NEW DELHI: An Indian-origin UC Berkeley graduate has sparked a debate about the startup funding ecosystem after claiming he received responses from 27 venture capitalists—four of whom asked for a meeting—by posing as a fake founder with no real product or pitch, but with the right mix of elite buzzwords.Bhavye Khetan, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Operations Research and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley , said he cold-emailed 34 VCs while pretending to be a founder. In a widely shared post 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 post went viral, amassing over 1.2 million views and 22,000 likes, as it resonated with users frustrated by what they see as superficial filters in the venture capital world. Khetan suggested that investor interest is often driven more by pedigree and jargon than by substance.His experiment, he said, showed that what catches the attention of investors isn’t always a solid business plan or innovation. “Who would have thought having shiny logos on resume makes people more likely to wanna talk to you,” one user responded.Khetan’s critique adds to ongoing concerns about how early-stage startups are evaluated and the role of branding over actual potential. The incident also sheds light on how tech and venture capital ecosystems can sometimes favour image over idea.Responding to Khetan’s post, a user on X said, “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.”
