Bengaluru Man Viral Post: Networking and mentorship can make or break a startup, but not all founders approach it the same way. Recently, Bengaluru entrepreneur Shubh Agrawal shared a personal experience on X (formerly Twitter) that quickly sparked discussions online about the differences in mentorship styles between Indian and US founders. Agrawal explained that over the last six months, he reached out to several founders and CEOs he admired for guidance. While many were open to helping, he noticed a striking contrast between responses from Indian and US founders.
In his tweet, he wrote, "What’s with Indian founders and their Ego? Story time - In the last 6 months, I've reached out to countless founders and CEOs I admire for advice. Most of the time, they're willing to help - but there seems to be a massive difference between the ego levels of Indian founders and the ones outside."
He shared screenshots showing the reactions of two high-profile founders. One was an Indian founder whose company earns around $40 million yearly and is well-known from podcasts. The other was a US-based founder with two unicorns and a yearly revenue of over $400 million.
According to Agrawal, the Indian founder "got super angry because there's no free access to the Valley and the fact that he'll have to pay to experience the product. He goes on to call the founding team ret*rd and barely helping". Whereas the US founder spent around 60 minutes asking questions, diagnosing the issue, and even offered a follow-up call if needed.
Agrawal added, "I might be wrong in attributing this to their origin, but it's clear that the founder with 10x higher competence was a lot more humble and willing to help out."
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The post quickly went viral, sparking a wave of comments. Many agreed with Agrawal’s observation about ego and approachability, while others argued that mentorship styles depend on individual personalities rather than geography. The post shared yesterday received more than 30K views from users.
Taking to the comment section, one user wrote, "Anyone calling anyone a r*d online sounds like an idiot. That person is entitled and rude. This could be anyone, but this entitlement is very common in founders from India." "If CEOs are talking to you for 60 mins, when are they working? They must be talking to so many others, too," a second user wrote.
"Humility comes with higher competence because you know your worth and do not need constant validation from others," wrote a third user. "Read this quote somewhere - "strong people dont put others down. They lift them up." Makes a lot of sense here," added a fourth user.
The conversation highlights a larger discussion in the startup world: how humility, willingness to guide others, and mentorship can shape the culture of entrepreneurship, regardless of where a founder is based.