Startups vs. Upstarts: Rajiv Bajaj on Why Many Fail

Mumbai, Nov 14 (PTI) The biggest difference between established brands and many startups and is while the former build strategy, brand, and technology, the latter are more like upstarts that end up burning the same things, Bajaj Auto Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj said on Thursday.

"There are three terminologies here. Startup; then there is a word which I like to call most of them, which is upstart. Then us, the winners or the champions," Bajaj said while speaking at the CNBCTV18 Global Leadership Summit here.

He said those who enter a market without a strategy are "upstarts" and end up burning everything -- from their brand and technology to products.

"Upstarts are those who don't have a build-strategy. They have a burn strategy. They burn technology -- their batteries. They burn brands by reducing price every month. They burn products in their factory, in the trucks, at the dealerships, on the road," he said.

On the contrary, he said, "startups are those who have built a strategy. They build technology, brands, products, and consumer experiences. They build employee satisfaction, and they build not just a strong topline but also a strong bottomline."

Bajaj made the remarks when asked about who was going to win the battle -- the startups or the established players -- when it comes to embracing technology.

"They burn employee relationships with 50 per cent attrition. They burn consumer relationships with poor service. This is a burn strategy. So this is upstart versus startup," he said.

Bajaj said most of these failed primarily because most products and services are launched to serve an existing market instead of creating one.

As far as startups and champions are concerned, they are actually the same, he said.

"The only difference between a company like Wipro and Bajaj or a so-called startup is that we are startups with a story because we've been around for long enough to have built a story," he said.

(Whether it is) motorcycles or any other business, 90-95 per cent of all new businesses, new products and services fail. That's really quite a lethal statistic. And this is true across the world, across industries, Bajaj said.

"They fail primarily because most of those products and services were brought out to serve a market and not to create a market," he said.

"So when you try to serve a market, to fulfil demand, which is what most sales people want to do, you end up being a clone of someone else, as opposed to creating your own market... as opposed to generating demand," he added.