Aman Gupta, co-founder of boAt and a popular face on Shark Tank India, Sunday clarified that Union Minister Piyush Goyal was not critical of founders but instead calling on them to raise their ambitions.
“It’s not every day that the government asks founders to dream bigger,” Gupta shared on X. “I was there. I heard the full speech. Hon. Minister @PiyushGoyal Ji isn’t against founders. He believes in us.”
Indian entrepreneurs were urged to “dream bigger” and aim for global leadership by Goyal at the recently held Startup Mahakumbh — a message that seems to have at least ruffled a few feathers in the sector. Goyal’s speech, which encouraged India’s startup ecosystem to move beyond comfort zones and innovate for the world, drew headlines earlier in the week.
Many startup founders took to complain on social media how red tapes prevent them from innovating or advancing in their respective fields.
However, Gupta offered a more nuanced take: “India has come far, but to lead the world… we need to aim higher.”
Drawing parallels from his experience as an investor on Shark Tank India, Gupta added: “If you want to build a world-class product, you must know your competition. That applies to India too.”
Gupta emphasized that benchmarking against global leaders like China and the US isn’t a sign of weakness but a “smart strategy.” He noted that India already has the third-largest startup ecosystem and is the fastest-growing major economy, but stressed the need to go deeper into areas like AI, deeptech, climate tech, mobility, and infrastructure.
“To make that happen, we also need scientific risk, more patient capital, founder–policymaker collaboration, and a long-term national vision,” Gupta wrote. “Kyunki jab sapne bade hote hain, toh kadam bhi bade uthane padte hain.”
