'If Indians are lazy, why do they flourish abroad?' Investor slams Aman Gupta’s praise of Goyal's comments on startups

In a strongly worded LinkedIn post, an entrepreneur and investor has criticised the startup community’s response to recent comments made by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, particularly calling out boAt co-founder Aman Gupta for his praise of the minister.

Gupta had earlier posted that it’s “not every day that the government asks founders to dream bigger,” referring to Goyal’s remarks at Startup Mahakumbh, where the minister had questioned why Indian founders were largely building “consumer tech” and not focusing enough on “deep tech” or innovation-led ventures. While Gupta interpreted the comments as encouragement, entrepreneur and investor Sam Baisla took a sharply different view.

“Everything is wrong with this attitude,” Baisla wrote, adding that Gupta’s statement implied that he needed a minister’s "public ridicule and mockery" to begin dreaming bigger. Baisla then posed three questions aimed not just at Gupta, but at India’s broader startup and investor ecosystem.

“Government’s job is to facilitate and serve the citizens, not to ridicule, blame, and call them lazy. Why aren't the corporate leaders asking the government questions?” he asked.

Baisla also argued that the success of Indian entrepreneurs globally disproves the notion that Indian talent lacks ambition or work ethic. “If people are lazy and dumb, why do they flourish abroad?” he questioned, pointing to the achievements of Indians who leave the country and go on to build global-scale companies.

“The attitude of sucking up to powerful people and not standing up for what is right is the cancer of our country,” Baisla stated, warning that “this culture of ‘ji sir, hum hi gadhe hain’ will destroy the future of our next generations.”

The remarks reflect similar reaction from the startup community in response to Goyal's comments. Many entrepreneurs took to social media to blame the bureaucracy and government red tapes for the slowing down India's startup sector. However, a few see government critique as necessary accountability, while others view it as a collaborative nudge toward deeper innovation.