Inside India’s Startup Mirage: The Unicorns Built on Losses
From billion-dollar valuations to billion-rupee losses, this is the story of India’s unicorn ecosystem, where growth often overshadows profit. In this episode, we break down the hidden economics behind India’s 100+ unicorns and uncover why so many celebrated startups still struggle to make money despite sky-high valuations.
The conversation dives deep into how India’s funding culture, discount wars, and consumer psychology shaped an ecosystem that rewards valuation over viability. From ONDC’s crash after subsidy cuts to Flipkart’s Big Billion revolution, to the rise of paper profits and “adjusted” metrics, this episode exposes the unseen cost of chasing scale too fast.
Learn how investor expectations, RTO losses, and the copycat startup wave cripple long-term growth, and how outliers like Zoho prove that profitability, culture, and patience can outlast hype.
Watch till the end for grounded insights on building sustainable companies in a market obsessed with instant success.
What’s Inside This Video
00:00 – What’s in the pack!
00:00:39 – The Illusion of India’s 100+ Unicorns
00:01:03 – The Valuation Problem: Growth That Burns Cash
00:02:05 – Flipkart’s Big Billion Days: When Profit Stopped Mattering
00:03:09 – The Discount Trap: How Startups Trained Indians for Deals
00:04:44 – ONDC’s Reality Check: What Happens When Subsidies End
00:04:56 – The Revenue Deficit: Why Indian Customers Don’t Pay Enough
00:07:07 – The RTO Nightmare: When Every Order Becomes a Loss
00:09:03 – Paper Valuations: How Failing Startups Look Profitable
00:11:01 – The Copycat Problem: India’s Obsession with Being the Next WeChat
00:13:34 – The Bureaucracy Trap: When Founders Fake Success for Funding
00:15:15 – The Zoho Example: Profits Without Investors
00:16:21 – The Future: Will Indian Startups Finally Choose Profit Over Hype?
Stay till the end. The smartest insight might come when you least expect it.
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About Ayush Shukla
Ayush Shukla is the founder of Finnet Media, an influencer marketing and talent management agency that manages most of the country’s top influencers and is an entrepreneur at heart. He has worked with 250+ creators and 100+ brands including Amazon, CRED, StockGro, IND Money, Slice, etc. Besides this, Ayush is also an Angel investor interested in sectors like FMCG, Fintech, Creator economy etc.
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Good story to watch 👍
Guys, don’t just blindly believe everything he’s saying — always do your own research.
This video is cherry-picking old news clips and presenting them as if they’re current facts.
Please don’t fall for these kinds of videos — they use catchy, fear-based topics just to grab views, not to share real insights.
Hay! First time watching your video and loved it
Because India isn’t a matured market. Every startup bets on the India of 2035 , not 2025. And it’s not wrong, they need to use this future leverage
underrated
bhai start ke 10seconds me modi dikha diya, dislike button pe automatically click hne wala tha
या यूट्यूब व्हिडिओतील मुख्य takeaways खालीलप्रमाणे आहेत:
– *India मध्ये 100+ Unicorn startups आहेत ज्यांची Valuation बिलियन डॉलर्समध्ये आहे, पण या कंपनीज सतत मोठे Losses करतायत. Paytm IPO नंतर सुद्धा 200 कोटींचा Loss दाखवतात.*
– *Founders आणि Investors चा Govern असतो Fast Growth च्या मागे, Profitability over Growth valuation साठी.* Power Law concept प्रमाणे 80% results 20% companies कडून येतात म्हणून Investors जोर लावतात Aggressive Growth आणि Market Capture वर, sustainable profitabilityवर नाही.
– *Flipkart – Big Billion Days च्या काळात, Profit न बघता Market share वाढवण्यासाठी डिस्काउंट्स, heavy investment, acquisition केले.* या काळात Industry मध्ये एक perception सेट झाला की Growth is everything, Profit नंतरच बघतो.
– *Discount Trap:* Indian Consumers अत्यंत Price Sensitive आहेत. Startups नी सतत Discounts देऊन Customers ची Habits बनवल्या आहेत कि Deal मिळणारच. यामुळे जो Customer आहे तो केवळ Deal Hunter बनतो आणि Discount कमी झाला कि दुसऱ्या Brand कडे जातो. ONDC चे Example – सुरुवातीला Government ने Subsidies, delivery वर ₹75 off दिला, पण Subsidy cut केल्यावर Volume एकदम Crash झाला.
– *Revenue Deficit:* Indian Customers generate करतात खूप कमी revenue. USA मध्ये एक Internet user $15 earn करतो तर India मध्ये $1. यामुळे कंपन्या sustainable revenue मिळवू शकत नाहीत. Customer Acquisition Cost जास्त आणि Lifetime Value कमी, त्यामुळे जास्त वेळ Losses चालतात.
– *RTO (Return to Origin) Nightmare:* Cash on Delivery orders मध्ये 25-30% returns किंवा cancellations होतात; Logistics वर extra खर्च होतो, COD च्या कारणाने companies वर खूप Losses येतात. Founder नी स्वतः Dropshipping मध्ये अनुभव घेतला, 5 lakh revenue but 2.5 lakh Loss.
– *Paper Valuations:* Startupsले फक्त Adjusted Metrics, GMV, Monthly Active Users वापरून Investors ला Profitability दाखवतात, पण Heavy Discount funded by Investors. Example – Snapdeal, SoftBank ने funding बंद केली की, company चा business crash.
– *Copycat Problem:* Indian Startup Founders ची मानसिकता असते की China सारखं WeChat, AliPay बनवायचं, पण Indian Market आणि Demographics वेगळे आहेत, त्यामुळे कॉपी-paste काम करत नाही. Ola नी कॅब व्यवसाय solid असताना food, cloud kitchens मध्ये expand करून जास्त पैसे गमावले.
– *Bureaucracy Trap:* Poor Management आणि Governance, fake revenue audits, fund mismanagement – GoMechanic, BYJU’S यांचे उदाहरण. यामुळे Foreign Investors India ला investment करायला घाबरतात.
– *Zoho Example:* Zoho नी investor funding न घेता, चांगला software, sustainable profit आणि चांगली team culture निर्माण केली, 2800 crore profit, exporting from Chennai with global presence.
– *Conclusion:* India मध्ये स्टार्टअपचं Ecosystem fast-growing आहे, पण फक्त valuation, funding celebrate केली जाते, profitability कडे दुर्लक्ष. काही companies sustainable business model आणि profitability वर फोकस करतायत, जसा Zoho.
– Investor fundingवर चालणाऱ्या कंपन्या एकदिवस बंद पडू शकतात; Profit-making business models survive करतील.
*तुम्हाला कधीही असं वाटलं कि तुमचा favourite स्टार्टअप profitable आहे का, स्वतः सर्च करून बघा; फक्त बाह्य brandingवर विसंबू नका!*
ही takeaways सविस्तर स्वरूपात मराठीत English terms वापरून दिली आहे, जेणेकरून तुम्हाला original video आणि discussion मधील सगळे मुद्दे समजतील आणि रिलेव्हंट Reference मिळेल.[1]
[1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0K2–8bXiw)
Simple india is marketing based economy not innovation based economy.
I am a businessman and I can say this is the BEST BEST BESTTTT video that I have ever come across……
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