Prior to its acquisition by Facebook, WhatsApp gained significant market share in Europe, India, and Israel. The company is based in the US, and I don't think i

Prior to its acquisition by Facebook, WhatsApp gained significant market share in Europe, India, and Israel. The company is based in the US, and I don't think it had local offices in those areas before it was already popular there. So it is not obvious, or even true that a chat app needs a local office to become popular in a given region. It may be true that a chat app needs a local office to become popular in China, but it's definitely possible to believe otherwise without being a "charlatan or simpleton". As an aside, we don't talk to each other that way on Hacker News. Please do not insult people, and please explain why you think someone is wrong instead of claiming that it's obvious.