Bombay Shaving Company CEO Slams Bengaluru's All talk & No show Gang

Shantanu Deshpande, CEO of Bombay Shaving Company, compared Bengaluru’s startup scene to Kota’s coaching culture for engineering entrance exams in a Linkedin post titled “The ecosystem delusion”. 

He suggested that just as a small percentage of students in Kota succeed in clearing the IIT-JEE, only a few in Bengaluru's startup scene truly achieve success, despite the city's reputation. 

Deshpande observed that both places have a small percentage of individuals achieving success despite the high competition.

Deshpande wrote on Linkedin, “The other 30-35k (Out of 40k)  just assumed that being in Kota meant JEE rank was done. They believed that sitting in the same classes, eating at the same mess, 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.

Today, Bangalore is like that.” 

All Talk & No Show:

He emphasised how the Bangalore bulk roaming around with PPTs, having startup conversations in the cafes reminded him of the 'all talk' gangs at the messes of Kota - the ones hanging out there discussing JEE were rarely the ones clearing it.

He elaborated that aspiring founders in Bengaluru often focus more on networking than on building their businesses, much like students in Kota who believed that merely attending classes or owning the same study materials as top performers would guarantee their success.

He pointed out that some founders think that just connecting on LinkedIn with venture capitalists or attending events with successful entrepreneurs is enough to get funding or build a successful startup. 

Deshpande wrote, “They hang out at the same events as Bhavish or Mukesh or Kunal (JEE toppers of Kota) and feel they're half-way to unicorn by breathing the same air and talking the same language.”

Deshpande drew a comparison to the culture of Kota, where people believe they are halfway to success by being around certain individuals.