LeanSpark

India is entering a decade where ingenuity under constraint will decide who leads and who falls behind. LeanSpark shows how India’s 'high-tech jugaad' is turning scarcity into an innovation superpower―across drones and EVs, fintech and AI, sports, space and public policy. It distils a decade of research and fieldwork into a practical playbook for doing more with less, and for doing it at scale.

This book will help you:

• Build frugal, high-tech ventures that start small but scale smart, using the LeanSpark attributes of lean execution, purposeful simplicity, adaptive scalability and systemic sustainability.
• Design products, services and policies that are affordable, resilient and environmentally conscious―without sacrificing ambition or quality.
• Apply the Frugal Innovation Canvas (FIC) to turn constraints into launchpads, whether you are in a start-up, large company, social enterprise or government.
• Learn from real stories: from drones transforming sports broadcasting and DPIs reshaping finance, to ISRO’s space missions and India’s frugal AI revolution.
• Translate India’s frugal ingenuity into frameworks you can use in any country facing limits of capital, infrastructure or climate.

Who is LeanSpark for?

• Entrepreneurs and founders who want to build capital-efficient, tech-enabled businesses in India and beyond.
• Leaders in corporates, government and non-profits who must deliver more impact with tighter budgets and higher scrutiny.
• Investors, policy thinkers and students looking for a grounded counterpoint to resource-heavy Silicon Valley models.

If you care about innovation that is affordable, scalable and humane, this book is written for you.


What’s inside LeanSpark?

• Section I – LeanSpark Ventures: stories of founders who built 'bold ideas on bare-bones budgets' in EVs, drones, retail, food and more.
• Section II – LeanSpark Culture: how festivals, foundations, educators and ecosystem builders create 'resource-light, impact-heavy' change.
• Section III – LeanSpark Nation: India’s LeanSpark moments―from ISRO and digital public infrastructure to frugal AI and sports―showing innovation at national scale.
• LeanSpark Toolkit: The Frugal Innovation Canvas and practical tools you can use to frugalise your own venture or initiative.

Each chapter blends narrative with a clear analytical lens, so readers get both inspiration and a reusable framework.

Jaideep Prabhu is professor of marketing and Nehru Professor of Indian Business at Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, where he is also director of the Centre for India and Global Business and vice dean for faculty. A specialist in innovation, strategy and international business, his research on high-tech and frugal innovation spans both emerging and developed economies. He is the co-author of Jugaad Innovation, an international bestseller; Frugal Innovation, winner of the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) Management Book of the Year award; and How Should a Government Be? He is a fellow of the British Academy and has played cricket at Lords.
Priyank Narayan is a faculty member at the department of entrepreneurship and management at Ashoka University, where he also serves as the founding director of the InfoEdge Centre for Entrepreneurship. Before joining Ashoka, he spent many years as an entrepreneur and worked as a management consultant. He is a recipient of IBM’s Global Faculty Award and teaches as guest faculty at IIT Delhi, IIM Ahmedabad and HEC Paris. Priyank is the co-author of Leapfrog: Six Practices to Thrive, a national bestseller, and holds a PhD from IIT Delhi. He is also a visiting fellow at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK.
Mukesh Sud, a former faculty at IIM Ahmedabad (IIMA), was previously an entrepreneur. A visiting fellow at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge, he continues to teach both at IIMA and Ashoka University. His co-authored book, Leapfrog: Six Practices to Thrive, is a national bestseller and has been translated into many languages. His next book, Simple Thinking: Solving Problems with Simplicity, is due for release in early 2026. Mukesh is currently working on a collection of short stories.