Dreamers & Doers: Abhilash Inumella on Choosing Health and Building for Bharat
How do you go from building viral social networks for millions to helping individuals decide what goes into their grocery basket? Abhilash Inumella, the mind behind Samosa Labs and now Dreamers & Doers, has lived through the highest peaks of the Indian startup ecosystem. After a stint at Facebook in Silicon Valley, Abhilash returned to India with a mission: to solve problems that truly resonate with the middle class and the "real" Bharat.
Abhilash's journey is a masterclass in adaptation. At IIIT Hyderabad, he discovered his passion for software, which led to a dual degree and a brief foray into research. However, the slow feedback cycles of academia didn't suit his high-energy, "on top of things" personality. "I wanted a setting with quick feedback cycles and rapid experimentation," he reflects. This drive led him to Silicon Valley, where he applied to 30 companies and received 23 offers, eventually joining Facebook before the itch to build his own venture brought him back to India in 2015.
The Samosa Labs Legacy
Before Dreamers & Doers, Abhilash founded Samosa Labs, a vernacular social network that became an entertainment sensation in the Telugu and Tamil markets. Competing with the likes of TikTok, Samosa Labs democratized content creation for rural India. "We had almost a million daily active users," Abhilash says. "We saw how a new creator could break out from nowhere if the content was good. That democratization was a massive problem we set out to solve."
Building for the 'Real' India
A recurring theme in Abhilash's philosophy is the divide between the "gated communities" of the urban elite and the rest of the country. "A lot of entrepreneurship happening today is very one-dimensional. It's built for people in IITs or gated communities with a Western outlook," he observes. "But India is somewhere else. Their economic aspirations and problems are largely ignored."
Abhilash believes that the biggest opportunities lie in building for the middle class and the "Bharat" that doesn't live in the metro bubbles. This mindset led him to his latest venture, Dreamers & Doers, where he is currently experimenting with tools that solve everyday friction points for common citizens.
Deciphering Health at the Grocery Shop
His latest product is deceptively simple but profoundly impactful: a camera-based tool that scans product barcodes to tell you if a food item is healthy. "Every product has nutritional information, but you still have to decipher it yourself," Abhilash explains. "We are giving a 0-100 rating instantly so people can make healthier choices without needing a nutrition degree."
This shift from "creators" to "health choices" highlights Abhilash's belief that entrepreneurs should either build something they want themselves or something for people who can't solve it for themselves. It's about practical utility and solving for unaddressed needs.
Abhilash's Leadership Lessons
- Empathy is a Strategy: Moving from a nuclear family to a large startup team taught Abhilash the value of emotional intelligence. "Acknowledging why someone feels a certain way is more effective than just demanding they agree with you," he notes.
- Hire 'Ultra-Motivated' People: The first three people Abhilash hired at Samosa all went on to start their own companies. He views this as a success, not a loss.
- Be Ruthless about Assumptions: Validate your product hypotheses as fast as possible to save years of energy and time.
- Stay on Top of Things: Like a sport, startup success is often decided "in the moment." You have to be proactive and agile.
The Future of Entrepreneurship in India
Abhilash remains incredibly optimistic about the Indian market but calls for a more diversified entrepreneurial landscape. He encourages founders to stop chasing Western-style copycats and instead look at the demographics of the country that are currently underserved. For Abhilash, the goal isn't just to build a company; it's to build a solution that makes life fundamentally better for those who need it most.
Abhilash's Journey at a Glance
- Silicon Valley Experience: Worked at Facebook and Google before returning to India.
- Viral Success: Samosa Labs reached 1M+ daily active users in vernacular markets.
- Current Mission: Empowering consumers with healthy choice tools at Dreamers & Doers.
About the Guest
Abhilash Inumella is the Founder of Dreamers & Doers and the former CEO of Samosa Labs. An alumnus of IIIT Hyderabad, Abhilash is a seasoned technologist who has spent his career at the intersection of consumer behavior and software. His experience ranges from scaling massive social networks to building focused AI tools. He is a passionate advocate for "Bharat-centric" innovation and believes that entrepreneurship is the most effective way to solve large-scale societal problems.
Dreamers & Doers is an innovation lab focused on building high-utility consumer products for the Indian market. Its latest offering helps users make informed health decisions through instant barcode scanning and nutrition analysis, bridging the gap between complex food labels and daily wellness.