Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande compares Bengaluru to Kota: 'Baatein zyada'

"Bangalore today reminds me of Kota in 2005," writes Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande, on X. He draws a comparison between the two cities, stating that just as less than 3% of students in Kota manage to clear entrance exams each year, Bengaluru is also gripped by a similar 'ecosystem delusion,' where many flock with high hopes but few succeed.

Shantanu Deshpande draws an intriguing parallel between Kota, the "Mecca of IIT-JEE," and Bengaluru today.

In Kota, he explains, the ecosystem is designed for success, with top-notch teachers, resources, and facilities. Yet, despite this, he says, out of 40,000 students, only about 1,000 would clear the exams.

"The other 30-35k," he notes, "just assumed that being in Kota meant JEE rank was done," believing 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," he adds.

Credit: BCCL

Deshpande argues that Bengaluru today suffers from a similar "all talk" syndrome: "The bulk reminds me of the 'all talk' gangs of Kota."

He describes how many aspiring founders in the city treat having a pitch deck and a VC's LinkedIn connection like an automatic ticket to success, much like how students in Kota assumed attending Bansal Classes meant they'd already made it.

"Every coffee shop [in Bangalore,]" he observes, "has only startup conversations. Much like the messes of Kota - the ones hanging out there discussing JEE were rarely the ones clearing it."

Deshpande stresses the need for more genuine founders and companies in India but warns that the current "ecosystem delusion" fosters a false sense of accomplishment and entitlement.

Credit: Unsplash

"All these founders who find their way to Bangalore with a hope to build are needed to be protected and supported. But this strange environment creates unhealthy belief of 'arriving before the fact'. It also creates entitlement in the ecosystem. It's insane how worried founders are about calling their employees back from WFH or attrition," he writes.

He urges founders to focus on their businesses rather than getting lost in the city's startup hype.

His advice: "Distance yourself from ecosystem and stay closer to your business. And see if you can find mentors outside the city too."

How did social media react?

A comment on his post stated, "I believe its not actually a Bangalore problem anymore but in general people believe that building a business is about raising money, getting an exit and writing 'founder' on their LinkedIn Profiles," to which Deshpande responded that the problem was extremely acute in Bengaluru.

Another disagreed, writing: "Unlike the limited pie of JEE tankers , the pie of possible startups i.e. products that can add value to a user is limitless. We need these 1000 dreamers or pretenders to start with for 10 of them to transition to builders for 2 of them to create lasting value. Let a thousand flowers bloom. Let them have the license to pretend, dream, fail and grow."

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