How to start all over again, learn from a funeral for start-ups

ONE EVENING two weeks ago, over 60 entrepreneurs gathered on the terrace of an office in Koramangala, Bengaluru’s startup hub, for a funeral. There were no tears; only a few eulogies to the departed soul — in this case, a few failed start-ups — and talk of how things could have been different. All this over food and drinks.

The start-up funeral held in Bengaluru on February 9 is one of over a dozen such that have been held across the country over the past year-and-a-half. What has been a common practice in the West is fast catching up in India given the exponential growth — and accompanying fall — of start-ups over the last few years. While in the West, these ‘funerals’ come close to a real thing, complete with a ‘vicar’ delivering a funeral speech to mourning employees, in India, it is largely an experience-sharing platform to discuss what went wrong and how to learn from these mistakes.

According to data available with Tracxn Technologies Pvt Ltd, a data analyst firm, in 2016, 3,175 new start-ups came up while 230 wound up. At least 800 start-ups set up post-2011 have shut down, with many such as Peppertap, Bestylish, Fashionara and Localbanya now part of the ‘Deadpool List’ — a catalogue of dead or dying startups compiled by Tracxn.

In most cases, start-up funerals are organised by failed or successful entrepreneurs who have a story to tell. Start-up accelerators — which mentor and handhold start-ups by helping them network and raise funds — too, organise funerals.

Mumbai-based entrepreneur Milind Doshi, who founded Our First Office, an accelerator firm, in May 2013, organised six funerals in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru in 2016. The idea, he said, was to flesh out stories of entrepreneurs and help others learn from them.

“A lot of start-ups make the same mistakes. Through funerals, those starting out can learn from the mistakes of a business that didn’t work out,” said Doshi, adding that every start-up, big or small, has stories to share.

Almost every such funeral starts with a panel discussion or story-sharing session, followed by questions and answers. The event ends with a ‘wake’ — an idea adopted from the West — where entrepreneurs get to network with investors and experts

Priyanka Sahoo At a funeral for a start-up in Bengaluru.