New Delhi, September 28, 2026: How does a start-up persuade customers to believe in a new business? That question runs through Nobody Believes You Yet, a new book by Harsh Pamnani and Vargab Bakshi, which went live on Amazon today.
Drawing on insights from ten leading Indian venture capital firms and case studies of 16 start-ups, the book argues that product-market fit alone may not be enough to build a lasting business. Its central idea, “trust-market fit”, examines how young companies can earn credibility with customers as they sell, grow, and compete in India.
Insights from India’s VC Ecosystem
The book features original conversations with partners from: Accel, Blume Ventures, Chiratae Ventures, Fireside Ventures, India Quotient, Kalaari Capital, Lightspeed, Peak XV, Z47, and 3one4 Capital.
It includes 30 case-study chapters spanning 16 start-ups and brands such as Skyroot, Darwinbox, Emergent, InVideo, Ather, and Underneat, bringing together perspectives of investors, founders, and operators on the choices involved in winning customers and scaling businesses.
Authors’ Perspective
Pamnani and Bakshi said: “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.”
The book also examines challenges of taking AI-led and highly technical products to market, including how companies can make complex or less visible technologies easier for customers to understand, trust, and buy.
Endorsements
Nobody Believes You Yet has received endorsements from business and academic leaders including:
- Sanjiv Mehta, Executive Chairman, L Catterton India; former Chairman & CEO, HUL
- Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner, Accel India
- Avnish Bajaj, Founder & Investor, Z47
- Manoj Kohli, former Country Head, SoftBank India; former CEO & MD, Bharti Airtel
- Anindya Ghose, Professor, NYU Stern School of Business
About the Authors
Harsh Pamnani
- Marketer, brand storyteller, bestselling business author
- Nearly two decades of experience with FirstCry, Icertis, Deloitte, Cognizant, World Bank, HSBC, T-Hub
- Authored 100+ articles for Forbes, The Economic Times, Financial Express
- Seven-time TEDx speaker
- Teaches storytelling, design thinking, branding at IIM Indore, IIM Mumbai, MICA Ahmedabad
- Holds MBA from XLRI Jamshedpur and B.E. in Computer Engineering from IET-DAVV, Indore
- More info: www.harshpamnani.com
Vargab Bakshi
- Growth leader and operator, scaling global internet businesses in India
- Early leader for Shopify India, later VP & Country Head for Wix India
- Currently Chief Growth Officer at GoKwik, leading global growth for D2C brands
- Runs Grow Kwik, a content platform with 500,000+ followers across Instagram and YouTube
- Advises and invests in start-ups across SaaS, consumer tech, AI, Web3
- Has taught at IIMs, IITs, SP Jain, Narsee Monjee, Welingkar
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