founders are the worst?

Most startup’s are not founded with great altruistic purpose to elevate human condition. Most startup’s are founded where founders know they can make money or earn status points through little schemes of leveraging their network of investors. Most of them know they can earn more income by just raising some money from friends or VCs. Build a small tech tool and burn through money trying to acquire and retain customers. All this while hiring 100s of employees selling false narratives. What bugs me the most isn’t the thousands of people getting laid off, salary corrections or bankruptcies, it is the mafiaesque organisation built to “create wealth for some by exploitation of countless others” Most startup founders use brute force of content and media coupled with ignorance of people to perpetuate this cycle. It’s the virtue signalling and holier than thou attitude of most founders and VCs justifying all their mindless brutality in the name of strategy and growth which destroys aspirations and outcomes for the many. It’s more relevant in India because of large scale ignorance about money and large scale trust on educated individuals with the right college tags! If you have seen sopranos, most founders are like Anthony soprano - summarily violent, manipulative and ruthless behaviour primarily driven by selfish greed but juxtaposed with moments of vulnerability and struggle justifying his action with a facade of providing for his family. *Replace Anthony soprano with your founder/ceo name* 1. VSS was playing fast and lose with rbi regulations resulting in stock crash and layoffs 2. Byju’s systematically destroyed his own company and wealth of his employees just to ensure he retains majority control 3. Ashneer G and his wife manipulated company books 4. Zerodha founders cheated in chess match or lied about their system failures which lost a lot of capital PS: I refer to most founders because there are few exceptions who don’t fit into this narrative.

Absolutely sad to see the state of the startups, most of them. I am a founder myself, and this is a post with equal disappointment with myself as much as it is for anyone else who relates. Look at all these companies that have raised shit tons of capital, and now make a fraction of money that has been invested in them. The raised money is spent on outsized, non business sense making acquisition costs, only to keep repeating it till the tap runs dry. Then when all stakeholders get bored, the service quality plummets, the employees are fired and whole sectors are admonished as being bad. But, my question is, which sector where large sums of money was invested in early days have come out with flying colours. Fucking nothing ! Edtech, proptech, agritech, ecommerce etc. etc. etc. kuch bhi nahi. Is there any sector where a startup which has raised in the 100s of millions in the first 5 years have actually built a sustainable business at any scale ? Then scaling down, isse acha, scale slowly. The worst part of this whole drama, is pushing the innovation wheel backward and destroying customer sentiment. Isse acha, raise less money inititally, build slowly, and only scale when the market is ready. Artifical growth makes no sense, unless you have a treasure chest that shall never run out. Even in that case, spend the money on assets and not on random acquisition costs, direct or indirect. As founders, let's do better, nahi ?

So I interviewed for a SaaS company serving US clients. I got selected after three rounds (basic email chat, built a project, technical coding round at last) and got selected. Finally, it was time to discuss salary and joining date with the CEO. He was impressed by the about section on my portfolio, where I mentioned that I like to go on treks, hikes, read books, lift weights, go on a run, etc. During our call he mentioned that everyone at the startup works 6-7days a week, 12hrs a day and asked if I'd be fine with it as I have a "happening life". I said that I'm not used to it but I'll manage and work in appropriate working hours. He seemed to agree on it. But he ghosted me after that, and when I pinged him in the email thread; he said he's not moving ahead with me because my other properties won't allow me to "work as much as other employees". How am I supposed to react to this lol

I've been in startups for the last 8 years. From Series B/C onwards to even a unicorn, over time worked at 3. One of them was an outright scam, raised many millions of $s from top investors, and then ultimately died. Also close with CXOs at decent sized startups, and there is a pattern out there. A few thoughts: 1. Being a startup founder is tough. There's pain. Some people thrive in pain. AKA Masochists. Know how to spot a founder who works 15 hours a day because they love their vision vs. somebody who works 15 hours a day because they're masochists. These people thrive in pain, and hence love to see you miserable as you slog away the hours under their leadership. There is absolutely no vision for the future that they have. They do it for the fame, money, and cause a lot of pain in the process. Nothing good comes out of it. Investors love this breed. 2. I wish I'd done more than just leave the scammy startup. At the point, I decided against whistleblowing. Because I thought there's so many people employed here, they would all be impacted. Over time, 200-300 people more joined after I left. Once the scam was caught, all of them lost their jobs. 3. I'm not a coder. I'm a generalist. Over time, my pay grew but not in line with my peers who went into consulting/VC and then came back to big tech/startups. Over time, you disadvantage yourself if you stick around as a generalist in startups for too long. The next team pays you at some premium over the last one, there's no step jump. You need to somehow find a successful startup early, and genuinely, that is impossible to game - even VCs have to bet on 20 to get it right. These are a few disjointed thoughts. I hope they give some insight. My only takeaways: - If you work at a scammy startup, don't stand it. At least, don't stick around. - I earn lesser than my peers (tier 1 undergrad), but I regret nothing. I love my work, and I'll never get over the kick. I cannot imagine working at a larger company ever again. - Ultimately, you have to be optimistic. Believe that India will grow, good founders will come around, magic will happen ❤️

IIT grad here building a venture backed startup. I think 99% of folks here believe that venture backed founders are super entitled and in a much "cosier" position than employees Just sharing a few facts about our journey so far if it helps anyone improve their perspectives- 1) Paying ourselves 33% of our campus salary & 60% of what we are paying to our employees (Talking about Pure Base Salary here, not including ESOPs) 2) Insane stress - You basically have to raise money to build (esp if its deeptech because of the high fixed costs) and there are predefined metrics you have to always chase, sometimes just beyond yourselves. Your product will be copied if it's good because well, they always have more money than you. You work 7 days a week for insane hours, chasing metrics required to be "afloat" 3) 99% of venture backed startups result in 0 liquidity gain for founders. So basically in all likeliness, everything is for a net negative return compared to if we took the campus job So, when you wholeheartedly bash founders as if they are sitting On a goldmine while you are toiling for THEIR gold Treasure, just understand that more likely than not, there is not really any gold but rather an irrational hope they are clinging to Also, Yes-we pay above market to our employees (100% hike for the last one) but the truth is some startups just Can't afford it. And ironically, there is a much higher looking down on these startups with meagurely paid founders rather than giants like Tech Mahindra paying peanuts to their employees while having a 1000% salary hike for the executives. Yeah, most startups need to do better but please appreciate if someone is atleast trying to do better because trust me, it's INSANELY HARD.. The number of posts I see about Flipkart making hundreds millionaires is way too less than the ones I see about pinpointing at every single mistake early stage startups do & I just wanted to express my opinion on it Peace!

Hi all , I’m IT professional and thinking of building something my own . I neither have any business experience nor any MBA degree . I grew up in middle class family with parents as govn employees. Any guidance , from where can I start with?

I've been observing a concerning trend lately on this platform, and I believe it's high time we rethink the way we treat startup founders. Take a moment to consider the dedication and courage it takes to leave a secure job and venture into the world of entrepreneurship. I feel Companies like Dukaan, AppX etc were unnecessarily mocked here based on one side of opinion, I've had the privilege of working closely with a startup's CTO for the past two years, and it's been an eye-opening experience. Startups are like fragile ecosystems where every member plays a crucial role. However, what I've noticed is that sometimes employees who find it challenging to keep up with the dynamic startup environment tend to cast blame on the founders and the company culture. Let's remember, every startup is a journey of learning, growth, and innovation. Founders make mistakes, learn from them, and strive to create something meaningful. They invest their time, energy, and resources into building something from scratch. Instead of mocking them, we should applaud their courage and determination. But, what's even more disheartening is the toxic behavior exhibited by some employees here on Grapevine. It's disheartening to see individuals intentionally targeting someone's reputation due to personal grudges. Instead of resorting to negativity, let's try to understand the challenges startup founders face. Put yourself in their shoes; empathize with the pressure, uncertainty, and sleepless nights they endure to bring their visions to life. We should strive to be a community that supports and uplifts one another, especially those who are trying to make a difference in the business world. Let's promote constructive criticism and empathy, recognizing that we all have our unique journeys, struggles, and successes. #SupportStartups #EmpathyMatters #GrapevineCommunity 🌟

I am Thankful to the funding winter it has revealed true colors of so called Founders, who would not stop talking about culture, Growth, scale etc on Twitter and LinkedIn Take Byjus, for instance, they claim to be revolutionizing education, it's all a facade! All they care about is squeezing every penny out of parents' pockets. Putting large amount of people in debts they didn’t even signup for. And let's talk about Dukaan, shall we? The absolute 🤡 of a founder with zero empathy( 90% staff laidoff and the guts to project it as some AI ML innovation) These startup founders have lost touch with reality. They've become obsessed with valuation and funding rounds, completely forgetting the essence of why they started in the first place. It's all about becoming the next "unicorn" and impressing investors, while the customers and sellers are left in the dust. Gone are the days of genuine innovation and passion for solving real-world problems. It's all about the money now, and they don't care who gets hurt along the way. The startup ecosystem has become a rat race, with everyone trying to outdo each other and sacrificing ethics and integrity in the process. It's sad to see the true colors of these startup founders shining through, and it's high time we demand more transparency, accountability, and genuine value from these so-called "disruptors." Enough with the facade, At the end all these founders will get an exit with generational wealth, the employee and people who have built it will be left in Dust. My laanat to all such founders and company. May the boat sink and hopefully someday we have accountability in place for these people.