https://www.reddit.com/r/StartUpIndia/comments/1if1t4b/reality_of_startup_founders_and_myths/
created by Agitated_War6153 on 01/02/2025 at 08:14 UTC
28 upvotes, 7 top-level comments (showing 7)
Hey all, I am usually a reddit lurker and love doom reading here. M, 26YO & a founder of a funded B2C startup with great traction and have gotten a reality check on how this ecosystem and India's job market works.
You just cannot raise those funds that you require where you can prove a point unless you are an IIT/IIM grad or have an ex-tag. Lets assume you are a founder with a non-IIT bachelors, so now you gotta try getting a 99.99999% CAT score and get into an IIM and then start a company? Or work for a FAANG before you start a company? I get the whole point of investor validation, but a lot of VCs miss out on great opportunities just because someone does not have pedigree.
I am looking to quit my startup and join a company by taking a lil compensation. I want to leave and understand how startups operate at the scale they are in (Growth, seed), raised a mil or two, 25-100 head count. I got a hard reality check on the job market in India thanks to this.
You know where people say that starting your company is the best MBA you can do and that you are fit for handling chaos and what not? It is only true to a certain extent, and I hope I break the biggest *Fairy Tales* that a lot of VC firms and accelerators preach. Remember that I am only speaking in regards to real founders, In my journey I have seen a lot and I mean ALOT of dumb founders
(Example: 2 years back in college, I was in my college incubator at around 9:30 PM working. There was this clown SaaS CEO/founder who was always the noisy one in the space, we were the only people in the whole space and he literally was in his vest and was talking so damn loudly to ensure I was hearing what he was saying, his conversation went as follows "Yeah I am catching a flight to come to Pune and sign the documents by our lawyer for the company incorporation. Tbh, it was done pretty affordably at just 1.5L. Oh and we closed the deal with this client for 1.5 Cr.". Yeah pretty damn stupid and dumb. who even spends that much on a private limited incorporation, he could have just used startupwala, but no he is stupid.)
I realised that the reason why 99% of startup fail is because 99% of them are stupid to begin with, the rest 1% is the actual competition and that is where you gotta compare yourself at. If you are not the guy above congrats, you are already close to making the cut.
Now, comping back to breaking the fairy tale, you inherently think that starting a company will teach you a lot, but after a certain while you do not grow, your growth is directly proportional to the scale and growth of the company. I mean think about it, initially you don't know shit, and you keep learning as you go but is it certain that you found PMF to continue your learning path? Nop! Hell, you are not even employable as a matter of fact. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING, even if your product has reasonable and quite noticeable traction, you still are not employable if you wanna quit and you do not have the pedigree or experience as your company is not under the top 50 startups of India LMAO. Dunzo's C suite went on to get fantastic roles in other companies even after they were wiped the floor with, but it is not the same for us.
It takes less than 50k and a 1 lakh deposit and withdrawal from your current account to be a founder, we are not a rare breed. I have been applying for PM roles and have realised that because I am a founder and a generalist I have been doing absolutely everything is what is holding everything back and most companies care about **specifics**. I have 4 different resumes tailored to different roles, I have linkedIn gold and could see that majority of the applications have masters for starting roles like a product analyst. I have come across a few notable companies ask directly if you are from IIT/IIM. Heck one of my application was rejected just 15 minutes later by an ATS. I try to cold text a few of my linkedIn connections (who btw has sent me requests) in the likes of "I wanna break into PM roles at companies at scale, would love to understand how it works from someone like you", not a single response. Like what is even the point of linkedIn? I understand that the market is really messed up rn, but how is this even sustainable? There was this one startup raised around 800k wanting an ops associate with 5 yoe, like you for real?
So, you want someone from an IIT/IIM for starting out or they either have 5 yoe in a notable start-up, but those notable gems of the country only hire someone from an IIT/IIM as well. So, where do the other half of quite talented people fit?
The only person who got back to me was when I texted the founder of a pretty young startup, like over 2 years old (a personal favourite). The person from the founders office got back to me and we had a call for an hour, he was like "We are not actively hiring atm, and definitely not for the role you are looking for. Lets have a chat with the CEO and see what he thinks, maybe we can start to build out that division, or we could utilise your skillset temporarily and then put you in the role you are looking for later". FYI, I am supposed to hear back from em in the next one week.
So, anyway IT IS EFFING HORRIBLE. I would like to know your thoughts on this and a discussion in the comment section will be great! And, my apologies if I am all over the place, I got pure rage atm.
Guys, I am not saying that I am smarter than anyone else, I do have a lot of learning to do as well. But, I am not as dumb as those founders that I have met who have raised significant capital from the likes of 100x, elevation etc (pedigree available) just to shut down ops in 2 years.
And, IIT/IIM/Pedigree people are completely welcome to join the discussion (BTW, I do not hate you guys, this is solely based on the crumbling market). Cheers!
Comment by Dean_46 at 01/02/2025 at 08:36 UTC
15 upvotes, 1 direct replies
IIM-Ahmedabad here. Worked in a startup abroad and then as the professional CEO of a B2C startup in India. I agree with what you say. To add a few more:
- VC's have a herd mentality in chasing hot sectors. The lazy approach to choosing companies is filtering by IIT/IIM pedigree.
- Very difficult to get back the job market in conventional industries if you leave your startup, particularly if it does not work out.
- Many founders are dumb, or financed by daddy's money, OR street smart and want to misuse VC money, because they have figured that the startup isn't going to work.
- Easier to chase fame by paid PR, or valuations, or being high profile, than actually trying to make money.
Comment by NoCryptographer2572 at 01/02/2025 at 10:15 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
You have to understand person on other side of equation as well. All startups have to race against time to scale and survive. This makes it very difficult to dedicate a lot of time on hiring We opened dev & pm role on our linkedin and have received over 1000+ applications in 3 days and people lie a lot in CVs. So it makes sense to hire the two way you mentioned that people do
Also generalist becomes less useful as org matures. They don’t need doctors for pain killer they can do it themselves, they need cardiologist for surgery.
Comment by Horror-Ad7244 at 01/02/2025 at 14:30 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fellow founder here, I'm an engineering undergrad...non IIT /NIT or fancy college, I've been actively bootstrapped a PVT LTD startup and now sold it to a bigger firm in that niche while I was in the college (by selling my stakes I was just able to purchase a macbook) by reading your post just makes me a bit terrified for the future that I'm going to seeing after graduating (that is this year only 😭😭)
Comment by enlightened_monkeyy at 01/02/2025 at 08:26 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Ex-founder here. With no IIT/iim tag. Trying to break into PM role. Not even getting any calls. I raised seed round, built product and launched in the market.
Comment by Specialist_Total_ at 01/02/2025 at 08:21 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
We are in same boat. Try not to loose hope.
Comment by Kind_Combination_580 at 01/02/2025 at 08:52 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
This is the sad reality. I was out of the work force due to personal reason but now breaking again looks like a tough task as all people think having a career break is a taboo. Also all the points you made are 100% true
Comment by Callmemrreddy at 01/02/2025 at 17:59 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
!remind me 2 days