Startups or Upstarts?

THERE HAS BEEN a big debate in India recently on startups, their efficacy, their value, their contribution and, most importantly, their state. I have no issue with the startup culture we have spawned in India. We are proud of some of our unicorns, we are proud of the work they are doing and we are proud of the transition young Indians have made from being part of the salaried class to being entrepreneurs. My only problem with startups in India is that almost 90 per cent of them are look-alikes.

If you examine some of the startups that we are venerating, theyare primarily engaged in the delivery business, which is more of a logistical business than a business enshrined in either technology which is path-breaking or innovation that is unique to India. While on the subject of being unique to India, one thing that always baffles me is why with all the software prowess that we have, with some of the brightest minds, India has not been able to create: one, a global brand; two, a brand like Facebook or Google; and three, brands that are engaging in the areas of deep tech or space.

It’s easy for us to keep talking about the achievements some of our startups have made, which no one begrudges them. But the point is: Are our startups actually a regurgitation of what already exists or are they something unique, either to the Indian subcontinent or India or perhaps even to the world? And in that area, I believe our startups are wanting.

The other problem is that we keep talking about how hard our startup founders work. Fair enough. So does a gig worker. So do employees across India. So, to venerate startup founders for their hard work is, to my mind, atrociously silly. We must venerate them for their out-of-the-box thinking, for the capacity to think beyond the definitions of what they have engaged in or what they have achieved. And to my mind, innovation is sorely lacking in India.

Now, to blame only startup founders for that lack of innovation would also be incorrect. For that I think we need to alter our education system. Alter societal pressure. In India, we castigate failure far too easily. If Steve Jobs were an Indian, he would have never created an Apple because the first time round, if and when he failed, he wouldn’t have been given a bank loan. His own family would have looked down upon him, and there would be no chance of a second coming. So, there are three things India now needs to focus on: one, the kind of ingenuity we are injecting into the startup universe for it to be venerated; two, there are far too many stories of startup successes, which are laced and mired only in the money they spawn. How startup founders have suddenly found new wealth, how they are enjoying that wealth, which by the way, no one has an objection to. But the entire universe of startups cannot be glamorised only because of the money young people have made. It has to be something more substantive, something more societally driven, and something longer lasting; and three, we also need to encourage, to my mind, startups in areas not glamorous and not related to gig economies.

We, for instance, have not created a situation where we may have fewer employees but a giant idea. A founder of a particular startup went on record to say his startup employs 1.5 lakh people. Good. But we are not looking at startups as employment exchanges. We are looking at them as pathbreaking organisations which redefine the narrative that Indians will warm up to and experience. To that end, we also need to address the whole issue of venture capitalists and private equity players who, to my mind, are the most irresponsible bunch of people we have.

I know there was one particular person who would brag that he did not invest in startups which asked for a ticket size of less than $500 million. That in this country is ridiculous because it is not the size of the cheque, it’s the size of the idea which should ignite our senses and inspire us.

So, I believe it is important for this debate to happen. But it’s also important for our startup founders to take a deep breath and realise that they are not the next best thing to sliced bread and that India expects more, has every right to, and will support them provided there is a strategic differentiation and an enduring benefit that these startups provide.

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