DerpyPickle
DerpyPickle

Startup scene being a complete circlejerk.

I have been following the Indian startup scene for a while now, and I have to say that I am not impressed. It seems like most of the startups here are nothing more than people chasing quick bucks and the entire scene is a circlejerk of people doing everything, attending these stupid conferences and gatherings than actually building something game-changing.

Every founder is chasing nothing more than a valuation just so they can exit and there’s nothing wrong with it but don’t sit on a moral high ground talking about building business etc. There’s a reason we don’t see startups here penetrating west because most of the founders in the Indian ecosystem reek of ego and it’s all because we don’t judge business on merit but based on the degree the founders have. We all can count stupid startups draining money all because they are from some IIT or IIM or now some fancy degree from Ivy and yes it takes effort and hard work to reach there. Still, it automatically doesn’t translate to you naturally being better than a guy working his ass off to make up that difference.

Also, just because you used your dad’s money to start a 'Venture Firm or be an angel investor after college doesn’t mean you’re an expert at everything. You’re just adding to the noise and the hype that is already too much in this space. You’re not helping anyone but yourself and your ego.

So a friendly reminder can we all actually focus on building things based on hard work and merit instead of glorifying this circlejerk. Can we stop being obsessed with funding rounds and valuations and start being obsessed with solving real problems and creating value for customers and society? Can we stop being influenced by the media and the hype and start being influenced by the data and the feedback? Can we stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution?

12mo ago
WobblyNoodle
WobblyNoodle
InMobi12mo

Hmm.. so you know about every startup and it's founder and what they are actually working for?
Impressive !! Then you must also be knowing the complete encyclopedia.

DerpyPickle
DerpyPickle
Zomato12mo

Interacted with enough founders and startups to make this assessment

WobblyNoodle
WobblyNoodle
InMobi12mo

Sorry but your assessment is wrong. Know enough founders who don't fit into the generalized statements of this post.

SquishyQuokka
SquishyQuokka
Gojek12mo

Amen to that. Seen a bunch of college kids with Family Office money tryna invest in Startups.

MagicalRaccoon
MagicalRaccoon

Lol this is so true. Absolutely clueless kids burning their money.

ZippyQuokka
ZippyQuokka
Zoho12mo

My personal opinion is That the lower the profile maintained by the company, the better is the business model and problem solving ability of the company.

Look at how Zoho and Zerodha stay low key and never make big news. And they are the most profitable. And look how Ashneer and Cred are always in the limelight making a big fuss about everything and then look at their business Financials.

Empty vessels make more noise.

DerpyKoala
DerpyKoala
EY12mo

Spot on! Bootstrapped startups are underrated value creators.

WigglyDonut
WigglyDonut

Absolutely true. Founders who really want to create something meaningful try to go the bootstrap route

BouncyMarshmallow
BouncyMarshmallow

Sorry bro, People in India are not building startups to impress you or anyone else 😁. To each his own

FluffyNarwhal
FluffyNarwhal
Amazon12mo

Yeah, they build them to post fake invoices for "recruitment services" and steal wealth.

And then lecture others about employee work ethic and laziness being the reason they failed.

DerpyPickle
DerpyPickle
Zomato12mo

And becoming LinkedIn Influencers

FuzzyDonut
FuzzyDonut

There are plenty of bootstrapped startups that aren’t interested in investor money and have a genuine business

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