A student who has reached out to startup founders in both India and San Francisco says he noticed a clear difference in how some of them communicate. Hriday Kadam shared his experience on X (formerly Twitter) after sending cold messages to several founders.
He said many founders in San Francisco spoke to him openly and treated him more like a peer, even though he was still a student.
San Francisco Founders Kept The Conversation Open
Kadam said his conversations with founders in San Francisco often went beyond a simple exchange. They asked him questions, listened to his ideas and appeared genuinely interested in what he had to say.
“I have cold DM’ed a bunch of founders from both India and SF One thing I noticed,” Hriday Kadam wrote on X. He added, “A lot of founders in SF talk to me like a peer. They ask questions, hear out my ideas, and have genuine conversations, even though I am just a student.”
He then compared that experience with some of his interactions with Indian founders. Kadam said he had also met impressive founders from India, but felt that some appeared more distant during conversations.
“While I have met some amazing founders from India too, I have also noticed some seem to carry a bit more of a ‘founder’ aura, as if they’re positioning themselves above the conversation.”
Kadam was careful to say that he was not making a claim about every founder. “Not saying this is universally true. Just an interesting difference in communication styles that I have observed,” he wrote.
Users Linked The Difference To Workplace Culture
The post led to a discussion about how culture can shape the way people interact at work.
A user said the difference could be linked to the more hierarchical nature of many Asian societies. “Interesting observation. However, it is more of a cultural thing. The same is true in the workplace, too. See, you have to understand that the East is a bit hierarchical in nature, and hence someone who is a founder might develop an aura based on how those around them treat them. The West is not that hierarchical and hence the conversations change. This is a good learning because dealing with customers will also change in different societies/countries.”
i have cold DM’ed a bunch of founders from both India and SF
One thing I noticed:
a lot of founders in SF talk to me like a peer.
they ask questions, hear out my ideas, and have genuine conversations, even though i am just a student.
While i have met some amazing founders…
— Hriday Kadam (@hridaykadam) August 7, 2026
Others agreed with Kadam but pointed out that founders are not all alike. A person wrote, “Ya true, but there are some great founders too.”
Another user linked the discussion to the AI industry, writing, “That’s why India is not even in the AI Race. Thinking you know everything usually keeps other smart people away, and in AI research, it’s usually the teams of people. Being in a conversation is not always a good thing. And yeah, not everybody is the same.”
A different user added, “Bro, it’s pretty much the same with Japanese founders imo.”