No product, no pitch, just buzzwords: Indian-origin UC Berkeley grad claims he tricked VCs with fake startup idea

NEW DELHI: An Indian-origin UC Berkeley graduate has sparked a debate in regards to the startup funding ecosystem after claiming he acquired responses from 27 enterprise capitalists—4 of whom requested for a gathering—by posing as a fake founder with no actual product or pitch, however with the right combination of elite buzzwords.Bhavye Khetan, who earned a bachelor’s diploma in Operations Research and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley , stated he cold-emailed 34 VCs whereas pretending to be a founder. In a broadly shared put up on X, he wrote, “I made a fake founder persona. No product. No pitch. No deck. Just: Stanford CS, Ex-Palantir, and used the word ‘AI’ 3 times. Sent cold emails to 34 VCs. 27 replied. 4 asked for a call. This game is rigged in ways most people don’t understand.”The put up went viral, amassing over 1.2 million views and 22,000 likes, because it resonated with customers annoyed by what they see as superficial filters within the enterprise capital world. Khetan prompt that investor curiosity is commonly pushed extra by pedigree and jargon than by substance.His experiment, he stated, confirmed that what catches the eye of buyers is not at all times a stable marketing strategy or innovation. “Who would have thought having shiny logos on resume makes people more likely to wanna talk to you,” one consumer responded.Khetan’s critique provides to ongoing issues about how early-stage startups are evaluated and the function of branding over precise potential. The incident additionally sheds mild on how tech and enterprise capital ecosystems can typically favour picture over idea.Responding to Khetan’s put up, a consumer on X stated, “Your point may be valid, but your example is useless. 1. People complain VCs don’t take cold inbound. So don’t complain if they try to. 2. Most VCs take thousands of meetings a year. Taking a meeting isn’t a very big sign. 3. My guess is that a Palantir alum is good signal.”