Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal says Indian tech founders never innovate: ‘Only copying from US’

Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal said that there is a lack of innovation among Indian tech founders. Asserting that there is zero innovation, he said at TechSparks 2024, that Indian tech founders “are only copying everything from the US. You can’t tell me one single technology that we made. We didn’t make jackshit.” He also spoke about the increased scrutiny over edtech firms amid Byju’s crisis.

‘We all knew they were misselling,” he said without taking any names. He also said that startup founders are belligerent and suffered from ‘god complex’.

Gaurav Munjal’s advice to investors

“A lot of the time, the blame falls on investors… I’ve spoken to some of those investors, and they have been advising their founders for two to three years at times. Sometimes founders don’t listen, and the only option left is to dismiss the founder,” he said.

“Sometimes people get greedy… have this God complex, that they can do anything…acquire everyone and everything,” he added.

Gaurav Munjal also said that founders should navigate the investing landscape by learning more and more. He said, “Watch YouTube videos. There is a Sam Altman video on how to handle founders.”

Gaurav Munjal on Bengaluru

Gaurav Munjal also told entrepreneurs from Delhi and Mumbai to move to Bengaluru as the odds of success are higher. He said, “Mumbai may be a better city than Bengaluru, it is a good place to spend a weekend but to run a startup you have to be in Bengaluru,” adding that no matter how hard one tries, they cannot beat the “network effect” Bengaluru provides.