Trust comes before contracts in India.

Everyone told me that. "Doing business in India? Two years minimum." I thought they were exaggerating. Until I experienced it myself.

I flew to Mumbai to sell facial recognition software. 40-slide deck, competitive pricing, proven technology. I walked into every meeting leading with the product. Months passed. Not a single deal moved. The tech was solid. The price was right. Everything looked perfect on paper. But paper was exactly the problem.

Then one partner did something different. He opened my deck, looked at two slides, and closed the laptop. "Let's have dinner first." We spent three hours at a hotel buffet that night. Eight curries. Family, cricket, why we each started our companies. Not one word about business. That dinner was the real meeting.

The next morning, our meeting lasted thirty minutes. The deal that had stalled for months closed in a week. My deck didn't change. My pricing didn't change. The only thing that changed was that he trusted me. Once trust was there, the contract was a formality.

If you're entering the Indian market — cancel the presentation. Book a dinner.