You need to find: (a) simple solutions (b) to overlooked problems (c) that actually need to be solved, and (d) deliver them as informally as possible, (e) starting with a very crude version 1, then (f) iterating rapidly.

This is an approximated figure, and can vary depending on funding and ARR

• 90% after a $1m pre-seed @ $10m valuation

• 75% after a $5m seed @ $34m valuatio

• 55% after a $20m Series A @ $100m valuation

• 45% after a $50m Series B @ $500m valuation

• 35% after a $100m Series C @ $1B valuation

What valuation do you think is more appropriate? Comment below your numbers 👇

List of Top 20 Unicorns in India as per their current valuation in 2025.

1. Zerodha - Bengaluru | FinTech | $8.2B | Founded 2010
2. Lenskart - Gurugram | E-Commerce | $7.5B | Founded 2010
3. Razorpay - Bengaluru | FinTech | $7.5B | Founded 2014
4. Groww - Bengaluru | FinTech | $7B | Founded 2016
5. Zepto - Bengaluru | E-Commerce | $5.9B | Founded 2021
6. OfBusiness - Gurugram | Enterprise Services | $5B | Founded 2015
7. PRISM (OYO) - Gurugram | Hospitality | $5B | Founded 2013
8. InMobi - Bengaluru | AdTech | $5B | Founded 2007
9. Icertis - Bellevue | SaaS | $5B | Founded 2009
10. Meesho - Bengaluru | E-Commerce | $3.9B | Founded 2015
11. PhysicsWallah - Noida | EdTech | $3.7B | Founded 2020
12. ChargeBee - Bethesda | SaaS | $3.5B | Founded 2011
13. CRED - Bengaluru | FinTech | $3.5B | Founded 2018
14. Upstox - Mumbai | FinTech | $3.5B | Founded 2010
15. Innovaccer - San Francisco | SaaS | $3.5B | Founded 2014
16. BrowserStack - Mumbai | SaaS | $3.4B | Founded 2011
17. Postman - San Francisco | SaaS | $3.4B | Founded 2014
18. CARS24 - Gurugram | AutoTech | $3.3B | Founded 2015
19. Zetwerk - Bengaluru | Enterprise Services | $3.1B | Founded 2018
20. Rapido - Bengaluru | Shared Economy | $3B | Founded 2015

Source: Hurun Report 2025

Top 20 Most Common Items Likely to Get Cheaper with GST Benefit:

• Toothpaste: 18% to 5% (13% benefit)
• Tooth Powder: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Hair Oil: 18% to 5% (13% benefit)
• Soaps: 18% to 5% (13% benefit)
• Sanitary Napkins: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Umbrellas: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Sewing Machines: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Pressure Cookers: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Kitchen Utensils: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Electric Irons: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Cement: 28% to 18% (10% benefit)
• Medicines: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Electronics (Mobile Phones): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Cars (Small Cars): 28% to 18% (10% benefit)
• Milk (Condensed Milk): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Millets (Processed/Packaged): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Clothes (Readymade Garments > ₹1,000): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Food (Processed Foods like Jam, Pickles): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Daily Consumables (Pasta, Chutney): 12% to 5% (7% benefit)
• Bicycles: 12% to 5% (7% benefit)

In India’s startup conversation, investors and funding often take centre stage. The narrative is that an idea must be pitched, funded, and scaled at breakneck speed. In practice, most businesses don’t start and grow that way.

They use personal savings, customer payments, partnerships, and government schemes, often going through their evolution without a single investor.

Building without external funding requires deliberate choices at each stage of the business’s lifecycle.

The 10 strategies outlined below follow that arc, covering the early phases to growth and maturity.

Stage 1: Idea and validation

1. Maintain income while testing:

The earliest stage is about proving that your idea works. Retaining a day job or taking freelance contracts ensures you can cover expenses while investing small amounts into your venture. This is less about hedging and more about extending the runway. One caution: employment contracts in certain sectors restrict secondary work (moonlighting), so verify your contract terms before you start.

2. Secure commitments before you build:

Customer money can fund your first prototype or production run. Preorders, deposits, and paid pilots work well when the value is clear and trust is established. Large buyers, including public sector units, often pay for pilots that de-risk adoption. The Government eMarketplace’s “Startup Runway” and the Defence Ministry’s iDEX platform are channels where early-stage firms can secure such engagements.

Stage 2: Launch

3. Minimise capital tied up in inventory:

At launch, cash should flow into customer acquisition and delivery, not idle stock. Models like dropshipping, made-to-order production, or just-in-time purchasing reduce working capital needs. Service businesses can adopt fixed-price, prepaid packages—a form of “productised services” that allows for predictable delivery and cash flow.

4. Leverage partners and subsidies for reach:

Distribution networks already exist; tap into them. Distributors, resellers, and online marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart offer ready-made infrastructure. Regulatory changes in 2023 allow certain small sellers to operate intra-state on e-commerce platforms without GST registration, provided they meet specified thresholds, though many will still need registration. Marketplace transactions also involve tax collection at source (TCS), which should be factored into planning.

On the technology side, cloud credit programs can be substantial. Google for Startups offers up to USD 3,50,000 in credits for eligible companies; AWS Activate and Microsoft for Startups provide tiered packages often worth several lakhs for recognised or incubated ventures. These benefits can offset early infrastructure expenses significantly.

Stage 3: Early growth

5. Front-load revenue through payment structures:

As the customer base grows, shifting to annual or multi-year upfront billing improves liquidity and reduces the administrative burden of monthly collections. Offering small discounts for early payment can accelerate cash inflow, a tactic that resonates in India’s cost-sensitive environment.

6. Align supplier terms with receivables:

Cash gaps between paying suppliers and getting paid by customers can constrain growth. Negotiating supplier credit, terms of 60 to 90 days are not uncommon in manufacturing and wholesale and allow operations to run without immediate outlay. Where receivables are slow, invoice discounting through RBI-approved TReDS platforms (RXIL, M1xchange, Invoicemart) can convert pending invoices into cash within days.

Stage 4: Scaling and maturing

7. Access structured government support:

India’s policy framework offers multiple non-dilutive funding routes. The Startup India Seed Fund Scheme channels grants through incubators for proof-of-concept, prototyping, and market entry. DPIIT recognition can unlock tax exemptions and faster compliance clearances. State-level MSME policies sometimes add capital subsidies, interest subventions, or reimbursements for quality certifications, which are very valuable during expansion.

8. Improve export economics with duty remission schemes:

For businesses selling abroad, duty and tax remissions can significantly affect margins. The RoDTEP scheme applies to most goods, refunding certain embedded taxes, while RoSCTL provides similar relief for apparel and made-ups. These benefits do not eliminate the need for competitive pricing, but they reduce the cost disadvantage in international markets.

Stage 5: Sustained operations

9. Keep customer revenue as the primary growth driver:

Even in later stages, resist the temptation to fund expansion through debt or equity when customers can be convinced to prepay for value. This could be in the form of retainers, training fees, onboarding packages, or advance purchase agreements. The key is to design creative offers where customers see tangible advantages in committing funds early.

10. Maintain a lean operating structure:

Cost discipline is not just for the early days. Using open-source tools, automating routine tasks, and outsourcing non-core work keep overhead low. Remote operations or shared workspaces reduce fixed commitments. In an unpredictable market, lean structures provide resilience and allow for faster pivots.

An orderly path, not a rigid formula

While the above strategies align with a logical progression of validation, launch, growth, maturity, and sustained operations, the sequence is adaptable. For example, a manufacturing startup may pursue export incentives in its second year while a software service might adopt annual billing from its first client. The above framework’s value lies in focusing on the most relevant levers at each stage and avoiding the trap of chasing all opportunities simultaneously.

Indian founders today face a paradox. Venture funding has slowed from its 2021 highs, yet the tools for building without it have never been richer. Policy reforms, digital infrastructure, and market access through platforms have reduced the barriers to starting lean. At the same time, customer acquisition remains costly, and payment cycles can be long, making cash discipline non-negotiable.

Approaching the business lifecycle with these strategies creates options. It allows founders and entrepreneurs to choose if and when to bring in investors rather than being forced to by financial pressure. In a market where sustainable profitability is being valued over headline growth, that optionality can be a strategic advantage.

External funding is one way to grow a business in India, but not the only way. With the right mix of pre-sales, partnerships, government programs, and operational discipline, it is entirely possible to build and scale on your own terms without sacrificing equity or control.

Source

5 Quick Tips from The Mom Test

1. Don’t ask if your idea is good. Ask about the person’s life.
2. Avoid compliments and vague answers. Push for specifics.
3. Talk less about your solution, listen more about their problems.
4. Look for evidence of real behavior, not just opinions.
5. A good conversation should end with a clear next step.

One of the biggest mistakes founders make is asking the wrong questions when testing their startup ideas. Rob Fitzpatrick, in his book The Mom Test, explains how most entrepreneurs fall into the trap of asking for compliments instead of truth. If you ask your mom whether your idea is good, she’ll probably say yes just to be supportive. But the same thing happens with friends, colleagues, and even strangers, that people want to be nice, not honest.

Fitzpatrick’s advice is simple: stop asking if your idea is good. Instead, ask about people’s lives, habits, and problems. Don’t talk about your solution, just dig into their experiences. For example, instead of saying “Would you use an app that tracks your workouts?” you should ask “How do you currently track your workouts?” That way, you’ll get real insight into what people actually do, not polite opinions.

He also emphasizes that you need to avoid fishing for validation. When you hear “That sounds cool” or “I’d probably use it,” it feels good, but it’s useless. What you want is specific, concrete information about what people already do, what problems frustrate them, and whether they’ve tried to solve those problems before.

Another key point is to focus on commitments and actions. If someone says they like your idea, ask them to pre-order, sign up, or introduce you to a colleague. If they aren’t willing to take a small step, their words don’t mean much. As Fitzpatrick puts it, “The measure of usefulness of an early customer conversation is whether it leads to a clear next step.”

The book isn’t just about avoiding bad feedback, it’s about learning how to uncover the truth that actually moves your startup forward. By asking smarter questions, you’ll save time, money, and energy building things nobody wants.

So the real test isn’t whether your mom thinks your idea is good. The real test is whether you can have honest conversations that reveal if your idea solves a real problem.

Cited from: Rob Fitzpatrick, “The Mom Test”

Paul Graham says one of the biggest mistakes startup founders make is trying to scale too soon. Instead, in the early days, you should focus on things that don’t scale, like the activities that may seem small or manual, but help you get those first users and keep them happy.

You can't wait for users to come to you. You have to go out and get them.

One example he gives is recruiting users manually. Don’t wait for people to find you. Go out, meet them, email them directly, even sign them up yourself if needed. In the early days of Stripe, the founders literally took people's laptops and helped set up accounts on the spot.

Another big one is delighting users personally. When you have just a handful of customers, you can give them a level of attention that’s impossible later on. Graham shares that doing “things that don’t scale” like talking to customers constantly, making quick changes just for them, and going the extra mile will make them love your product and tell others.

He also talks about the idea of being a “concierge”. In the early stages, you might do manual work behind the scenes to deliver the product experience, even if later you’ll automate it. That’s fine. It lets you learn what users want and refine your service before building complex systems.

The main point: early growth often comes from these high-effort, small-scale actions. Over time, you can automate and streamline. But in the beginning, these personal, unscalable efforts help you build trust, understand your users deeply, and create something worth scaling.

Source: Paul Graham, "Do Things that Don’t Scale"

Hi

Pitch Deck Builders that founders, startups, and creators use to build stunning and effective pitch decks:

1. Beautiful.ai AI-powered presentation builder designed for pitch decks and investor-ready slides.

2. Tome Modern storytelling format with AI, visuals, and live integrations, which are great for startup decks.

3. Canva Easy-to-use drag-and-drop deck builder with tons of templates for startups and businesses.

4. Pitch Collaborative presentation software made for startups and teams, which is sleek and fast.

5. Visme Visual content creator with specific pitch deck tools, charts, infographics, and templates.

6. Slidebean Popular among startups, and it automatically designs your slides based on content. Also offers fundraising support.

7. Decktopus A no-fuss, guided pitch deck builder with interactive elements and smart content suggestions.

8. Kroma AI-powered visual tool with investor deck templates, charts, and creative assets.

9. Storydoc Creates interactive and scroll-based decks instead of static slides — ideal for wow factor.

10. Prezi Known for its dynamic, zoomable presentation style. Great if you want something non-linear and eye-catching.

Top 10 Notion Alternatives, especially useful for productivity, docs, project management, or wikis:

1. Coda Combines documents, spreadsheets, and apps into one powerful workspace — great for teams and makers.

2. ClickUp Project management meets docs, tasks, and goals. Very customizable, ideal for agile teams.

3. Airtable A spreadsheet-database hybrid for managing workflows, with strong collaboration and templates.

4. Tana New-generation knowledge management tool with AI-powered workflows and structured notes.

5. Obsidian Local-first, markdown-based knowledge base. Loved by developers, writers, and researchers.

6. Craft Beautiful docs and notes, especially for Apple users. Great for presentations and collaboration.

7. Slite A clean, team-friendly documentation tool focused on async communication and wikis.

8. Nuclino Lightweight alternative to Notion for real-time team docs and knowledge bases.

9. Evernote A classic note-taking app with web clipping, tasks, and notebooks, which is still going strong.

10. Microsoft OneNote Part of the Microsoft 365 suite, it is great for hierarchical note-taking and cross-device sync.

🚨 No Website Yet? Stop Losing Credibility.

I’m hosting a power-packed live workshop where I’ll help you build your full business website (frontend backend admin panel) all in just 3 hours, using free tools. No code, no cost, no BS. Just bring a domain.

🎯 Perfect for early-stage founders, consultants, solopreneurs, and student entrepreneurs.

🗓️ Date: 14th August (Thursday ) 🕖 Time: 7:00 PM sharp 📍 Live on Zoom

✅ SEO-ready ✅ Mobile responsive ✅ Hosted for free — forever ✅ Built live, step-by-step

🎟️ Limited seats. First-come-first-serve. 🔗 Register now: jayteerth.com

Explore these platforms for publishing newsletters, growing communities, or monetizing content:

1. Beehiiv Built by ex-Morning Brew team. Offers powerful audience segmentation, referral system, and monetization tools.

2. ConvertKit Email marketing for creators with automation, paid newsletters, and landing pages.

3. Ghost Open-source and fully customizable. Great for paid memberships, blogs, and newsletters.

4. Revue (Discontinued) Twitter-owned platform shut down in early 2023, but still worth mentioning historically, as many migrated from here to Substack or Ghost.

5. Medium Focused on writing built-in distribution. Less control over branding but high discoverability.

6. MailerLite Budget-friendly email marketing tool with landing pages, automations, and subscriber management.

7. Buttondown Lightweight, minimal, and perfect for indie creators or devs who want clean newsletters.

8. Kajabi All-in-one platform for creators selling content—emails, courses, memberships.

9. SendFox Budget-friendly newsletter tool from AppSumo, great for creators and small businesses.

10. Patreon While not a direct email tool, many creators pair Patreon with email tools (like Mailchimp) for monetized content delivery.