An IIT graduate left a ₹28 LPA job to launch a startup and ended up losing lakhs. “The whole ‘startup ecosystem’ in India..is marketed as this meritocratic, innovation-driven space, but in reality, it often runs on connections, optics, and gatekeeping,” the user wrote on Reddit. The user spent ₹10-12 lakh on product development, salaries, and attempting to raise funds.