Ten years in business. Still calling themselves a "startup." No HR. No structure. Salaries are delayed for months. A Reddit post exposed what many founders refuse to admit: "startup" has become an excuse for dysfunction. The details: ChatGPT assigns work. Fresh graduates used as unpaid interns. Experience letters were never issued. Projects cancelled mid-execution. This company isn't rare. It's familiar. Every city has these decade-old "startups" that are still chaotic, still exploiting freshers who don't know better yet. The "startup" label meant innovation and speed. Now it's a shield for incompetence. No HR after 10 years isn't scrappy - it's negligent. Delayed salaries aren't cash flow issues - they're theft. Real startups evolve. They build systems. They respect people. They grow from chaos to structure. Companies using "startup culture" to excuse basic dysfunction aren't startups. They're just badly run businesses. If you're still figuring out payroll after a decade, you're not disrupting anything except your employees' lives. #Startups #Dysfunction #Structure #Employees
Bluntly necessary, Priten Bangdiwala, A startup is supposed to be a laboratory for new ideas—not a landfill for bad habits. When ten years pass and salaries still wander like lost children, the issue isn’t cash flow. It’s conscience. Some founders romanticize chaos because structure would expose the truth: they never built a business, only a backdrop for hustle theater. “We are scrappy” becomes the slogan that hides unpaid labor, missing HR, and careers that never launch. Your point cuts deeper: Innovation isn’t loud slogans or neon offices. It’s the quiet responsibility of paying on time, issuing documents, and protecting dignity. There’s a nuance we should add. Many freshers step into these environments believing exploitation is initiation. That belief must be broken publicly. If a company calls itself a startup but behaves like a gamble, young talent shouldn’t pay the price. Real disruption starts when accountability replaces excuses. Growth is measured not by years survived, but by systems earned. If leadership keeps calling chaos “culture,” then the only thing being disrupted is people’s trust in entrepreneurship itself. #SarojSahuComments #Startups #Structure #EthicalLeadership #EmployeeRights #WorkCulture
Priten Bangdiwala 🫶🏽. If payroll is still a puzzle after a decade, you’re not a founder, you’re a liability. Startup energy is great, but startup excuses aren’t.
This post perfectly diagnoses a critical sickness in the ecosystem. The startup label has undeniably been weaponized to excuse basic financial negligence and HR dysfunction. While many genuine startups do successfully transition from chaos to structure, the decade old entities described here are simply badly run businesses operating under a misleading shield. Delayed salaries and unissued experience letters are not "scrappy," they are unethical employment practices. However, we must also address the systemic pressure that often contributes to this dysfunction. The immense, often exclusive focus of Indian investors and incumbents on IIM/IIT pedigree rather than on the quality of the business model, unit economics or profitability from day one forces a distorted path. This lack of clarity and support for businesses focused on immediate, sustainable profit pushes founders to prioritize buzz and inflated valuations over core operational structure and employee welfare, often resulting in this exact burnout and negligence. We need investors who fund real businesses with real revenue and real structure, not just a pedigree or a deck. Also need to understand Employee welfare is the foundation of long term value.
A decade-old company using “startup” as a cover isn’t agile — it’s unaccountable. Real scaling demands systems, role clarity, and predictable delivery — not adrenaline-driven chaos. The moment founders treat structure as an enabler instead of a burden, teams start performing and customers start trusting.
Priten Bangdiwala,Yup… I’ve come across a few. Companies launched by overly ambitious founders with zero groundwork, burning through resources, scrambling to stay afloat, and eventually losing client trust. And by then, the regret hits hard!
This call needs to be taken by employees and freshers. They should blindly refuse to work for them. Problem is supply and demand. Also education. colleges need to not just teach functions to students but also educate them to understand such scams and blindly refuse to work for them. Why should i not exploit if ppl are comfortable getting exploited ?
very well said. Startups where the founders lack a pedigree education from a competitive college and work experience in a competitive company, are just lazy guys gambling to get “lucky” by landing a big investor with their power point lies, but they never do. The lesson for a fresher is not to join a startup unless you are jobless.
Lack of Leadership Skills and The Ability to think how to scale up. Most of the startup people are expected to work for free without any expectations.
Priten Bangdiwala Great post. I agree that dysfunction shouldn't be disguised as 'culture.' However, I believe there is a distinction between 'struggling' and 'exploiting.' In a genuine startup, salary delays can happen, but they aren't an issue if the founder takes the team into confidence and communicates transparently. Furthermore, you don't need a formal HR department to treat people with dignity. Withholding experience letters is self-sabotage. Ex-employees are our first brand ambassadors; they carry the company's reputation into the market. Startups actually need more clarity and integrity than established players because we are building trust from zero. Reputation is built over time, and employees are the first ladder in that climb.
I mildly disagree, some of us are really working towards a domains which is very much necessary for the society but is being neglected by the masses. Could say like too early for the time to come. Also some problem statements are not even feasible to figure out in a matter of 3 years to scale to high revenue. There has to be a distinction between startup that fills just a geographical innovation/transaction gap and some which defines them. I would doubt that most would be willing to buy a 25,000/- house waste processing unit as of now to contribute to the journey ( which i am happy to discuss if you feel it could be done cheaper). I find this post a little disheartening considering that India needs much more manufacturing based startups and respective talent pull. The current ecosystem is not exactly as supportive as might be believed from the surface. Not everyone has a silver spoon, and they are fighting out the best they can. P.S. I am not writing this because I follow the said practices. I actually take care of all the stakeholders becase I am able to. The response is to indicate the realistic challenges faced by many brave hearts who are still pushing even after giving a decade of their lives.