Why Bangalore is called the startup capital of India? Is it so?
Hey there, Many of us heard the same; Bangalore is the silicon valley of India right. Here, I’ll discuss my own experience of the city since it’s been 2-months I’m here. By the end of this, you can yourself judge if this is the right title for the city!!!
Why I came to Bangalore?
So, I’m a Product Designer here in an emerging well-funded startup Blackboard Radio. When looking for a job my only filters were Design, a small team, and Bangalore!!!
To give you some history, back then, I was heading a Design Agency in Chandigarh for 3 years and always wanted to do something on the product side and was really fascinated with this startup culture all around. Started doing internships from my first year in college and met some amazing people on the way. As they say, I met the right people at the right time.
This job required 2–3yrs of work experience and all my side hustles in college paid off to get me this job. I just saved few years of my life doing much in college itself.
P.S. I’m still in college.
I’ll write another blog about my college life, please subscribe to get an update for the same.
First Day in Bengaluru
I landed up here and got a bed in Drapers Startup House in Koramangala. Draper is a hostel chain with the only hostel in India in Bengaluru. It’s more like a community. The ground floor is a common sitting place, then 3 floors of rooms with those bunker beds(typical hostel), and then the terrace with a co-working space.
The day-to-day life of someone living there was waking up in the morning, going upstairs to work and meeting everyone, and then going to bed a floor below at night. You’ll meet some amazing people here. Let it be a fashion designer, programmer, designer, or someone who’s just in Bangalore to explore the city and start working on their idea. The vibe of this place revolves all-around startups and entrepreneurship.
Bangalore sleeps really late. Especially, Koramangala is a place where you’ll meet some great people. I heard someone saying that Koramangala and Indiranagar are the two best places in Bangalore to be at.
There are a lot of clubs, cafes, and places to enjoy local food in and around Koramangala. There’s this famous evening street food fair type thing in HSR layout as well.
Is Koramangala is Startup Hub?
Koramangala is called the place for startups. Flipkart started from a house here and is still operating some of its operations from there. You can find so many start-up offices and co-working spaces in and around Koramangala.
Answering our topic here, Is Bangalore really The Startup Capital of India?
It depends, and I’ve learned to answer this to every critical question someone asks me these days. It depends on various factors, if you’re the guy who can walk up to someone with the motive of ‘networking’, you’ll never get there. People don’t have enough time for that shit here but making friends is the best way indeed. You’ll see everyone working on something interesting and full of ideas to discuss.
Entrepreneurship is like a trend here. Every other guy is doing something but you’ve to be careful as many of them are working on shitty ideas (depends on perspective though).
If you’re someone who either wants to start or want some ideas/people to start with, Bangalore is the right place for you. The city is full of Entrepreneurs and VCs.
How to make friends in Bangalore?
If you are just looking and trying to making friends here, you’ll end up getting some dumb friends. Really smart people won’t become friends like this. Just be yourself and don’t rush yourself into networking and stuff. As I said, Networking is nothing but Friendship. Also, don’t jump up to start a company with everyone, the chances of you getting failed is 101% xD.
Twitter is the best way to start with, there’s always something happening around the city. Let it be comedy nights, conferences, meetups, and cafes with events happening every weekend.
Third Wave Coffee Roasters is a cafe chain in Bangalore that is known for a place to meet some amazing guys. Do check it out.
If you’re coming to Bangalore, do reach out to me on Twitter/LinkedIn (Link below) and we’ll catch up someday over a coffee.
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