Indian start-ups are going through a hard time, with many of them laying off employees for reasons like conserving cash for day-to-day operations. Since the start of this year, almost 8,000 employees have been laid off from various start-ups, indicating trouble brewing in the near future. Some estimates say that this number will likely increase as the year progresses. Other instances like Paytm’s Paytm mall losing nearly all of its valuation are painful examples of things going south in the Indian start-up scenario. However, to understand the current situation at hand, it is imperative that we start from the beginning with a healthy dose of context.