Brutally honest conversation about why building hardware in India feels like playing a video game on nightmare difficulty.
Why VCs/funds/grants ghost you the moment you mention "open source"
Real estate costs that make a simple garage workshop cost 40-50k/month
Getting scammed while trying to buy parts and supplies
Why talented engineers are planning to escape to countries where there's a future
The hidden costs beyond just "building cool stuff"
Why "Make in India" is still mostly a hashtag for gov./startups
Anyone curious about hardware entrepreneurship reality, policy makers who think throwing money fixes everything, and founders wondering if they're the only ones struggling. Takeaways:
Infrastructure gaps that software folks never see (Why the software playbook doesn't work for hardware)
The chicken-and-egg problem of market size vs. innovation
Why manufacturing in India works for global markets but fails locally (Systemic barriers to hardware innovation in India beyond just funding)
Creative workarounds that actually work