‘Come to Bengaluru, increase odds of success’: Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal asks start-up founders to ditch Mumbai, Delhi
Edtech Unacademy’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Gaurav Munjal has said entrepreneurs should move to Bengaluru if they want a better chance of success.
Speaking at an event in Mumbai, Gaurav Munjal also said that the environment in Bengaluru is more conducive for startups than in Mumbai and Delhi.
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“I don’t think you should be based out of Mumbai or Delhi, I think you should be based out of Bangalore. Come to Bangalore, increase your odds (of being successful). I don’t think you should be optimising for anything other than your product market fit in the beginning. I don’t think you should optimise for your friends and family,” said Munjal.
“You will have to sacrifice a lot of things and a lot of people don’t. So you have to go all the way in and only then you will win,” he added.
Calling Mumbai a “better city” to spend a weekend and Bengaluru the “best option for startups”, he said: “I think Mumbai is a better city than Bangalore. If I have to spend a weekend, I will choose Mumbai, but if you’re starting up, Bangalore — which has a slower pace than Mumbai — the odds of your success increase a lot. In fact, the goal of tech parks in Mumbai and Delhi should be to convert people to go to Bangalore.”
The Karnataka capital has an ecosystem of innovation that other cities lack and that’s why despite several problems in the city, it is still the best option for startups, Munjal explained.
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Unacademy was founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini in 2015.
The edtech company is backed by Temasek, SoftBank, General Atlantic, Dragoneer Investment Group and Tiger Global, among others.
The company raised USD 877 million and was last valued at around USD 3.44 billion in 2021.
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Published: 03 Apr 2024, 06:44 PM IST
Ganesh
http://ganesh@finplay.inFinance enthusiast, Mutual fund expert.