Frido founder Ganesh Sonawane advised Zoho
Ganesh Sonawane, CEO of Frido, recently offered what he cheekily termed as “unsolicited advice” to Zoho and its founder, Sridhar Vembu regarding their messaging platform Arattai.
This was made in light of Arattai surpassing WhatsApp on Play Stores with its growing number of sign-ups.
His rationale for the advice
In a detailed post on X, Ganesh Sonawane cautioned Zoho against replicating Arattai after WhatsApp.
He said:“Please don’t model Arattai after WhatsApp because that path only leads to being the second-best communications app.
Instead, he urged Zoho to “look east” and consider a WeChat-like model, describing it as “far more advanced and diverse.”
According to Sonawane, the idea of a super-app is not a Silicon Valley fantasy but an “Asian reality born here and scaled here.”
Cites once in a lifetime opportunity
He also highlighted that since WeChat has been banned in India, Zoho has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build an Indian platform that goes just beyond messaging with integration of commerce, payments and communities for a daily digital life.
“If anyone can build it for India and beyond, it is Zoho,”he emphasized, adding: “Zoho has a once in a generation chance with Arattai. Let’s go 🚀🚀.”
Sridhar Vembu took to X to reply to this advice and positively confirmed that Sonawane’s thoughts echo with the vision of Zoho as well.
Zoho founder replies back
Sridhar Vembu replied: “Thank you for the detailed post. Yes, that is the plan. We want to get the basics of messaging right (privacy, chat, calls, video, ..) and then make this a platform,”
In a follow-up post, Sridhar Vembu also provided deeper context on Zoho’s approach going forward after the massive success of Arattai.
He admitted that Arattai was first considered as a "hopelessly foolish" project even by his employees, as they questioned its viability and success. However, Zoho went ahead with it because "we felt we need that kind of engineering capability in Bharat."
Sridhar Vembu emphasised Zoho's more extensive R&D agenda: ranging from compilers to databases to operating systems to security to chip design to robotics to AI, emphasising that Zoho is managed like an industrial research laboratory.
"We essentially ignore short-term profits, as long as we don’t lose money. And we have a culture of founders and senior executives living frugally, like how good scientists and engineers in ISRO would live,” he wrote on X.
Comparing Zoho's long-term focus against the pressure of the market, Sridhar Vembu said: "Imagine saying all that to Wall Street or Dalal Street!"