From India ka Apna Messenger App to India Won't Have Its Own Messenger: A Nostalgic Journey and Valuable Lessons

Remember Hike? For many 90s kids in India, it wasn't just another app. It was part of growing up.

Picture this:

• Sneaking a quick chat during a boring lecture

• Sending a cheeky sticker to your crush

• Sharing inside jokes with friends

  
  

Hike was there for all of it. Even young professionals loved it for:

• Messaging without internet

• Free voice calls

• Easy sharing of large files

  
  

But now, Hike is gone. What happened?

Let's dive into Hike's story - from being India's second most popular messaging app to shutting down in 2021. There's a lot we can learn from this journey.

As Product Managers or entrepreneurs, we often rush forward without looking back. But by understanding what went wrong with Hike, we can make smarter choices and avoid similar mistakes.

So, let's explore:

1. What made Hike successful?

2. Why did it eventually shut down?

3. What lessons can we learn?

This story isn't just about an app. It's about understanding how to build and grow products that last. Let's get started!

What was Hike?

Hike was an Indian instant messaging app launched in 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal. It aimed to be India's homegrown alternative to global messaging apps, particularly targeting young users.

Why did Hike become popular?

• Cultural Relevance: Hike made a deep connection with Indian users by embracing the rich diversity of the country. The app offered regional language support and a vast array of culturally relevant stickers, making conversations feel more personal and engaging. This focus on Indian culture set Hike apart from its global competitors.

• Unique Features: Hike was a pioneer in offering features that others didn’t have at the time. It allowed users to transfer files up to 1 GB for free, create polls and votes within groups, share status updates, and even send free messages to non-Hike users. These innovations kept users hooked and gave Hike a distinct edge in the market.

• Free Voice Calls: Yes, you read that right. Hike introduced the free voice call feature before WhatsApp did. This was a game-changer, especially for users looking to stay connected without worrying about call charges.

• Focus on Youth: 90% of Hike's users were under 30, appealing strongly to India's young demographic.

• Privacy Features: Offered 'hidden mode' for chats and granular control over profile visibility.

• Offline Capabilities: Features like Hike2SMS and Hike Direct allowed messaging without internet connectivity.

• The Youngest Unicorn: Hike joins Unicorn club after raises over $175 mln from Tencent, Foxconn in August 2016, just four years after its launch, Hike became the youngest Indian startup to achieve unicorn status, with a valuation exceeding $1.4 billion. The company attracted over $260 million in funding total, cementing its place as a rising star in the tech world.

• Acquisitions: While being in its initial development phase, Hike didn’t think twice before making acquisitions. The messenger app successfully acquired four companies in its nine-year journey, notably, all of the acquisitions took place in the first five years.

These factors helped the company acquired its first five million users in just three months after the app launch. Here’s the rest of the user acquisition story till 2019.

Key strategies behind Hike's initial success:

1. Rapid Innovation: Constant feature updates kept users engaged.

2. Building a "Super App": Integrating payments, news, and games aimed to increase user retention.

3. Leveraging Bharti's Network: Used Bharti Airtel for user acquisition.

4. Heavy Investment: Raised over $260 million, funding aggressive growth and marketing.

5. Acquisitions: Made four strategic acquisitions in its first five years.

Why things started going wrong:

Hike tried its best to become WeChat for India. Wechat is a Chinese super app, which gets used for messaging, consuming content, and making online payments.

WeChat has market dominance in its country because it has no competitors to face. China has banned all of the western messaging apps in its country, they don’t even use Google as a search engine. And when users don’t have enough choices, they’ll certainly stick to what they are left with.

And that’s what Kavin said in its tweet while bidding adieu to Hike sticker chat

Below are the reason for Hile failure.

• Intense Competition: WhatsApp's growing dominance posed a significant challenge for Hike. WhatsApp effectively targeted both urban and rural areas across all age groups, making it a formidable competitor.

  
  

• Feature Overload: The app became complex and heavy due to the large number of features. During periods of high demand, internet costs were high in the country, whereas competitors like WhatsApp were lighter and consumed less data.

• Loss of Focus: Attempting to be a super app diluted Hike's core messaging proposition.

• Deviation from Vision: Hike initially had a clear mission to be India’s top messaging app. However, over time, its vision became unclear. The company struggled to define its identity in a crowded market and ended up losing focus. This deviation from its original goal contributed to its eventual downfall.

• User Retention Issues: Despite strong acquisition numbers, Hike struggled with user engagement due to its complex interface, feature overload, and higher data consumption compared to lighter competitors like WhatsApp.

• Low Ad Revenue: Hike’s efforts to integrate features like news and entertainment did not yield significant advertising revenue.

What Hike could have done differently:

1. Maintain Core Focus: Prioritize the messaging experience over becoming a super app.

2. Clearer Differentiation: Develop a stronger unique value proposition against WhatsApp.

3. Improve User Retention: Develop strategies to keep users active on the platform.

4. Leverage "Made in India" Sentiment: Position more strongly as an Indian alternative.

5. Adapt Faster: Respond more quickly to changing market dynamics and user preferences.

Key lessons:

1. Cultural relevance is powerful but not enough on its own.

2. Feature innovation must be balanced with simplicity and core functionality.

3. Clear vision and focus are crucial, especially when facing strong competition.

4. User retention is as important as user acquisition.

5. Rapid growth and funding don't guarantee long-term success.

Conclusion:

Hike's journey from India's fastest-growing unicorn to its shutdown in 2021 offers valuable insights for the tech industry. While it demonstrated the potential for homegrown apps to achieve significant scale and valuation, it also highlighted the challenges of sustaining growth in a globally competitive market.

Hike's initial success showed the power of cultural relevance and innovative features in attracting users. However, its eventual downfall underscores the importance of maintaining focus, adapting to market changes, and prioritizing user retention.

For future entrepreneurs and product managers, Hike's story emphasizes the need for a clear, sustainable vision, the importance of balancing innovation with simplicity, and the critical nature of user engagement beyond initial acquisition. As the tech landscape continues to evolve, these lessons from Hike's experience can inform more resilient and successful ventures in the future.

References:

What Happened to Hike Messenger? Case Study (startuptalky.com)

Hike Messenger: The chat bubble: inside Hike Messenger’s failure to capitalise despite money, pedigree, and features - The Economic Times (indiatimes.com)

Hike Joins Unicorn Club; Raises Over $175 Mln From Tencent, Foxconn - Forbes India

The Rise and Fall of Hike Messenger: A Business Study | by Alma Feliz | Medium

Why Hike Messenger Failed? A Mammoth Case Study of India’s Messaging App | Medium