None is here for charity. For the risk taken, there should be reward. Most of the startup workers end up getting 60% of the salary they might get elsewhere, unless obscenely funded. Rest 40% is risk money. So if the idea is a hit, the wealth has to get shared.

If it comes from a stolen idea, people should despise the wealth made out of it.

I was pleasantly surprised by a HNI Angel investor, looking for avenues to invest, worked out OK for me, except for the second round of big seed funding.

Others in the startup community should help each other, in terms of protecting ideas, leading the Good Venture investors.

Hats off to you and the Proto team. Your unflagging faith and perseverance is creating a grassroots support for startups in India. BTW, why Demo India?Why not Proto America? (Yeah, I know, I’m pushing it — WT heck!)

On Startup exploitation, I would quote Paul Graham :

VCs and corp dev guys are professional negotiators. They’re trained to take advantage of weakness. [8] So while they’re often nice guys, they just can’t help it. And as pros they do this more than you. So don’t even try to bluff them. The only way a startup can have any leverage in a deal is genuinely not to need it. And if you don’t believe in a deal, you’ll be less likely to depend on it.

twitter: @1ndus

Yep, we know the sheeps too and god bless their good hearts

I hope this is not going to turn into a not-for-profit or for-profit debate. If I had the chance and could do Proto.in for-profit, I’d still not do it. Its not something I want to do 24/7. I’d very much like to have a life, and no lesser commitment would justify drawing a salary and making a profit

And as for IIM and their Y-combinator clone and whatever someone else was trying, I dont know. Its essentially a short term, intensive incubation program. Whats the big deal about it? And how did “brands” get mixed up in this?

But in the herd of jackals dont fail in noticing a good sheep.

There were many initiatives from “genuine entrepreneurs” to give back to society. Few of them became HNIs Angel investors and yet few whom I would like to call VISIONARIES experimented with few amazing concepts. They were not there to milk money. They were also Section 25 company (Not for profit).
But dont forget, NOT FOR PROFIT doesnt mean YES FOR LOSS. It should be a sustainable model (though it can take a longer gestation). Else people who supported initially would eventually turn their back coz slowly their philanthropy mindsent might give way to Business mindset..

People now tlk abt iAccelerator coz it comes from IIMA. But has anyone heard abt a unique model (groom – incubate – seedfund) tried out by another Business incubator frm Ahmedabad itself ? Brand always sells even if “Stuff” is hardly seen.

I dont think the debate was as to whether Good and evil exists. I think the point was very simple. People who use the phrase “ecosystem building” probably mean something else.

It was just a note asking startups to keep their head down, know what they want, when they want and in what terms they want it.

We Work with IAMAI, NASSCOM, TiE, NEN and most of the incubation centres. There is no point is redoing everything from scratch – I dont have enough time, nor lifetimes for that. Its better to fill the gaps.

I hope that clarifies your question