Student's comparison of Indian, US startup cultures sparks networking debate
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A student's comparison of how technology founders in India and the US respond to cold outreach has sparked discussion on social media about networking, accessibility and hierarchy in the startup ecosystem.
Hriday Kadam said he had cold-messaged several founders in India and San Francisco and noticed that many San Francisco-based founders were more receptive to conversations with him despite his being a student.
"I have cold DM'ed a bunch of founders from both India and San Francisco," Kadam wrote in a post on X on August 7. He said several founders in San Francisco spoke to him "like a peer", asked questions, listened to his ideas and engaged in genuine conversations.
Kadam said he had also met "amazing" founders in India, but observed that some appeared to maintain a stronger sense of hierarchy in their interactions.
"While I have met some amazing founders from India too, I have also noticed some seem to carry a bit more of a 'founder' aura, as if they're positioning themselves above the conversation," he wrote.
He clarified that the observation was not universal and described it as a difference in communication styles he had noticed.
The post attracted responses from other users who said they had observed similar differences.
One user said San Francisco's technology community treated people as builders rather than fans, while another described the developer community there as more welcoming.
A third user said corporate executives in India sometimes acted with greater authority when interacting with people developing startups.
Another user attributed the difference to cultural attitudes towards hierarchy, saying North American workplaces tend to have flatter hierarchies, while position, title and seniority carry greater importance in India.
Kadam's post has since prompted wider discussion about whether differences in startup networking cultures are shaped by broader social and professional hierarchies.