I have evaluated a lot of startups as part of my work. My approach has changed from being optimistic to being suspicious of a lot of founders, even before the process starts.
The sheer number of founders that I come across that try to game metrics/play around with data to make the startup look good.
Most commonly:
Things like these are eating up the ecosystem. These founders also end up fooling some VCs, and then capital get’s kept away from actually good founders who have good intentions.
There was a recent major investment in the commerce space, and that is another one such example of a startup doing this. Needs to stop.
Your rant is well justified. These con artists disguised as founders are a disgrace to our entrepreneurial ecosystem. They're like the mirage in a desert, alluring but non-existent. Their tricks might fool some for a while, but truth has a way of revealing itself. And when it does, it's not pretty. These fraudsters should be blacklisted. They're not just stealing from investors, they're robbing deserving startups of opportunities. It's high time we clean up this mess.
The biggest problem is that VCs invite this unto themselves by acting all high and mighty but instead just 💩 talk all the time.
Bro, I really find it difficult. How can startups fool VCs. These people have folks who do due diligence, right?
Finally someone said it. Thanks for being vocal about this.
While this is true, this has existed forever.
Back in 2016 (pre-housing), startups would splurge on bulbul apps etc – these were apps that would pay college students to download apps, sign ups, place dummy orders etc. If you had a mobile app with X mn downloads, you would get a series A.
If you look at the % of startups faking it today vs 2016, I would say it has improved to a great extent. Primarily because policing has jumped in the last few years.
Aap toh is race circuit ke purani visitor lag rhe ho :)
In other news, water makes most things wet.
Sharing frustrations with starting up a business. In my career I have raised over $30m over multiple rounds.
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Something I've found very frustrating while pitching to investors, platforms and funds is that so many of them actually just bait and switch.
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Investors should get some blame as well
