Roll up your sleeves: Zoho's Sridhar Vembu tells deep tech innovators

IANS April 4, 2025 184 views

Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has strongly advocated for a strategic shift in Indian technological innovation. He responded to Piyush Goyal's recent startup ecosystem critique by emphasizing the need for engineers to develop meaningful technological solutions. Vembu suggests that while government support is crucial, direct technological development should come from private sector innovators. His advice centers on balancing immediate revenue generation with ambitious long-term technological breakthroughs.

"Ship vitamins and painkillers to fund your business even as you work on a cancer cure" - Sridhar Vembu
New Delhi, April 4: Enterprise cloud software major Zoho's Founder Sridhar Vembu on Friday voiced strong support for a shift towards deep tech innovation in India, urging engineers and startups to ‘roll up their sleeves’ and focus on building real technological capabilities.

Key Points

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Vembu supports Goyal's push for meaningful technological innovation

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Advises startups to balance short-term revenue with long-term tech goals

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Government should facilitate innovation through competitive platforms

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Deep tech requires strategic, patient approach to development

In a series of posts on social media platform X, Vembu weighed in on the ongoing debate sparked by recent remarks made by Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, about the direction of Indian startups.

Vembu described the minister’s comments as a challenge to India’s engineers and technologists to build better solutions.

“In that sense, I see Minister Piyush Goyal's call as a challenge to our engineers and technologists and not as pointing fingers. What we need are smart engineers who roll up our sleeves and get it done,” Vembu wrote.

Vembu stressed that while the government has a role to play in supporting innovation, it should not try to directly build or fund advanced technologies like robots or operating systems.

“The government cannot invent a better operating system or a smarter robot. The government should not even fund such things -- it is not usually good at picking winners and losers,” he wrote.

Instead, Vembu suggested that the government could play a more effective role by organising competitions where Indian companies can participate, and the best products are selected and supported through public procurement.

“The government can at best conduct competitions where companies participate and then buy the best Indian products,” he added.

Vembu also shared advice for deep tech startups facing long R&D cycles. In a separate post, he said, “Ship vitamins and painkillers to fund your business even as you work on a cancer cure,” implying that startups can sell simpler, revenue-generating products in the short term while working toward bigger technological breakthroughs.

His comments come after Goyal, while addressing the Startup Mahakumbh event on April 3, raised concerns that many Indian startups are focusing too heavily on fast deliveries and consumer convenience, rather than on impactful, deep tech innovation.

He urged startups to reflect on their true value and aim to create globally competitive technologies.

Reader Comments

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Priya K.
Finally someone said it! We need more focus on real innovation rather than just delivery apps. Vembu's advice about shipping "vitamins and painkillers" while working on bigger tech is brilliant 💡
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Rahul S.
While I agree with the sentiment, I think the government does need to play a more active role in funding deep tech research. The private sector alone can't bear all the risk for long-term R&D. Respectful criticism - wish Vembu addressed this aspect more.
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Anjali M.
Love the practical advice here! As someone working in a deep tech startup, the "ship vitamins" approach makes so much sense. We've been doing exactly this - selling smaller solutions while developing our core AI platform. It works!
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Sanjay P.
Vembu always speaks with such clarity. The competition model he suggests for government procurement is interesting - could really help identify the best Indian tech solutions without bureaucrats trying to pick winners.
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Neha T.
As an engineer, this is so motivating! Time to stop complaining about funding and actually build something meaningful 👩‍💻 The "roll up your sleeves" mentality is exactly what we need more of in India.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Tags:
Zoho Sridhar Vembu Indian Startups Deep Tech Piyush Goyal Technology Innovation
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