Ten VC firms, 16 start-ups and one question about building businesses in India
Harsh Pamnani and Vargab Bakshi's new book explores why product-market fit isn't enough and how Indian startups can build credibility to scale.
How can a new startup convince a skeptical customer to believe in its vision? This fundamental challenge serves as the heartbeat of Nobody Believes You Yet, a new book authored by Harsh Pamnani and Vargab Bakshi. Moving beyond traditional growth models, the authors argue that simply achieving product-market fit is often insufficient for long-term success in the unique Indian landscape.
Instead, the book introduces a vital new concept: "trust-market fit." This framework examines how emerging companies can cultivate credibility and dependability as they navigate the complexities of selling, growing, and competing within the Indian market.
Moving Beyond Silicon Valley Frameworks
A core premise of the book is that the standard business playbooks developed for Silicon Valley do not always translate to the realities of doing business in India. Rather than relying on Western-centric models, Pamnani and Bakshi dive deep into the local ecosystem through original insights and extensive research.
The authors have synthesized perspectives from ten of India's most prominent venture capital firms, including:
- Accel
- Blume Ventures
- Chiratae Ventures
- Fireside Ventures
- India Quotient
- Kalaari Capital
- Lightspeed
- Peak XV
- Z47
- 3one4 Capital
Real-World Case Studies: From Skyroot to Ather
To ground these theories in reality, the book features 30 detailed case-study chapters. These stories analyze the journeys of 16 different startups and brands, offering a multi-dimensional view from investors, founders, and operators. Notable companies profiled include:
- Skyroot
- Darwinbox
- Emergent
- InVideo
- Ather
- Underneat
The book also tackles the modern hurdle of marketing highly technical or AI-led products. It explores how companies can demystify complex, "invisible" technologies to make them understandable and trustworthy for the average consumer.
The Vision Behind the Book
According to the authors, the project was born from extensive discussions with the business-school community, founders, and investors. They noted a significant gap in existing literature, which often fails to reflect the specific environmental conditions faced by Indian entrepreneurs.
"Founders often focus on building a product customers need, but they also have to make a young company feel dependable to people encountering it for the first time. We wrote this book to explore how Indian companies can build that confidence as they go to market and scale," said Pamnani and Bakshi.
Endorsements from Industry Titans
The book has garnered significant praise from leaders across the corporate and academic worlds, including:
- Sanjiv Mehta: Executive Chairman of L Catterton India and former Chairman and CEO of HUL.
- Prashanth Prakash: Founding Partner of Accel India.
- Avnish Bajaj: Founder and investor at Z47.
- Manoj Kohli: Former Country Head of SoftBank India and former CEO of Bharti Airtel.
- Anindya Ghose: Professor at NYU Stern School of Business.
About the Authors
Harsh Pamnani is an experienced marketer and brand storyteller with a career spanning nearly two decades at organizations like FirstCry, Deloitte, and the World Bank. A seven-time TEDx speaker and bestselling author, he teaches branding and design thinking at premier institutions such as IIM Indore and MICA Ahmedabad.
Vargab Bakshi is a growth leader who played a key role in launching Shopify in India and later served as VP and Country Head for Wix India. Currently the Chief Growth Officer at GoKwik, he is a prominent voice in the startup ecosystem through his content platform, Grow Kwik, which reaches over 500,000 followers.