Indians are studious and nerdy,” an American told Krishnan Ganesh in 2005. It was meant as a compliment and reinforced the stereotype that  helped Ganesh sell his idea of online tutoring to American parents. He had already spent six months researching the tutoring business in the US and had tested his idea on a couple of dozen Americans. About a third reacted positively and that gave Ganesh the confidence to start TutorVista in April 2006, offering students based in the US personalised coaching by teachers in India, using voice over internet protocol.