‘Skip India Movement’ Gains Momentum Among Tech Founders
Bengaluru-based entrepreneur Paras Chopra, founder of Wingify and Lossfunk AI lab, has taken a significant step by banning his team from engaging with Indian customers. This move aligns with a growing trend among tech startup founders who are increasingly choosing to bypass the Indian market.
The decision comes as a response to the challenges faced by startups when dealing with Indian clients. Chopra explained that the Indian market, although comfortable for initial product testing, is relatively small and can hinder a company’s ability to scale globally. “I have banned builders at Lossfunk from talking to Indian customers. It’s a tiny tech market, but a comfort zone. Many times, founders end up optimising for the Indian market and realise they can’t scale further,” Chopra stated.
Vaibhav Domkundwar, a prominent investor and founder of Better Capital, supported Chopra’s stance, highlighting a common issue where Indian customers often request multiple unpaid product trials without converting to paying clients. “AI founders finally skipping selling to Indian customers after doing PoCs [Proof of Concepts] after PoCs and then being requested for even more ‘free’ PoCs. There is a limit to this and founders are saying screw it and skipping selling to Indian customers. Enough is enough. Even unicorns are using these startup founders (who are 10x better than their internal teams) for freebies,” Domkundwar wrote, citing his insights from primary data and firsthand accounts from founders in his network.
The debate sparked by these comments has revealed a pattern in the startup community where Indian buyers frequently engage in unpaid product trials but rarely become paying customers. Other founders echoed similar sentiments, with one stating, “Indians are 2x hard to convince and 1/4th willingness to pay. Not worth it at all.” Another user noted that new-tech hardware brands face similar challenges, describing the Indian market as “tiny” with “not many early adopters” and “low paying capacity.”
However, not all participants in the discussion agreed with Chopra’s decision. Some criticized his move as a potential misstep in building a global startup.
The ‘Skip India movement’ reflects the complex dynamics between tech startups and the Indian market, raising questions about the viability of this significant customer base for emerging businesses.
