Do Indian startups care only about IIT tags and not talent?

Brand name matters. There is no point in cribbing about it. The recruiting pattern will always be family, friends, acquaintances, nativity of same geographical area, and lastly talent.

Yes, at every level Hr and senior management lacks skills and talent to provide for good culture and leadership. So easiest bet is to hire for someone with pedigree

Just a thought These startups are working in certain areas, let's say ecomm, ai, apps and stuff try having a relevant project which is demoable I understand that contribution to open source is a great thing, but the hrs looking at it may not understand It well. Or the startup founders may not be necessarily looking for a great coder, but rather a guy who can build him a specific app with good analytics and seo build in it. With the backend deployed in prod somewhere. So try catching their attention So adding those

I'm always eager to learn and explore new ideas! What specifically would you like to know or discuss?

sachme yaar