Ishank Gupta

Blog

  • Shark Tank vs Startup Success: Solve Problems, Not Pitches

    Watching Shark Tank might make you think the biggest startup skill is delivering a perfect pitch, but that mindset is a big mistake. A flashy pitch makes for great television, but real startup success happens off-camera. In the real world, the product sells — not the pitch.

    The Shark Tank Effect: Pitch Drama vs. Reality

    Shark Tank is a TV show, and its primary goal is entertainment. Dramatic showdowns and soundbites keep viewers hooked, but they can distort a founder’s perspective. On TV, deals are struck in minutes and drama often eclipses substance. New entrepreneurs may start to believe that mastering the pitch is all that matters. A good pitch can grab attention, but it’s not a guarantee of sustainable success. Real investors care about traction, product-market fit, and the team’s ability to execute — not just theatrics.

    Real Startup Success: Solve Problems and Build Great Products

    The startups that thrive are the ones fixing real problems and delighting customers, not just impressing investors. The true ingredients of startup success are:

    • Solving a genuine problem: Identify a real pain point and address it.
    • Building a quality product: Create a solution that works and delivers value.
    • Understanding your customer: Know your users’ needs, feedback, and behaviors.

    Pitching isn’t even on this list. That’s because if you nail these fundamentals, the pitch will take care of itself. A founder focused on problem, product, and customer will naturally speak passionately. More importantly, they’ll have substance behind the pitch — real users, real feedback, and a product that speaks for itself.

    Build for Customers, Not Investors

    One trap of the Shark Tank frenzy is building a startup for investors instead of for customers. If all your decisions are geared towards ‘What will get me funded?’ you risk losing sight of what will get you customers. The irony is that by chasing investor approval, you might end up with neither investors nor customers. But if you chase customer love — building features people need, providing great service, iterating on user feedback — you create real value. Investors notice traction, not just talk. Always prioritize your end-users’ problems and experiences over what might sound good in a pitch deck.

    Funding Follows Traction: The Ultimate Takeaway

    The bottom line: funding is a byproduct of success, not its definition. In the real world, funding follows traction — not vice versa. When your product solves a big problem, it will gain users, buzz, and momentum. That’s when investors (the ‘sharks’ in real life) come knocking. The next time you have a startup idea, don’t frame it around how to get on Shark Tank or attract quick capital. Instead, focus on your users’ pain points and how to solve them. If you build something people truly need, you won’t have to chase investors — they’ll seek you out. Real startup success is earned by serving customers and achieving sustainable growth; the flashy pitch is just icing on the cake.

  • From Coders to Chip Designers: India’s RISC-V Revolution

    India has given the world millions of software developers who power global apps. But the processors running all that code are designed and controlled abroad – mostly by the United States or China. The code may be ours, but the platform it runs on is someone else’s. Whether it’s Intel’s x86 or an ARM-based chip, the design and control lie outside India. And it’s not just phones or laptops – everything from EVs to defense systems and AI runs on processors. Without owning processor technology, India’s digital power remains incomplete.

    Why Software Alone Isn’t Enough

    Relying on software prowess while importing critical hardware is a strategic weakness. Code without hardware control is like building on someone else’s land. If the underlying chips have backdoors or export restrictions, our software advantage can vanish overnight. True tech independence means owning the full stack – both the code and the silicon. When India’s applications run on foreign chips, we are playing by their rules. This dependence limits innovation and leaves us vulnerable to supply shocks and geopolitical pressure. Software success means little if we lack hardware sovereignty.

    US and China: The Chip Power Play

    The United States has led the tech world for decades largely because its homegrown processor giants like Intel dominated microprocessors, allowing it to dictate standards and drive computing dominance. In the past decade, China has poured billions into developing its own processors to reduce reliance on US technology. From Huawei’s smartphone chips to supercomputers, China knows that controlling processor IP is key to tech leadership. The lesson is clear: those who design and control chips set the pace in everything from consumer gadgets to defense systems.

    RISC-V: India’s Open-Source Chip Opportunity

    Enter RISC-V, an open-source processor architecture – a chip blueprint anyone can use freely without royalties. Unlike ARM or Intel’s designs, no single company owns RISC-V. This means Indian engineers can design processors on a level playing field, free from licensing restrictions or foreign approval. India is already investing in this arena with government-backed programs to develop indigenous RISC-V chips. By embracing this open architecture, we can create everything from IoT microcontrollers to AI accelerators that are Made in India. RISC-V is our chance to build an independent chip ecosystem from scratch.

    Beyond Coders: Nurturing India’s Chip Creators

    If India aspires to be a global tech superpower, it must move beyond being the world’s software back-office and cultivate tech creators who master both software and silicon. We have millions of developers – now we need to train homegrown chip designers. Indian startups and research labs should be building processors optimized for our needs, from secure defense systems to everyday electronics. The government’s recent RISC-V push is a start, but it must be matched by education and industry investment. Developing apps is good, but designing the chips they run on is even better. By moving from coders to chip creators, India can gain true tech independence and secure its digital future.

  • India’s AI Startup Formula: Wrappers vs Real Tech

    In India’s buzzing AI startup scene, a new formula is trending: take someone else’s pre-built AI model or tool, put a slick user interface on it, and call it an “AI startup.” In other words, repackage existing tech with a shiny wrapper and call it innovation. This approach might create a quick buzz and a functional app, but is it really deep tech — or just surface-level design?

    The Rise of the “Wrapper” AI Startup

    Many new AI ventures today follow this wrapper startup formula. They take an existing AI model or API built by someone else, add a bit of custom code or a slick user interface on top, and then market it as a new product. The pitch often sounds like, “We fixed the UX,” or “We made AI easy for users.” Sure, better UX is valuable – but under the hood, the core engine isn’t theirs. It’s akin to putting a fresh coat of paint on someone else’s machine: it may look new, but the technology driving it is the same.

    Core-Tech AI Startups: Building the Engine

    In contrast, true deep-tech AI startups build their own engines from the ground up. They develop original models, gather proprietary data, and conduct in-house research. These founders can proudly say, “We built the whole engine,” rather than just the shell. This approach is tougher and more time-consuming — it demands serious R&D and patience — but it produces genuine innovation and intellectual property. In other words, real tech happens when the model is yours, the data is yours, and the research is yours.

    Why India Needs More Core Tech Innovation

    If most AI startups here stick to wrapping existing tech, India will remain a consumer rather than a creator of technology. Copying someone else’s tech with a better UI might get you a company, sure. But it won’t build a thriving ecosystem. As the saying goes, a copy can build a company, but only original research builds an ecosystem.

    When Indian startups focus on core tech, they strengthen the nation’s innovation ecosystem. Home-grown AI breakthroughs mean future ventures can build on Indian innovations, academia can partner with industry on cutting-edge projects, and India is seen as a tech creator, not just an adapter. In short, India needs more core-tech creators, not just app builders.

    From Wrapper to Innovator: A Call to Action

    To young builders and founders: aim to be a tech innovator, not just an app assembler. Using existing models and APIs is a fine way to start — it lets you prototype quickly and learn. But don’t stop there. Dive deeper. Learn how those models work under the hood. Collect your own data. Train your own models, even if they start simple. Tackle problems that off-the-shelf tools haven’t cracked. Yes, it’s a tougher path, but that’s where real breakthroughs lie. In the long run, those who build the engine will drive innovation forward. Ask yourself: Are you just fixing the UX, or are you building the whole engine?

  • Why India’s MSMEs Need a Digital Push from the Ground Up

    India is witnessing a boom in artificial intelligence (AI) and deep tech at the highest levels. The government is pouring funds into AI through initiatives like a National AI Mission, and startups are making headlines with cutting-edge solutions. However, outside the glitzy tech hubs, millions of small businesses remain stuck in the past. The AI and deep tech revolution has yet to reach these grassroots enterprises.

    The High-Tech vs. Ground Reality Disconnect

    There is a glaring disconnect between high-level tech advancement and ground-level adoption. India has over 63 million MSMEs – the backbone of the economy – but most remain largely analog. While the tech sector races ahead, the typical small business owner still relies on pen-and-paper ledgers, manual billing, and gut-feel inventory management. By some estimates, over 80% of these businesses use such basic methods, meaning today’s AI innovations are effectively out of reach for them.

    Notebooks, Excel, and Memory: The MSME Routine

    Walk into a typical kirana (neighborhood grocery) store or small workshop and the reality is clear: sales and expenses are often logged in a notebook. Invoices are handwritten and inventory exists mostly in the owner’s memory. Despite the rise of UPI and other digital payments at the counter, these businesses have little to no digital infrastructure behind the scenes. A huge part of the economy thus runs without modern tools – no analytics, no AI-driven efficiency, just paper and memory.

    Why Bottom-Up Digital Adoption Matters

    To truly realize a “Digital India,” change must happen from the bottom up. Focusing only on top-tier tech innovation while ignoring small enterprises creates a superficial digital revolution. Bottom-up digital adoption means equipping MSMEs – the local shop, the warehouse, the family-run factory – with accessible tech tools. If these businesses digitize their operations, it lays the foundation for next-level advancements:

    • Operational Efficiency: Moving from paper to digital systems reduces errors and saves time. Tasks like billing, accounting, and inventory tracking become faster and more accurate.
    • Data-Driven Decisions: Once information is digitized, businesses can leverage data for better decision-making. For example, digital sales records allow owners to identify trends and manage stock proactively rather than by guesswork.
    • Access to Advanced Tech: With digital data in place, MSMEs can finally tap into advanced tools like AI analytics, predictive inventory management, or personalized marketing. Without basic digitization, these deep tech innovations simply cannot be applied.

    No AI Revolution Without MSME Digitization

    India’s AI and deep tech revolution will remain hollow if it doesn’t uplift its foundational businesses. The country cannot claim true digital transformation while so many entrepreneurs remain stuck in the ledger-and-pen era. Digital India’s success hinges on MSME inclusion. Empowering small businesses with digital tools is not just a tech upgrade, but a necessity for sustainable growth. Only when the neighborhood retailer and the small-scale manufacturer go digital will the tech revolution move beyond buzzwords. In essence, without MSME digitization, India’s AI and deep tech advances remain superficial.

  • India Needs Innovators, Not Just Unicorns

    Every startup founder seems to dream of building the next unicorn – a company valued over $1 billion. The billion-dollar tag has become the ultimate goal in India’s tech circles. Funding announcements make headlines, LinkedIn is flooded with celebratory posts, and valuations are flaunted like trophies. But in this frantic race to unicorn status, one question often gets ignored: What about real innovation and solving customer problems?

    The Unicorn Obsession is Killing Innovation

    India now boasts over 100 unicorn startups (118 as of January 2025), and there’s even talk of reaching 1,000 unicorns in the next few years. The startup ecosystem is proud of these numbers, but this obsession with unicorn status is coming at a cost. For many, “startup success” has devolved into a vanity parade of funding rounds and sky-high valuations, rather than impactful products. Announcing a new funding round and touting a multi-million dollar valuation has become more celebrated than actually building a sustainable business or innovative product. In this chase for investor approval and media hype, truly novel ideas often fall by the wayside. The result? Plenty of startups with impressive valuations, but little originality or genuine value to show.

    Worse, the unicorn mania can create unsustainable business practices. Chasing growth at any cost – just to hit that billion-dollar mark – often means burning cash, ignoring revenues, and pushing impractical expansion. It’s no surprise that around 90% of Indian startups fail within 5 years, often because they prioritized aggressive scaling over sustainable business models. A unicorn valuation on paper means nothing if the company collapses under its own weight. We’ve seen even celebrated unicorns like Byju’s and OYO face brutal reality checks – plummeting valuations, losses, and questions about profitability. It begs the question: Is chasing the unicorn label really worth it when it can kill the very innovation and viability a startup was meant to pursue?

    Copycat Ideas and the “Not Scalable” Mindset

    A troubling side effect of this valuation-first mindset is a copycat culture. Every third startup nowadays seems to be a clone of another, bringing the same idea with nothing more than a new UI or a slight tweak. Founders are gravitating toward “proven” concepts that investors find familiar – whether it’s another food delivery service, one more fintech app, or the next e-commerce platform – even if the market is already saturated. Original ideas are often dismissed early with the dreaded remark: “But is it scalable?” In other words, if an idea doesn’t promise a massive, immediate user base and a quick path to a billion-dollar valuation, it’s deemed uninteresting. This mentality stifles creativity. Instead of solving unaddressed customer problems, many startups chase whatever trend VCs are funding this quarter.

    • Herd mentality: If social commerce or crypto is hot, you suddenly get dozens of lookalike startups in that space, all hoping to be the next unicorn.
    • Lack of originality: Pitch decks start to sound the same – “the Uber of X,” “the Amazon of Y” – as entrepreneurs recycle ideas that worked elsewhere, with little innovation.
    • Fear of niche solutions: A founder who dares to tackle a unique niche problem is told it’s “not scalable” because it may not target a billion-dollar market from day one.

    This copy-paste approach might make it easier to get initial funding (since investors recognize the model), but it also means startups are increasingly indistinguishable. When ten companies are doing roughly the same thing, nine of them are redundant. The focus on scale and hype over substance means the true essence of entrepreneurship – creativity, problem-solving, breaking new ground – is getting lost. Innovation dies when everyone is playing it safe and just trying to match a template for “the next big startup” rather than inventing something genuinely new.

    Solve Problems First, Valuation Will Follow

    Lost in all the unicorn hype is a simple business truth: Real businesses are built by solving real problems. The most successful companies didn’t start off obsessed with becoming unicorns; they started by focusing on their users’ pain points and building a product or service that people genuinely needed. Do that right, and valuations have a way of taking care of themselves. In startup vernacular, this means prioritizing product-market fit, customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth over flashy funding news.

    We should celebrate the founders who choose substance over style – those working on meaningful, if unglamorous, solutions. Not every great business will be a unicorn, and that’s okay. If your startup serves customers well, runs profitably, and grows at a healthy pace, you’ve already won. You’re creating value, which is the real point of entrepreneurship. And if that journey takes you to a billion-dollar valuation eventually, it will actually mean something because it’s backed by a solid product and happy users, not just hype.

    It’s time to flip the script. Instead of asking “How can I make this idea scale to a billion-dollar company?”, ask “How can I solve this customer’s problem in a way no one else has?” Focus on building a product that delivers real benefits. Obsess over your users, not your investors. Remember, each “unicorn” was once a small startup obsessing over customers – the valuation came later as a result of success, not the definition of it.

    India Needs Innovators, Not Just Unicorns

    In the end, the Indian startup ecosystem doesn’t need more unicorns for the sake of unicorns; it needs more innovators and problem-solvers. Chasing a unicorn status as a goal in itself is like chasing a mirage – the pursuit might energize you for a while, but it won’t quench the thirst for long-term success. Our measure of success should shift from vanity metrics to real impact. Are we alleviating a pain point for users? Are we improving lives or businesses? These are far more important questions than “What’s our valuation now?”.

    Dear founders: let’s refocus. Build your dhandha (business) by solving a pressing problem or fulfilling an unmet need. Let funding and valuations be by-products, not the end goals. Stop worrying about becoming the next unicorn and start worrying about being the startup that actually makes a difference for its customers. If we get that right, the growth and financial success will follow naturally. And even if it doesn’t turn into a unicorn, you’ll have built something far more enduring: a startup that stands on the solid ground of innovation, customer value, and sustainable progress. India has enough people chasing unicorns; now it needs more people chasing real solutions. Innovate first – the unicorns will take care of themselves.