Hey there!

It’s Sparsh here!👋 

In India’s tech ecosystem, a controversial trend is gaining steam; founders telling teams to avoid Indian clients entirely and chase global markets instead.🌏️

It sounds dramatic, but it's not as bleak as it seems. This “Skip India” narrative often reflects deeper systemic friction, unpaid pilots, slow decision-making and undervaluation. ⏩

This piece was tough to write as an Indian myself, but the ground reality must be shared. Critical pieces like this are more important to read fully than celebratory ones, because they show the real decisions shaping our ecosystem.

I’d love for you to read it to the end and share your honest thoughts; your opinions matter in this conversation. 💬

In partnership with

🔎The Origin of “Skip India”

🆘 Bengaluru-based AI founder Paras Chopra revealed he banned his team from working with Indian customers, calling India “a tiny tech market, but a comfort zone.” That move followed repeated demands for unpaid proof-of-concept work that drains time and resources.

🗣 Vaibhav Domkundwar echoed this, saying: “AI founders finally skipping selling to Indian customers after doing PoCs after PoCs… Enough is enough”.

🐤On X (formerly Twitter), founders lamented stalled decisions, excessive pilots, and “time-sink” deals that don’t convert.

🎯It’s Not Rejection, It’s Strategy

👀Perspective shift

• It’s not about condemning India, it’s about protecting early-stage runways. Endless unpaid pilots burn capital and attention. Skipping parts of the market can be a defensive move, not a dismissal.❌

💪Getting ahead, not giving up

• Indian enterprises must pay for pilots, simplify innovation gating, and treat startups as ecosystem partners, not cheap consultants.🪙 

• Some enterprises are creating innovation sandboxes and even offering equity or funding to align startup and corporate interests.💡 

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🤝From Skip to Engage: A Better Approach

1. 🧩Reframe PoCs into Value Pilots

• Define the scope clearly

• Set expectations (paid, outcome-based, time-boxed)

• Treat PoCs as two-way investments, not one-sided freebies

2. 📈Pilot small, scale smart

• Offer base versions domestically to gather testimonials

• Use those wins to prove product-market fit and expand globally

3. 🛒Educate enterprise buyers

• Walk clients through startup realities—limited budgets, need for partnership

• Teach them PoC models that align startup and enterprise incentives

4. 🧠 Use innovation sandboxes

• Leverage government or enterprise labs to co-develop use cases

• Break barriers to access and build credibility gradually

✒️Final Thoughts

⤷“Skip India” isn’t a rejection of home. It’s a wake-up call, an indication that the ecosystem is struggling to convert innovation into traction. 🔄

⤷But the smarter move isn’t to duck. It’s to reshape engagement. Build clearer PoC frameworks, educate customers, and reclaim India as both a launchpad and a proving ground. 🛠️

⤷For savvy founders and investors, the real opportunity lies in turning this discomfort into systemic change and capturing value from the world’s next emerging innovation frontier.💡