‘This game is rigged’: Indian-origin Berkeley grad claims he created fake founder persona & tricked 27 VCs

An Indian-origin UC Berkeley graduate has claimed that he was able to attract the interest of nearly 30 venture capitalists without any product or pitch, but just by cold emailing investors using a fake persona and keywords like "Stanford," "AI," and "Palantir."

Berkeley graduate criticises Indian startup culture

In his post, Bhavye Khetan criticised the startup and venture capital (VC) ecosystem.

"I made a fake founder persona. No product. No pitch. No deck. Just: Stanford CS, Ex-Palantir and used the word “AI” 3 times. Sent cold emails to 34 VCs. 27 replied. 4 asked for a call. This game is rigged in ways most people don’t understand," he wrote.

Khetan explained that he invented the startup founder name and, without a business idea, product, or even a presentation deck, he received responses from a majority of VCs simply by mentioning a prestigious academic background, a hyped tech company, and a trending buzzword.

The Berkeley graduate further claimed that the startup game isn’t always about what you build, but sometimes, it’s just about who you appear to be.

I made a fake founder persona. No product. No pitch. No deck.

Just:
- Stanford CS
- Ex-Palantir
- Used the word “AI” 3 times

Sent cold emails to 34 VCs.
27 replied. 4 asked for a call.

This game is rigged in ways most people don’t understand.

— Bhavye Khetan (@bhavye_khetan) June 2, 2025

Netizens respond

The post received over 330,000 views, and many were shocked by the results.

"Who would have thought having shiny logos on resume makes people more likely to wanna talk to you," said one user.

Another commented: "I heard about a guy who faked his CV with similar founder, tech nonsense and landed major consulting and then executive jobs this way. Entire climb up the ladder he delegated key tasks he had no idea how to do himself to underlings. Now he’s CFO at a Fortune 500, clearing 500K a year."

However, some individuals argued that using actual prestigious institutions and companies on your resume does add to the credibility and that a lie like this wouldn’t hold up for long.

"This is stupid. You lied. Stanford is meaningful. Palantir is meaningful. AI is meaningful. The only person acting inappropriately is you," remarked one user.

"I don’t think it’s rigged, if you lie of course they will take your call but I think you won’t get past that when they figure out you are lying pretty quickly," added another commenter.

Also read: India becomes the largest user of ChatGPT globally, surpassing the US (startuppedia.in)