A Founder's Manifesto for Building Startups in India, 2025

Abstract

A Founder’s Manifesto for India, 2025 is a ground-level perspective on the Indian startup ecosystem, authored by Himanshu Dhadnekar, Founder of Pitchvilla. This whitepaper challenges conventional startup narratives, offering a sharp, founder-first lens on valuation, capital access, compliance, and the shifting mindset of Indian entrepreneurs.

As India moves beyond unicorns and toward long-term value creation, this manifesto outlines the evolving DNA of the Indian founder—from metro-based blitzscalers to Tier 2/Bharat-driven builders. It highlights systemic challenges in early-stage fundraising, misaligned investor-fit, over-dilution, and post-funding operational chaos, while proposing practical solutions like milestone-driven valuation, regional capital networks, and bundled compliance tools.

The document introduces the 2025 Founder Stack, an essential toolkit for entrepreneurs navigating early-stage complexity, and argues for a cultural shift toward building legacy-led companies instead of funding-chasing ventures.

With insights drawn from working with 1,500+ startups, this paper serves as a call to action for ecosystem enablers to build startups not just with scale—but with structure, soul, and long-term impact.

Keywords: startup, unicorn, indian startup ecosystem, himanshu dhadnekar, pitchvilla