@Royalflush - Founder 
 "All founders are a**holes"

Software Developer

Pretty well written, most founders are considered a**holes because of their decisions, vision and execution at some point or the other. 
  
 It's always easy to criticize for those who have never been a founder themselves.

Generalist

Consultant

Welcome to Indian Startups's Private Community

All founders are a**holes

Excellent blog from Shashank (Whole Truth founder), on why most founders are a**holes

Founder

Excellent blog from Shashank (Whole Truth founder), on why most founders are a**holes- Grapevine

Amazing blog by Shashank Mehta- founder of Whole Truth

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Many of them are egoistic, surrounded by yes men/women, want to be reminded of how great they are, being pursued at all times 

Have you met ones who aren't like this? Or atleast less?

Are all founders a$$hole-ly?

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.

Startup founders are mafia bosses!

Incredibly myopic and pessimistic view. I'd suggest trying to be a founder yourself once before judging them. 
  
 Not every startup needs to elevate human condition, plus you still need money to make that happen. 
  
 Most founders don't actually earn much compared to jobs they could've had in companies. All you see is the flashy idiots like Kunal Shah and Byju. Not the bootstrapper shutting down their 10th project for xyz reasons. Because no one likes talking about their failures, and no one listens to people who fail. Only those who succeed.  
  
 You have a problem with the human condition buddy, not founders. Humans can be real shitty given the right kind of conditions. Everyone's fallible, even you.  
  
 If you think you can be a better founder than some of the names you mentioned, then you're only indulging in holier than thou behaviour, which you allegedly hate about founders.  
  
 I do agree with some of the things you said, but much of it is way off.

https://twitter.com/bhash/status/1684955165865213952?t=njFwNN-WfHqYdF-eTfxVcg&s=19

What he is not telling that, at the end of 5-7 years of usage you will need to replace your whole battery which will cost 60% of the scooter value.

Why do founders lie?

Product Manager

Something as a founder I have decided over the years.
Everywhere around you, you hear stories of founders who worked 16-18 hours a day, made their team work as hard, were assholes, shouted at people, made people cry.

You start to think, that's an absolute must to succeed. 
I don't think it is. For every 2-3 founders that are toxic, there's the one good natured founder who succeeds. They're rare, but they do exist. 

1) I've been in many toxic jobs. I've hated them, and had some form of anxiety. To become successful, if I subject people through the same, what was all of this for? 
2) I'm not saying I'll keep it too chill at my startup. I actually expect people to work harder than typical corporates, but only if they have good ESOPs in the early days, a chance to actually learn and do well (and that should be pre-aligned) 
3) But what about the mission? Don't you want to make sure your mission becomes true, whatever you're chasing actually reaches 1000s/millions of people? Sure. But it solves for many vacations for me, and maybe better lives for my kids, and perhaps some problem gets solved. But what if it doesn't. It cannot come at the cost of miserable lives for my team. I'll never be proud of my work if that happens. 

We all have a decision. Why just be a successful founder? Why not have a higher aim... be a successful non toxic founder? You'd be truly 1 in a million then. 

That's how I'll always see it, I hope.

Note: Okay with failing, will not create Toxic Culture

Your true test will come when investor pressure arrives at your doorstep.

Data Scientist

Any thoughts on this. Why do Founders always portray themselves as superheroes? Is normal job only meant for peasants like us?

Software Engineer

Founders be sharing quotes about life, learning and all sorts of things on social media, but when you see them in real, you'll get a clear sense of ego, pride and "I know it all" vibe, so clear in the way they talk. Please be a human first, founder second. 

"Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy."

Norman Schwarzkopf

Founders in today's era

Saw the latest interview of Bhavish Aggarwal with Shraddha (Yourstory). He looks very good, passion driven and a real change maker.  What do you folks think? Anyone who have worked directly or indirectly worked with him?

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!

People way overestimate the life of founders

Oh no poor founders, they have to pay fair salary to their employees.

Of late, with Koo shutting down, Unacademy in the rafters, I've seen really intelligent, logical folks stand behind the founders of such moronic companies. Is the act of building shit, money burning companies with no use , more important than not building something in today's time?

Why do we lose common sense when it comes to successful founders?

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While people jost the jobs, founders will enjoy their vacations in Maldives. Don't worry India me bhi yahi hone wala hai abhi 70hrs ka demand hoga, jab startup bankruptcy file karenge tab founders massive cash deposits ke sath vacations pe jayenge, buy big houses and mercedes. And later blame the people because we didn't put 70hrs enough.

Unlike WeWork’s misfortunes, former CEO and co-founder Adam Neumann has seen a different financial trajectory. 

WeWork bankruptcy: Co-founder Adam Neumann’s wealth soared as company struggled

Dear founders. Still want to play victim card???

Product Owner

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 🌟

Embracing Empathy and Entrepreneurship on Grapevine 🌱

Backend Engineer

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Are they really great entrepreneurs or do they just know how to game the VC funding system, sell off their equity to generate wealth for themselves and don't possess the empathy to care about the many impressionable young people who devote nights and weekends for their startups and then are supposed to take the hit when funders ask "What about corporate profitability?"

Can we stop idolising founders?

The problem with Good #founders  is they will not solve your problem, that is the worst. They will keep shouting at you about the problem, they will keep telling you to fix it, but they will not solve it for you, until you give up, then they would show you the right way. They want you to come up with a solution and learn the holistic way of doing business. They don't accept excuses and they will be the only ones who will help you grow. Don't resign out of frustration, fall in love with problem and find a solution, don't sleep until you find it. Hating the founder is just gonna make you realise after an year or two about how wrong you were!

I love founders who will not take BS, who will give hints but not help. I love them.

#consistency #growth
#startups

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