Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s recent statement that one does not need to be in Bengaluru to start a business brought back the debate of whether the Karnataka capital is indeed the startup capital of India or if other cities, such as Delhi-NCR, Mumbai or Pune are better for entrepreneurs. Now, another founder has said that Delhi is “1,000 per cent” better to start a business as compared to Bengaluru, sparking a range of reactions.
‘Delhi has less froth, more substance’
“I think Delhi is the best city to start a business today. I think Delhi has a ‘less front, more substance’ mindset,” Bombay Shaving Company CEO Shantanu Deshpande told Bengaluru-based YouTuber Ishan Sharma in an interview.
When asked what he means by “froth”, the Delhi-based founder said, “Froth means people who after shiny, new objects. Bangalore is very similar to Silicon Valley. There are much higher chances of very disruptive businesses coming out of Bangalore than Delhi.”
“But the average high quality business has more chances of coming out of Delhi than Bangalore.”
Shantanu Deshpande, who faced extreme backlash on social media two years ago for advising freshers to work 18 hours a day, said when he started his company in Delhi, he had a strong talent pool to hire from, from NCR-based companies such as Zomato, Paytm and Snapdeal.
“Delhi has a very strong business culture… Bangalore and Pune are more service oriented,” he said.
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When Deepinder Goyal said he hasn’t been to Bengaluru in 7 years
Last week, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal said aspiring entrepreneurs need not flock to Bengaluru to launch their ventures.
“Last I was in Bengaluru in 2017, seven years ago… You don’t need to come here to build a startup. That’s just what people here think, but it’s not the case,” he said at an event organised by The Economic Times.
Goyal, 41, is based in Gurgaon.