I learned business the hard way, so you don’t have to.
I’m Kapil Gaud. I help Indian startup founders and entrepreneurs work through the decisions behind their next customer, funding conversation and public story. I have been building businesses since 2008.
✦ I read every message myself. Bring the decision you are working through.
Which decision is holding the business back?
An enquiry that goes quiet, a funding route that does not quite fit, a good story nobody hears. Start with the decision you need to make; we can work through the next step from there.
Turn interest into a clearer buying decision.
Find where potential buyers stop, make the offer easier to understand and choose a useful next test.
Find where customers stop →Choose a funding route that fits the business.
Compare eligibility and trade-offs, identify relevant investors and prepare the story for a funding conversation.
Compare Indian funding routes →Give people a reason to notice your work.
Find a useful angle, support it with evidence and reach the journalists or audiences who care about the subject.
Build a story worth pitching →A website was only the beginning of the job.
In 2009, my first three website clients needed enquiries. I learned SEO to keep the promise I had made them. Their enquiries grew, and those projects brought my first testimonials and five referrals.
That experience still shapes the question I start with: what needs to change in the business for this work to be useful?
Read the field note and customer checklist →iGNITED iDEA: a one-stop platform for Indian entrepreneurs and startup founders.
Many people in India have an idea they keep putting off because no one around them can help. I started iGNITED iDEA in 2021 so they have a place to start, get unstuck and grow.
Today 4,000+ active members share what they’re learning and help each other. Industry leaders and veterans who want to give back add their experience and contacts.
Visit iGNITED iDEA →First-time founders
Working on an idea of their own, full-time or alongside a job.
Founders building traction
Testing a product, finding their first customers or choosing how to fund the next milestone.
Women entrepreneurs
Many already have what it takes and just need someone in their corner.
I’m building the mentor I never had.
I grew up in a family of government employees, where a stable job was the dream. In 2008 I chose to build instead, with a 256 kbps connection and no one to ask.
Every lesson came the hard way: my first clients, building a team from zero, learning to raise capital and get noticed. iGNITED iDEA is how I make sure the next generation of Indian entrepreneurs and startup founders doesn’t have to walk that road alone.
Read my full story →Bring the decision you want to work through.
Working on an idea, or stuck on customers, capital or visibility? Tell me in a line or two. Tell me what you are trying to achieve and what you have tried. Start with the question that matters most to you.
Tell me what you’re working on