About me
“True entrepreneurship isn’t just about building unicorns—it’s about empowering the dreamers in India’s heartland to create sustainable livelihoods and lasting impact.”
My Story: From Corporate Dreams to Bharat’s Ground Reality
I didn’t start my entrepreneurial journey thinking about “Bharat.” Like most middle-class kids from Odisha, I dreamed of corporate success, foreign degrees, and Silicon Valley glory.
But life had different plans.
When I first stepped into India’s handloom villages in 2015 to build Classystreet, I discovered something profound: the most innovative entrepreneurs aren’t in Bangalore’s tech parks—they’re in the bylanes of Sambalpur villages, the cotton fields of Gujarat, and the silk workshops of Varanasi.
These artisans had been running sustainable businesses for generations, creating products that the world admired, yet struggling to reach customers beyond their immediate geography. They didn’t need fancy pitch decks or VC funding—they needed someone who understood both their craft and the digital ecosystem.
That realization changed everything for me.
My Mission: Democratizing Entrepreneurship Across Bharat
Today, as a Mentor for Change with NITI Aayog, founder of Classystreet and Webverbal, I’ve dedicated my career to a simple but powerful mission:
Making entrepreneurship accessible, understandable, and achievable for every dreamer across Bharat—regardless of their English fluency, technical background, or geographical location.
What “Bharat-First Entrepreneurship” Means to Me
Bharat-First isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a fundamental shift in how we think about building businesses in India:
- Local Wisdom Meets Global Markets: Helping traditional businesses leverage digital tools without losing their authentic identity
- Tier 2/3 City Focus: Recognizing that India’s next wave of innovation will come from smaller cities, not just metro hubs
- Vernacular Entrepreneurship: Supporting founders who think in Hindi, Tamil, or Bengali but need to compete globally
- Sustainable Growth Over Unicorn Dreams: Building profitable, lasting businesses rather than chasing valuation bubbles
- Community-Centric Approach: Understanding that Indian entrepreneurship thrives on relationships, trust, and long-term thinking
My Work: Where Bharat Meets Business
As NITI Aayog Mentor for Change
Through this prestigious program, I work directly with India’s most promising grassroots innovators:
- Student Innovators – Young minds from ATL labs of different schools and engineering colleges in Tier 2/3 cities who have brilliant ideas but lack business guidance
- Early-Stage Founders – First-generation entrepreneurs building solutions for local problems with global potential
- Grassroots Innovators – Artisans, farmers, and small business owners looking to scale through digital transformation
Real Impact Stories:
- Mentored over 300 tribal women artisans in Jajpur, Odisha—through a partnership with Navajeevan Society under Tata Trusts—to help them harness the power of digital storytelling and amplify their craft to wider markets.
- Guided a Tamil Nadu agri-tech founder to secure their first institutional funding
- Mentored a Gujarati textile entrepreneur to build a sustainable supply chain connecting 50+ villages
Through Classystreet: Handloom Heritage Meets E-commerce
Classystreet isn’t just an e-commerce platform—it’s a movement to preserve India’s textile heritage while providing sustainable livelihoods to artisan communities.
Our Impact:
- 200+ Artisan Partners across 15 states
- ₹1+ Crore in direct artisan income generated
- 2000+ traditional crafts preserved and promoted globally
- Zero Middleman Model ensuring 50% of profits reach artisans directly
The Bharat Insight: We learned that artisans don’t just sell products—they sell stories, traditions, and cultural heritage. Our success came from understanding this emotional connection and translating it for modern consumers.
Through Webverbal: Democratizing Business Knowledge
Webverbal was born from a simple observation: most business content in India is written for English-speaking, metro-based entrepreneurs. But what about the brilliant minds in Indore, Coimbatore, or Bhubaneswar who think in their native languages but dream globally?
Our Approach:
- Experience-Based Learning: Every article comes from real entrepreneurial journeys, not theoretical knowledge
- Local Context, Global Ambition: Addressing challenges specific to Indian markets while maintaining global perspectives
- Accessible Language: Complex business concepts explained in simple, relatable terms
- Community Building: Creating networks of support for founders across different cities and stages
My Writing Philosophy: Honest Stories from the Trenches
Writing has always been my way of processing the entrepreneurial journey—the victories, failures, and everything in between.
What You’ll Find Here:
- Unfiltered Founder Stories: Real challenges, real solutions, real outcomes
- Bharat Market Insights: Understanding consumer behavior, cultural nuances, and business opportunities across different regions
- Practical Business Frameworks: Tools and strategies tested in Indian market conditions
- Personal Reflections: The inner journey of entrepreneurship—dealing with failure, finding purpose, maintaining relationships
My Core Belief: True entrepreneurship is as much about inner growth as external success. The businesses that last are built by founders who understand themselves as deeply as they understand their markets.
Why Bharat Needs Different Entrepreneurship Narratives
The Silicon Valley playbook doesn’t always work in Sultanpur. The strategies that succeed in South Mumbai might fail in South Chennai. Here’s why:
Cultural Context Matters
- Relationship-First Business: Indian customers buy from people they trust, not just brands they recognize
- Extended Decision-Making: Purchase decisions often involve families, communities, and multiple stakeholders
- Value-Conscious Consumers: Price sensitivity combined with quality expectations creates unique positioning challenges
Market Realities Are Different
- Digital Divide: Building for smartphone-first users who might be internet-second users
- Language Preferences: Even English-speaking customers prefer vernacular communication for emotional purchases
- Infrastructure Variations: Solutions that work in Bangalore might not work in Bhubaneswar due to infrastructure differences
Success Metrics Must Evolve
- Impact Over Valuation: Measuring success through lives touched, communities empowered, and sustainable growth
- Profitability Over Fundraising: Building businesses that generate cash flow rather than dependency on external funding
- Community Building Over User Acquisition: Creating loyal, engaged communities rather than just download numbers
My Current Focus: Building Bharat’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Webverbal’s Evolution
We’re transforming Webverbal from a content platform to a comprehensive ecosystem for Bharat’s entrepreneurs:
Upcoming Initiatives:
- Vernacular Content Expansion: Business guidance in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, and other regional languages
- Founder Mentorship Circles: Peer-to-peer learning networks for entrepreneurs across different cities
- Local Market Research: Deep-dive insights into Tier 2/3 city consumer behavior and business opportunities
- Partnership Network: Connecting founders with resources, mentors, and markets
MyBrandPitch: Democratizing Brand Building
MyBrandPitch (launching soon) will help startup founders build compelling brand narratives without expensive agencies or complex processes.
The Bharat Need: Every artisan, service provider, and small business owner has a story worth telling. We’re building tools to help them tell it effectively.
Personal Philosophy: Success Redefined
After years of building businesses and mentoring founders, I’ve learned that true success isn’t measured in unicorn valuations or TechCrunch headlines.
Real Success Looks Like:
- A handloom weaver in Odisha selling directly to customers in Germany
- A student from a government college building a profitable tech business
- A small-town entrepreneur creating jobs for their community
- A traditional business successfully adapting to digital markets
My Driving Questions:
- How can we make entrepreneurship education accessible in every Indian language?
- What business models work best for India’s diverse markets?
- How do we preserve cultural authenticity while scaling globally?
- What role can technology play in preserving traditional livelihoods?
Let’s Build Bharat’s Entrepreneurial Future Together
If you’re an entrepreneur, creator, or dreamer who believes that India’s next wave of innovation will come from its heartland, I’d love to connect with you.
Ways to Engage:
- Read and Share: Explore insights on building businesses for and from Bharat
- Collaborate: Partner with us on initiatives that support grassroots entrepreneurship
- Connect: Share your entrepreneurial journey and learn from others
- Contribute: Help us create content and resources that serve Bharat’s entrepreneurs
Quick Facts About Me
Full Name: Debansh Das Sharma
Current Roles:
- Entrepreneur & Serial Founder
- Mentor for Change with NITI Aayog
- Advocate for Bharat-First Entrepreneurship
Companies Founded/Leading:
- Classystreet – Connecting Indian artisans to global markets
- Webverbal – Democratizing business knowledge for Indian entrepreneurs
- MyBrandPitch – Simplifying brand building for startups (Launching Soon)
Core Passions:
- Grassroots entrepreneurship and innovation
- Indian handloom and traditional crafts preservation
- Writing authentic, experience-based business content
- Meditation and mindful leadership
- Mentoring first-generation entrepreneurs
Geographic Focus: Tier 2/3 cities across India, with special emphasis on Eastern and Central regions
Languages: English, Hindi, Odia (and learning Tamil!)
Current Mission: Building sustainable support systems for entrepreneurs who dream in vernacular languages but aspire to compete globally
Connect & Collaborate
I believe the best business relationships start with genuine conversations. Whether you’re:
- A fellow entrepreneur navigating similar challenges
- An artisan or traditional business owner exploring digital opportunities
- A student with big dreams and limited resources
- An investor interested in Bharat-focused innovations
- Simply someone curious about entrepreneurship beyond the metros
Let’s Connect:
“The future of Indian entrepreneurship isn’t just about building the next unicorn—it’s about creating thousands of sustainable, profitable businesses that lift entire communities. That’s the Bharat I’m building for.”
Frequently Asked Questions
About My Journey
Q: What drove you to focus on Bharat-centric entrepreneurship? A: My transformation began during Classystreet’s early days when I spent months in handloom villages. I discovered incredible business acumen and innovation among artisans who had never heard of “business models” or “customer acquisition.” They had been running sustainable enterprises for generations. This made me realize that entrepreneurship education needed to flow both ways—we had as much to learn from traditional businesses as they had to learn from modern digital tools.
Q: How do you balance traditional business wisdom with modern entrepreneurship? A: It’s not about choosing one over the other—it’s about integration. Traditional businesses excel at customer relationships, quality focus, and sustainable practices. Modern entrepreneurship brings scalability, digital reach, and data-driven decision making. The magic happens when you combine the relationship-first approach of traditional businesses with the growth mindset of modern startups.
Q: What’s your biggest learning from mentoring Tier 2/3 city entrepreneurs? A: The biggest learning is that context matters more than content. A growth strategy that works in Mumbai might fail in Madurai not because the entrepreneurs are less capable, but because the market dynamics, customer behavior, and resource availability are different. Successful mentoring requires understanding local contexts deeply, not just applying universal principles.
About My Work & Impact
Q: How is Classystreet different from other e-commerce platforms? A: Classystreet is built around artisan empowerment, not just product sales. We focus on storytelling—every product comes with the artisan’s story, the craft’s heritage, and the community’s impact. Our zero-middleman model ensures 70% of profits reach artisans directly. We’re not just selling products; we’re preserving cultural heritage and creating sustainable livelihoods.
Q: What does being a NITI Aayog Mentor for Change involve? A: As a Mentor for Change, I work with startups, students, and grassroots innovators across India. This involves one-on-one mentoring sessions, participating in national innovation challenges, conducting workshops in Tier 2/3 cities, and providing strategic guidance on business development, fundraising, and market entry. The program allows me to impact entrepreneurship at a national scale while staying connected to ground realities.
Q: What’s the vision behind Webverbal? A: Webverbal aims to democratize business knowledge for Indian entrepreneurs. Most business education is either too theoretical or too Western-focused. We create content that’s practical, experience-based, and contextually relevant for Indian markets. Our goal is to make high-quality business education accessible regardless of someone’s educational background, geographical location, or economic status.
About Bharat-First Entrepreneurship
Q: What exactly does “Bharat-First” mean in your context? A: Bharat-First means building businesses that understand and serve India’s diverse, complex, and culturally rich markets. It’s about creating solutions that work for the auto-rickshaw driver in Kanpur as well as the software engineer in Hyderabad. It means designing for vernacular languages, cultural nuances, price sensitivities, and relationship-driven business models that characterize most of India.
Q: How do you see the future of entrepreneurship in smaller Indian cities? A: The future is incredibly bright. Smaller cities have lower operational costs, deeper community connections, and often better work-life balance. With improving digital infrastructure and growing consumer awareness, entrepreneurs in these cities can build sustainable businesses serving both local and global markets. The next wave of Indian innovation will come from founders who understand local problems deeply and have the tools to solve them scalably.
Q: What role does language play in your entrepreneurship approach? A: Language is crucial because it’s how people think, feel, and make decisions. Many brilliant entrepreneurs in India are more comfortable expressing complex ideas in their native languages than in English. We’re working on making business education and tools available in regional languages because innovation shouldn’t be limited by language barriers.
About My Philosophy & Approach
Q: How do you define entrepreneurial success? A: Success isn’t just about valuations or exit strategies. Real success is building businesses that create sustainable value—for customers, employees, communities, and society. It’s about solving real problems profitably while maintaining personal integrity and relationships. A successful entrepreneur improves lives while building a life worth living.
Q: What’s your advice for first-generation entrepreneurs from smaller cities? A: Start with local problems and local customers. Your geographical location is often an advantage, not a limitation—you understand local markets better than anyone else. Focus on building strong fundamentals: customer relationships, product quality, and sustainable unit economics. Digital tools can help you scale, but they can’t replace the basics of good business.
Q: How important is preserving cultural identity while scaling businesses? A: It’s not just important—it’s often your competitive advantage. Cultural authenticity creates emotional connections that purely functional products can’t match. Look at successful Indian brands like Fabindia or Tanishq—they’ve scaled globally while maintaining their cultural roots. The key is understanding what makes your cultural identity unique and translating that into business value.
Practical Questions
Q: How can traditional businesses adapt to digital transformation? A: Start small and be strategic. You don’t need to digitize everything at once. Begin with one digital touchpoint—maybe a WhatsApp business account or a simple website. Focus on maintaining your existing customer relationships while gradually expanding your digital presence. The goal is to enhance your traditional strengths with digital tools, not replace them.
Q: What resources do you recommend for entrepreneurs in smaller cities? A: Beyond Webverbal content, I recommend connecting with local entrepreneurship communities, attending NITI Aayog programs, joining online founder groups, and finding mentors who understand your specific context. Don’t try to copy Silicon Valley strategies blindly—adapt them to your local reality.
Q: How can someone connect with you for mentoring or collaboration? A: I’m always open to meaningful conversations with fellow entrepreneurs, especially those working on Bharat-focused innovations. Connect with me on LinkedIn, engage with Webverbal content, or reach out directly. I particularly enjoy mentoring first-generation entrepreneurs and those working at the intersection of technology and traditional businesses.