Episode 52
How To Build India's Startup Ecosystem @Startup India (& Work Hands-On with The Indian Government) - w/ Rishika

Is working for the Indian Government boring? The reality of building India's $350 Billion startup ecosystem is fast-paced, high-stakes, and surprisingly accessible.
Who this is for
- You are building something real and need the unpolished version before the launch post.
- You would rather hear Rishika's version while the mess is still fresh than get another polished hindsight sermon.
Key takeaways
- Build India's Startup Ecosystem @Startup India (& Work Hands-On with The Indian Government) - w/ Rishika
- How to get hired at Invest India & Startup India?
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Transcript-backed moments
A few lines worth stealing before you hand over the full hour.
When I entered Invest India even, I was a little confused as to am I a government employee, am I a BSU, am I a quasi, am I, what am I? What exactly is the selection criteria for getting into something like this?
We are a quasi-government institution where 49% is actually the government of India, so we work directly with the bureaucrats. I'm Navan Pandey and in this episode featured, not expert, is Rishika Chatterjee.
Rishika is an assistant manager at Invest India, which is the national investment promotion and facilitation agency of the government of India. In 2016, some people, when it was launched, it was a very niche in its court development stage, but right now we have more than 118 unicorns.
Do you work with VCs a lot and is a part of your job ever to convince these VCs to put in more money? I would say we have in common such cases, we have blacklist to them. We go over the nuances of what it is like to work hands-on with the government to boost entrepreneurship in India
and our discussion covers incredible economic and geopolitical considerations. It would just be so great if there was just some portal where the government told me that this is a problem that we are struggling with, this needs to be solved.
Show notes
Is working for the Indian Government boring? The reality of building India's $350 Billion startup ecosystem is fast-paced, high-stakes, and surprisingly accessible. Most people think the only way to serve the nation is through the UPSC or IAS grind. But today’s guest, Rishika Chatterjee, reveals a "backdoor" into the most exciting offices of the Indian Government—without writing a single exam.
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