'Don't Fund The Next Food Delivery Company': Hotmail’s Sabeer Bhatia Claims India Lacks Real Innovation

Speaking in Bengaluru, Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia took a dig at India’s quick commerce craze and the investors boosting it.

“Don’t fund the next food delivery company,” he said, citing the reason for the lack of real innovation in the startup race is instant gratification.

Hotmail's Sabeer Bhatia says Indian startups lack originality

“All are just copying,” Bhatia said. “They may change a little structure in five minutes or 10 minutes or faster, or motorcycle, but that’s not innovation. That’s structural changes. True innovation is thinking of a new idea to do something that has never been done before, outside of delivery.” [Source: The New Indian Express]

The Hotmail co-founder was in Bengaluru on Wednesday to launch the Young Entrepreneurs Program at Orchids International School.

Addressing the startup obsession with speed, he further said, “Too much focus on the wrong metric. Is your life going to change if you get some biscuits delivered in 10 minutes, it's no big deal,” adding that both startups and investors should look for originality, not convenience.

Questioning the education system in the country, he further said, “Deep tech is about questioning things and figuring out different ways of doing things, and that comes from education. So, our education system needs to be overhauled if we need to have deep tech. You can’t just say, oh, you guys are not doing deep tech. You don’t just wake up and say, ‘I’m going to do deep tech,’” he said.

He further claimed, “Our GDP is all wrong. And I just—you just need two seconds to take a look at how they are computing GDP,” he said. 

Citing an example, Bhatia added, “In India, if I give you ₹1,000, 18% GST is taxed on it, and you give back ₹1,000 to me, 18% is counted as ₹2,000 of GDP. You’ve done no work. I have done no work. I’ve just given you money. Giving money is not work. Correct work is work.”

Comparing it with the U.S., the Hotmail boss said that GDP reflects labour and output.

“Everybody has an hourly rate. Everybody figures out how many hours of effort you put in and you report that to the government and you pay a certain amount of tax, and that determines your GDP.”

Suggesting an efficient system, Bhatia remarked, “Put everybody on a contract. A contract is what? Make a promise to yourself. You will self-report. You will do this, and it will help you be honest in your reporting. Simple. Use AI. Massively use.”

He also pointed out that in India, prestige outweighs productivity.

“People are too focused on status, power, and marks,” he said, pointing out that most engineers end up in management. “99% of engineering graduates join management and start giving gyaan to everybody. Where is the work ethic where they really work with their hands and really go and build some stuff?”

Also read: US Subsidiary Files Lawsuit Against Byju’s Founder, Wife, Brother & Others For Alleged Theft Of $533 Million (startuppedia.in)