Reboot is a conference for failed entrepreneurs. Zu Tisch in GK1 hosted the first ever Reboot Conference that saw participation from entrepreneurs working in as diverse sectors as healthcare, SaaS, fintech and foodtech. It was an high energy event with founders taking the stage to talk about their entrepreneurial journey and the Indian startup ecosystem. Here are the slides we presented.

2. Why do most startups fail?

3. And some succeed?
42% 32% 28% 24% 14%
Timing Team Idea Biz Model Funds

4. We’re focusing too much on
“Pre-Series A”
“Verbal commitment of USD 2 Mio”
“In talks to raise an undisclosed amount”
“We will raise Series A next year…”

5. and the media is loving it.

6. Startup events glorify success
We have tremendous respect for anyone organizing a
startup event anywhere. Its actually great for someone who
is just venturing out and figuring out how & where to begin.
Watching a well known founder on stage speak about how
they scaled their company fills you with enthusiasm & hope
and makes you think – “If they can do it, SO CAN I”.
But, for someone who is 8-10 months into their startup,
attending these events has diminishing marginal returns.
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.
And no good thing ever dies” – Shawshank Redemption

7. Failure is considered taboo
Failure is bad. No one really works to fail, but if you’re an
entrepreneur slogging away at your business, there is a high
chance that you’ve encountered the dreaded F-word.
In India, its even worse because, culturally, failure is looked
down upon and even the closest ones begin doubting you.

8. In startups, P(Failure) !=0
90% startups fail, and there
are hundreds of articles and
newspaper column inches
dedicated to funding &
“success” stories.
But not many will stand up
and talk about how their
business failed, how that
actually feels, and how they
are dealing with it.
Talking about failure is simply not very ‘empowering’ or
inspirational. But it needs to be out there.

9. and we need to talk about it

10. “A collaborative knowledge sharing
platform for founders to learn from
mistakes and failures of others”
This is why we started Reboot

11. What does Reboot mean?
• Think of us as a support system for entrepreneurs that
encourages risk taking and knowledge sharing
• Personally for us, Reboot represents a paradigm shift in
the way we go about building business. Think Value
Creation before Valuation.
• More Mature. We hope Reboot acts as a catalyst for the
startup ecosystem in India to act mature and embrace
failure.
• Karma: Pay it forward! Since we have benefitted from our
support system, we want to help build this for you.

12. Reboot is all about you

13. and your journey as a founder.

14. The Volunteers
Akshay Gautam
Now working on
startup #4
Dipankar Sarkar
Now working on
startup #3
Punit G
Now working on
startup #3
As entrepreneurs ourselves, we have seen multiple
failures and we know how hard it is to shake off that
feeling and move forward to our next goal!