Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal says Bengaluru is better than Mumbai, Delhi for startups: 'Odds of your success...'

Gaurav Munjal made the remark at an event hosted by Your Story in Mumbai. (Image credit: @YourStoryCo/X)

Unacademy founder Gaurav Munjal recently urged entrepreneurs to come to Bengaluru if they are serious about making it big in the startup industry. While he acknowledged that the city does have its shortcomings, but he insisted the environment in Bengaluru is more conducive to entrepreneurs than Mumbai and Delhi.

"I don't think you should be based out of Mumbai or Delhi, I think you should be based out of Bangalore. Come to Bangalore, increase your odds (of being successful). I don't think you should be optimising for anything other than your product market fit in the beginning. I don't think you should optimise for your friends and family," Munjal said at an event hosted by Your Story in Mumbai. "You will have to sacrifice a lot of things and a lot of people don't. So you have to go all the way in and only then you will win."

The Unacademy boss, who studied in a college in Mumbai before moving to Bengaluru said that although the former is a better city, the latter gives entrepreneurs a better chance at success.

"I think Mumbai is a better city than Bangalore. If I have to spend a weekend, I will choose Mumbai, but if you're starting up, Bangalore -- which has a slower pace than Mumbai -- the odds of your success increase a lot. In fact the goal of tech parks in Mumbai and Delhi should be to convert people to go to Bangalore," he said.

Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) on why you should build startups from Bengaluru:

"Come to Bangalore, increase your odds of success. The startup ecosystem & energy is very different in BLR, you can't beat these network effects in other cities, it's not going to happen."

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Munjal added that despite other metropolitan cities trying to attract businesses, Bengaluru has an ecosystem of innovation that other cities lack and that's why despite several problems that people are currently facing in the city, it is still the best option for startups.

Although Munjal did not elaborate on Bengaluru's water and traffic problems, he said that the ecosystem in the city is "next level". "I have not gone to a coffee shop and not met an entrepreneur who is trying to do something big. The energy is very different. There is a reason why San Francisco as a city is so messed up but that's still where the innovation is happening. You can't beat these network effects," he said.