Access, sales & scenarios

Accelerators, mentors, and selling to government and enterprise.

What founders use for access, sales & scenarios, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. To sell to a smart-city SPV you have to understand it is a company under the Companies Act with its own board, its own tied... Ideas for India Article · 15 min read Special Purpose Vehicles for Smart Cities: A Question on Governance Persis Taraporevala
  2. The corrigendum is where the real tender lives after publication, and this piece is built around Indian procurement (CPPP, GeM,... TenderShark Article · 12 min read What is a corrigendum in tenders: meaning, types, and why missing one loses the bid TenderShark editorial
  3. This is the sharpest playbook for the exact thing your government buyer is asking for: define numerical success criteria... Amplify Partners Article · 18 min read The technical founder's guide to pilots and POCs Amplify Partners
  4. This is the budget-head check the answer hinges on, made concrete. It gives you a compatibility table with an explicit red flag... mean.ceo blog Essay · 15 min read Startups and Corporates: The Brutal Truth No Accelerator Will Tell You (the pilot trap) mean.ceo
  5. This is the clearest lawyer-grade walkthrough of the PPP-MII order as it actually bites: it defines Class-I (>=50% local... Nishith Desai Associates (Regulatory Hotline) Article · 15 min read Public Procurement Framework for Make in India, Revised to Strengthen Domestic Manufacturing Nishith Desai Associates
  6. Hardware founders have a clear MeitY component-by-component local-content formula; software founders have almost nothing, and... Nishith Desai Associates (Technology Law Hotline) Article · 18 min read Make in India: Demystifying the Applicability of Procurement Orders to Software Products Nishith Desai Associates
  7. This is the most concrete plain-English explainer of the STQC and BIS gate that most local-content writeups skip, and it maps... ArcisAI Article · 12 min read India CCTV Compliance 2026: BIS-ER and STQC Certification Explained ArcisAI
  8. This is the practical seller-side read on why you should chase a GeM rate contract instead of grinding one tender at a time:... Tenderbook Article · 10 min read Rate Contracts on GeM: How Buyers and Sellers Should Leverage Them in FY26 Tenderbook editorial team
  9. Read this from the vendor's side, as the exact blueprint for the switching cost you want to build. It spells out the mechanics:... Government Technology Insider Article · 8 min read The Real Cost of Vendor Lock-In: Why Government Needs Smarter Tech Partnerships Government Technology Insider
  10. This is the renewal craft with the numbers to back the whole thesis: it breaks down exactly why incumbents lose their seat at... Fed-Spend Article · 15 min read Federal Contract Recompete: How to Win Expiring and Renewal Pipeline Contracts Fed-Spend Intelligence
  11. This draws the exact line our answer cares about: an agent who explains the process or front-ends paperwork is legal, an agent... International Bar Association (IBA) Article · 12 min read Corruption Risks in the Use of Agents in Public Procurement in India International Bar Association
  12. When you do hire, this is the vocabulary for paying for auditable outcomes instead of a vague retainer for influence. It... Deltek Article · 10 min read Consulting Pricing Models: Fixed-Fee vs Retainer vs Outcome-Based Deltek
  13. Before you flip, read the honest counterweight: this Inc42 feature reports why founders flip (enterprise customers prefer US... Inc42 Article · 15 min read Is Y Combinator Causing Long-Term Damage To India's Tech Economy? Inc42 staff
  14. This is the teardown you actually want: three real cold emails rewritten line by line by a former VP of Sales, with the weak... 30 Minutes to President's Club Article · 10 min read 3 Cold Emails That Cut Through The Noise (Before vs After) Armand Farrokh
  15. Your first line has to reference a real trigger event, and this is the catalogue of what counts (funding rounds, a new VP hire,... PhantomBuster Article · 15 min read 2026's Best B2B Sales Triggers: 35+ Events to Fill Your Pipeline PhantomBuster
  16. This is the piece that speaks to the part every global playbook skips: you are emailing US and EU buyers from an Indian domain.... MailTact Article · 9 min read How Indian B2B SaaS Teams Can Succeed With Outbound: Lessons From Real Campaigns MailTact
  17. Kellogg (ex-CEO Host Analytics, ex-CMO Salesforce, board-level SaaS operator) makes exactly the argument in our answer, and... Kellblog Article · 15 min read Who To Hire As The First Salesperson In Your Startup Dave Kellogg
  18. This is the practical companion to the 'who' question: it says hire only once founder-led sales works well enough that someone... Sierra Ventures (Ascend) Article · 12 min read How to Hire a Startup's First Sales Hire: Skills, Pitfalls, and a Plan Sierra Ventures
  19. It walks a worked example where an '$8M exit' headline collapses to roughly $1.9M net in the founder's pocket once you run the... Value Add VC Article · 12 min read Acqui-Hire Deals: How They're Structured and What Founders Actually Get Value Add VC
  20. A repeat founder who sat on both sides of the table lays out how to run a lightweight seller-led process at early stage, and... First Round Review Article · 25 min read How to Sell Your Startup: The Complete Guide to Running an M&A Process as a Founder First Round Review (with Daniel Debow)
  21. The India-specific reality the global pieces skip: how Indian acqui-hire consideration gets split across upfront cash, salary... GrowthPal Article · 10 min read Acqui-hiring a Startup in India: How Deals Are Currently Valued GrowthPal
  22. This is the research that proves your instinct right: analyzing 2.5 million recorded sales calls, Dixon and McKenna found 40 to... The JOLT Effect Article · 15 min read The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision Matthew Dixon and Ted McKenna
  23. This is the tactical companion to the JOLT diagnosis: it gives you word-for-word language to reopen a dead thread without... Mixmax Article · 10 min read Why Deals Stall After Discovery and How to Prevent It Mixmax
  24. This is the concrete forecasting method behind the opinionated answer: it walks through pipeline count times win rate times... Weflow Article · 15 min read Bottom-Up Sales Forecasting: Formula, Examples, and Process Weflow

Show the next 24

The questions

Incubators, accelerators & competitions 21

Get in, get funded, get connected.

Should I join an incubator or an accelerator, and which one? 3 → My college has an E-Cell and an incubator, how do I actually use them? 2 → Which incubators and accelerators give grant money, not just space and mentorship? 4 → How do I get into YC or a top accelerator, what do they actually look for? 3 → Is the equity an accelerator takes worth it? 3 → All 21 questions in Incubators, accelerators & competitions →
Selling to government 21

GeM, tenders, and the public-sector playbook.

How do I actually sell to the government, where do I find the buyers? 3 → What is GeM and how do I get my product listed on it? 2 → How do government tenders and procurement actually work for a tiny startup? 3 → Do I need certifications or empanelment to sell to a ministry? 2 → I'm a DPIIT-recognised startup, what procurement relaxations do I actually get? 3 → All 21 questions in Selling to government →
Selling to enterprises (B2B) 21

Land your first big logo.

How do I land my first enterprise customer when nobody has heard of us? 3 → How long is a B2B sales cycle and how do I not run out of money waiting? 3 → Who do I actually sell to inside a big company, and how do I find the decision-maker? 3 → They want a free pilot, should I do it? 3 → Should I use design partners, and how do I structure the deal? 3 → All 21 questions in Selling to enterprises (B2B) →
Mentors, advisors & network 21

Find the people who accelerate you.

My network is all corporate colleagues, how do I actually meet founders and investors? 3 → Can I build a serious startup from outside the big startup hubs, or do I have to move to Bangalore? 3 → How do I find a mentor or advisor who will actually help me, not just add a logo to my deck? 2 → How much equity should I give a startup advisor? 1 → How do I actually ask someone to mentor or advise me without it being awkward? 2 → All 21 questions in Mentors, advisors & network →
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →