Alright, buckle up—here’s my take, no sugarcoating

After spending 7+ years in the SaaS trenches—raising over $15M and hustling with some of India’s biggest names—I’ve seen a hard truth unfold. Despite building a killer usage-based model that solved real distribution problems for 100+ top brands (yes, the ones that drive India’s economy), the reality is brutal: SaaS built for India is capped. In a market where margins are razor-thin, a deal that’d pull in $100K a year in the US barely nudges $30–50K here.

I’ve sat down with India’s large and mid-cap leaders, and one thing’s crystal clear: if your revenue is tied to the tiny margins of their business, no amount of pricing tweaks or fancy customizations will let you break that ceiling. Push too hard, and you risk being outmaneuvered by the next BA grad who learned Python over a weekend and can throw together a “good-enough” solution.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I have a ton of respect for the nimble cottage software shops who thrive on a few loyal customers. But I’m not content with that model. If you’re dreaming big with SaaS in India, you’d be wiser to ride the wave of platforms that rake in micro-cuts from millions of transactions (think payment gateways or digital insurance platforms) rather than chasing those elusive high-ticket, multi-year deals.

So here’s the takeaway for anyone building SaaS in India: embed yourself deep in your customer’s core operations and focus on volume over margin. That’s the brutal, unfiltered truth I’ve seen firsthand.

What’s your take on this—are we fighting a losing battle, or is there another angle we’re all missing?