‘Scarcity is your superpower’: Startup founder warns excess fundraising can derail early stage focus

In the fast-growing Indian startup ecosystem — where fundraising often dominates headlines — Groweasy.ai Founder Tej Pandya has sparked a conversation on why scarcity, not capital, may be the real competitive edge for early-stage founders. 

In a detailed post on LinkedIn, Pandya argued that India’s constraints-driven environment forces young startups to sharpen their priorities from day one. “In India scarcity is the biggest hidden advantage for early-stage startups. When you don’t have money, you automatically do ruthless prioritisation. You focus only on things that actually bring revenue or get you closer to PMF,” he wrote. 

He points out that the Indian market, unlike Silicon Valley’s historically capital-rich environment, inadvertently equips founders with a mindset of discipline. Limited resources, smaller teams, and constrained budgets force entrepreneurs to make sharper decisions and avoid distractions that don’t move the business forward. This, Pandya suggests, becomes an underappreciated advantage in an era where many startups consider early fundraising a milestone in itself.

Pandya noted that once companies raise “hundreds or thousands of crores before PMF,” a pattern of inefficiency often emerges — ranging from random engagement features and non-revenue products to bloated tech teams and endless internal meetings. “Everyone busy, nothing meaningful shipped,” he said, adding that comfort can dull a founder’s focus. “Early money creates comfort. Comfort kills sharpness.” 

He also took aim at accelerators and micro-VCs, arguing that many invest based on founder profiles rather than execution. According to him, a significant number of startups that enter these programs fail to achieve even basic product-market fit. “Forget scale… most don’t even survive 18 months,” Pandya wrote. 

For founders who feel left out of these programs, Pandya offered a contrarian reassurance: “If you never got into an accelerator, don’t feel bad — feel lucky. No distractions. No pressure to ‘signal’. Just pure focus on customers, product, and revenue. That’s how strong companies are built.”