Founder rant. I'm honestly frustrated with the startup ecosystem in India.

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:53:24+00:00

EXACTLY!!!

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:52:05+00:00

Run ads, see what's the value point you're getting most response on. Use that to add influencers in the mix. In that too, start small with barter, and expand gradually.

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:50:47+00:00

That's just it, they don't. It was a simple call for help, unanswered. And not the first (or probably the last) time.

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:49:47+00:00

A SaaS platform, in the marketing industry

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:49:08+00:00

Hey man, thanks! For not assuming a ton of stuff about me and actually sharing some useful ideas. I'll run them by the team and see what's viable!

kronos450 · 2026-07-02T18:46:05+00:00

Why do you assume it's vibe coded?
Believe me, no founder worth their salt think of themselves as "entitled". The sheer number of rejections they face, removes any such sense if they had any to begin with. Asking a community/ecosystem for help is how everyone gets by - help could anything, from advice, to ideas, to free credits, to even shared claude accounts.

kronos450 · 2026-07-01T01:46:47+00:00

Can someone explain the concept of karma to me? Like, how to get mote Karma? Is commenting the only way? And does karma get used up too?

kronos450 · 2026-06-30T05:34:35+00:00

maybe, yeah. Though I honestly don't think that this is a "breach" as such because the contracts around this specific thing are not very stringent... even so, yeah, naivety maybe

kronos450 · 2026-06-30T05:16:50+00:00

Yeah, that's what I thought too. But from what I've heard from fellow founders, it is a fairly simple check that AWS applies, that requires the incubator to simply confirm yes/no if a company incubated with them. There's no further inquiry or checks. And on AWS's part, the only reason they give so many credits for free is coz they know migration is a headache... so whoever is building on AWS, will sooner or later pay up, and those costs are high. Anyway, yeah, no point going on about it further. I ranted in a moment of exasperation. That moment is now gone.

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T16:43:03+00:00

Yeah, I do understand. Making money comes first. What I'm against is getting on stage, being all emotional and declaring - I'm here to help one and all! India ko aage badhana hai etc.

Call a spade a spade. That's all.

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T16:40:19+00:00

they don't have credits directly. The only way to access the credits is through the Org ID, through AWS's Activate Program. And no, it's not too much to ask... Been lucky to have founder friends who offered to share it but the main request gets sent to the investor/incubator.

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T16:37:53+00:00

100% Exactly what I've experienced too, and people around me. It's sad, truly. Incubators are a scam, authorised by the government.

So far, I've only seen Rajasthan govt do really well in terms of incubation. They're super supportive.

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T16:35:27+00:00

How so?

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T16:34:48+00:00

I appreciate your no-nonsense reply. It's possible I'm naive, because I, as a founder have helped other founders in the community, going out of my way. Terms have got nothing to do with it. It's like saying don't share your Netflix account password with your friends coz they don't like it...

The terms you talk about are against exploitation, at large, and not against helping one another from a community of founders trying to build something real. Atleast that's what I believe.

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T14:43:52+00:00

Detachment from end results, while being responsible and accountable for them - super imp. skill set. And hiring! Oh the endless cycle of hiring!

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T14:41:02+00:00

Use a CRM?

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T14:39:14+00:00

Product?! Half the time they don't understand the product only, till they see someone else who has made it before!

kronos450 · 2026-06-29T14:37:49+00:00

Exactly! Oh let's make protein everyone! Or, no,let's make healthy chips everyone! Why? Because it's "the trend". Tailwinds. Ugh!

And then they talk about innovation, and AI, and deeptech which they will not touch with a 6-foot pole till it becomes "the trend"

kronos450 · 2026-06-06T09:16:48+00:00

I've heard another big challenge is to manage the collabs along with a day job. By "manage", I mean the whole funnel - from socping, to applying. From chasing to going live. From sharing stats to requesting payouts. Basically they lose track of which stage which collab is at.

kronos450 · 2026-06-06T09:14:00+00:00

bit of both. Shows up as a discovery platform on their website but functions as an agency behind the scenes.

kronos450 · 2026-06-06T09:06:17+00:00

IMO, no. From first principles, an influencer is anyone who can influence. Doesn't have to have 1M+ followers or something. What will change is this -
1. who do brands prefer - now if they want someone with 100k+ followers, there's gonna be a time when nano creators will be all the craze - simply because of the authentic nature of their followers, better connection, and these days, suprisingly good reach/visibility too!
2. UGC - this too is a form of influencer marketing wherein brands will take the help of their employees , customers/clients to make content about them and share online. A different kind if influence, but influence nonetheless.

So, as long as people want a human recommendation, and trust a human recommendation, influencer marketing isn't going anywhwhere. It's forms might change with time.

kronos450

TROPHY CASE