Mon Apr 07 10:12:01 UTC 2025: ## India Needs More Than “Delivery Boy” Startups: A Call for High-Risk, High-Reward Innovation

**NEW DELHI –** India’s focus on rapid growth startups needs a course correction, argues veteran journalist Madhavan Narayanan. While the recent surge in Indian startups is impressive, the nation risks becoming a hub for copycat businesses rather than genuine innovators, he warns. Narayanan points to the comments of India’s commerce and industry minister at the ‘Startup Mahakumbh,’ who questioned whether India’s destiny is to be a provider of delivery services rather than a leader in cutting-edge technologies like robotics and AI.

Narayanan uses the example of Vinod Khosla, the renowned venture capitalist and Sun Microsystems co-founder, to illustrate the kind of ambitious, technology-driven entrepreneurship India needs. Khosla’s career, which involved a temporary return to India before resuming his work in Silicon Valley’s forefront of AI, medical technology, and cryptocurrency, exemplifies the adventurous spirit lacking in many current Indian startups.

The author criticizes the prevalence of “this of that” businesses – Indian clones of successful global companies – arguing that these lack the originality and global impact of true innovation. While acknowledging successes like InMobi and Zoho, Narayanan emphasizes the need for more groundbreaking inventions on par with Google. He contrasts this with China’s development of DeepSeek, a disruptive AI model, which he views as a wake-up call for India.

Narayanan calls for a renewed focus on high-risk, high-reward ventures, drawing parallels to the pioneering spirit of Jamshedji Tata and Verghese Kurien, who established their businesses in challenging contexts. He advocates for India’s wealthy individuals to invest heavily in patent-seeking teams focusing on cutting-edge research in fields such as AI and quantum computing. The author also stresses the importance of reducing dependence on government subsidies and fostering stronger links between entrepreneurs and research institutions like the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He concludes that India, with its strong research history, possesses the potential to become a global leader in innovation, but requires a shift in mindset towards greater ambition and risk-taking.

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