Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande recently took to LinkedIn to draw parallels between Bengaluru’s startup culture and Kota’s IIT-JEE frenzy. In his post, Deshpande pointed out that just as thousands enrol in coaching institutes in the “Mecca of IIT-JEE" with high hopes, only a select few manage to succeed. He noted that Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India, is caught in a similar “ecosystem delusion" today, where many arrive with big dreams, but only a few achieve success.
“Bangalore today reminds me of Kota in 2005," Deshpande wrote on LinkedIn as he highlighted the “ecosystem delusion" gripping the city.
He added, “The Mecca of IITJEE. Every year, 4-5 single-digit rankers from one coaching class alone. The best teachers, access to the best books, and from messes to stationery/xerox stores to rental PGs – an ecosystem designed for you to succeed."
He, however, pointed out a significant issue in this seemingly perfect setup, noting, “There were 40K students there. Of which 1k would clear. 5-7k would give serious attempts but fall short. The other 30-35k just assumed that being in Kota meant JEE rank was done. They believed that sitting in the same classes, eating in the same mess, and owning the same books as the top guys was enough."
“So padhai kam, baatein zyada. They fell for their own stories. They thought talking about solving Irodov = putting in the effort to solve each problem," Deshpande remarked.
He then drew a parallel to Bengaluru, underscoring a similar “all talk" situation. Deshpande added that people with a “PowerPoint presentation", or “LinkedIn accept from a VC" think that they’re already a founder and “halfway to unicorn" if they attend the same events as people who have made it big.
Deshpande went on to compare coffee shops in Bengaluru to the messes of Kota, where startup discussions dominate the atmosphere.
He stressed that while India needs founders and companies to be built, the current environment in Bengaluru fosters an unhealthy belief that success is imminent just by being part of the ecosystem. “All these founders who come to Bangalore with the hope of building need to be protected and supported," he emphasised.
He concluded his post with the words: “These city debates (or any generalised debates) are never helpful. But the only So-What for me is – if you’re a founder and starting up in Bangalore, distance yourself from the ecosystem and stay closer to your business. And see if you can find mentors outside the city too."
Take a look at the entire post here:
The LinkedIn post soon went viral on the platform and elicited mixed reactions from people. An individual said, “I am from Kota. Living in Kota. Have lived in Mumbai & Bangalore extensively. I agree to what you said. Except that, in my expericene – those single digit ranks, those unicorns, and concentration of these high performing entities is due to the power of ecosystem. India needs more such ecosystems spread. Jaipur seems to b be becoming one, specially for DTC fashion."
“I disagree Shantanu Deshpande. Unlike the limited pie of JEE tankers, the pie of possible startups i.e products that can add value to a user is limitless. We need these 1000 dreamers or pretenders to start with for 10 of them to transition to builders for 2 of them to create lasting value. Let a thousand flowers bloom. Let them have the license to pretend, dream, fail and grow," added another.
A third chimed in, “Focus on business >> networking for sure. But doesn’t your circle help? Decluttering is important, but I would love to shift to Bangalore only for that extra external motivation."
“Some people make it, most don’t. Your post applies to literally everything: people trying to make it in Hollywood, people in Silicon Valley, athletes in college trying it to the major leagues, etc. Respectfully, your post doesn’t say much," commented a fourth.
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