'became A Property Manager Instead Of Founder': Gurgaon Bizman Warns How Startups In India Implode

When a Gurgaon laminitis signed a ₹50 lakh lease for a six-person startup still successful beta, Brij Mall, a section businessman, saw a cautionary tale—not a culture-building win.

Writing connected LinkedIn, Mall described really nan laminitis justified nan plush Gurgaon agency arsenic basal for attracting talent and shaping institution culture. Mall wasn’t convinced. “I astir choked connected my tea, staring astatine nan ‘Hustle Hard’ poster he hadn’t lived up to yet,” he wrote.

He tried to intervene, taking nan laminitis to a coworking abstraction successful Bengaluru, pointing retired rows of quiet desks. “This is your competition’s graveyard,” Mall warned. But nan laminitis signed nan lease anyway—and ended up subletting nan abstraction a twelvemonth later aft precocious pain and stalled growth. “Not because nan agency was pricey… Because nan determination was,” Mall added. “Ego is nan biggest disbursal connected a founder’s equilibrium sheet.”

In India’s existent startup boom, that ego tin beryllium fatal. Despite beardown backing flows and grounds caller launches, complete 90% of Indian startups still neglect wrong 5 years—many owed to premature scaling and mediocre financial judgment. Lavish agency leases are a repetition offender.

According to caller data, startups now dress up astir 19% of each awesome agency leases successful India’s biggest cities, totaling complete 24.8 cardinal sq ft. Many founders equate swanky offices pinch credibility, but this often front-loads fixed expenses agelong earlier gross stabilizes.

Coworking spaces, meanwhile, are gaining traction—now serving 60% of startup agency needs—thanks to their elasticity and little burn. Experts opportunity nan problem isn’t nan agency size, but timing: locking into semipermanent leases pinch mini teams and unproven products tin derail a task earlier it finds its footing.

Rows of quiet desks person go a fixture successful India’s startup ecosystem—testaments to founders who confused civilization pinch decor, and awesome pinch substance.

Published on: Jul 19, 2025 8:39 PM IST