“Proud to Be the Enabler”: Closed System Ideology in the Origin Stories of Indian Technology Start-Ups

Krishna Akhil Kumar Adavi The University of Texas at Austin ; E. Johanna Hartelius The University of Texas at Austin

Abstract

Indian technology start-ups have flourished in the past decade in sectors such as ride-hailing, hotel-booking, and at-home personal services, which have been supported by national programs and Silicon Valley ideas of market disruption. Drawing on Miller’s foundational work on “technological consciousness,” this article demonstrates how start-up origin stories construct an ethos that is aligned with nationalist and casteist privilege, which are the closed system's principal values. Expanding northern hemispheric exclusionism, the article contributes to the interdisciplinary study of entrepreneurial, professional, and technical communication with a critical view of how globalized discourses legitimize individual entrepreneurship by strengthening and obscuring the ideological tension between casteism and meritocracy.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2025-10-01
DOI
10.1177/10506519251348451
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Hybrid
Topics
Export

Citation context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

References (107) · 20 in this index

  1. 10.1215/18752160-2863200
     ↗
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  4. 10.1080/1553118X.2022.2027772
     ↗
  5. 10.1145/3432949
     ↗
Show all 107 →
  1. Bansal V. (2023 August 8). Inside the elite colleges behind India’s tech success. Rest of World. https://rest…
  2. 10.4159/9780674088986
     ↗
  3. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  4. 10.26812/caste.v2i1.282
     ↗
  5. 10.1080/21665095.2014.967877
     ↗
  6. boyd d. (2018). Beyond the rhetoric of algorithmic solutionism. Data and Society: Points. https://medium.com/…
  7. 10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
     ↗
  8. 10.1093/oso/9780198843498.003.0018
     ↗
  9. 10.1108/JMD-05-2014-0049
     ↗
  10. Daniel A. (2020 October 1). Untold seed stories: First 500 days of Urban Company. SeedToScale. https://www.se…
  11. Caste and castelessness: Towards a biography of the “general category”
    Economic and Political Weekly
  12. Entrepreneurship or survival? Caste and gender of small business in India
    Economic and Political Weekly
  13. 10.4324/9781003161875-30
     ↗
  14. Entrepreneurship and innovation in selected countries of Europe
  15. 10.4324/9781315675381
     ↗
  16. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  18. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  19. Engineering colleges, “exposure” and information technology: Professionals in Tamil Nadu
    Economic and Political Weekly
  20. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  21. 10.1016/j.jbusvent.2006.10.003
     ↗
  22. 10.1177/1461444809342738
     ↗
  23. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  24. Goswami C. Banerjee A. (2022 April 8). NoBroker Company: Business model: Founders: Revenue. StartupTalky. htt…
  25. 10.5325/jinfopoli.6.2016.0371
     ↗
  26. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  27. 10.1080/02691728.2011.578301
     ↗
  28. 10.1177/0893318908318513
     ↗
  29. Haven J. boyd d. (2020). Philanthropy’s techno-solutionism problem. Data & Society Research Institute. https:…
  30. 10.4337/9781845421472
     ↗
  31. 10.1177/1461444820929319
     ↗
  32. 10.1177/0266242609350822
     ↗
  33. How our QR strength powers merchants—Our pioneership that is deeply rooted in India. (2023 March 31). Paytm B…
  34. Chasing innovation: Making entrepreneurial citizens in modern India
  35. Caste and entrepreneurship in India
    Economic and Political Weekly
  36. 10.7208/chicago/9780226276663.001.0001
     ↗
  37. Jasleen. (2021 June 18). AutoFlipz launches platform offering standardization transparency in automobile afte…
  38. In the name of globalisation: Meritocracy, productivity and the hidden language of caste
    Economic and Political Weekly
  39. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  40. Jo Starr K. Sahgal N. (2021 June 29). Measuring caste in India [Fact tank]. Pew Research Center: Decoded. htt…
  41. Kashyaap S. (2015 May 28). These engineers from BITS Pilani plan to take your homes off the energy grid. Your…
  42. 10.1177/1461444817728682
     ↗
  43. Khedekar N. (2016 September 19). The Practo story: Building full-stack end-to-end online health solution for …
  44. Form and genre: Shaping rhetorical action
  45. Kumar R. (2022 January 19). India’s tech sector has a caste problem. Rest of World. https://restofworld.org/2…
  46. 10.1080/24701475.2020.1810395
     ↗
  47. 10.1177/0266242611401796
     ↗
  48. 10.1177/1527476416680454
     ↗
  49. 10.1002/smj.188
     ↗
  50. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  51. Malhotra T. (2022 October 13). This IIT madras alumni’s start-up is making crude oil out of seaweed. YourStor…
  52. 10.5465/amj.2007.27169488
     ↗
  53. Entrepreneurship in the wild: A startup field guide
  54. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  55. 10.1080/10510977809367983
     ↗
  56. 10.1080/00335638409383686
     ↗
  57. 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.06.003
     ↗
  58. 10.1177/0163443718818383
     ↗
  59. 10.1177/002194360203900103
     ↗
  60. 10.4337/9781845421472.00011
     ↗
  61. Ola and skill development and entrepreneurship department, Government of Maharashtra sign…
  62. How India’s caste system limits diversity in science—In six charts
    Nature
  63. Pathak R. (2021 March 8). The success story of OYO. Analytics Steps. https://www.analyticssteps.com/blogs/suc…
  64. 10.1080/1070289X.2015.1034129
     ↗
  65. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  66. Poojary T. (2021 July 2). How this IIT-IIM graduate's SaaS start-up is simplifying email marketing. YourStory…
  67. Purohit K. (2023 October 4). How a landmark caste census in India threatens Modi’s grip on power. Al Jazeera.…
  68. 10.1016/j.tele.2021.101719
     ↗
  69. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  70. 10.26812/caste.v3i2.450
     ↗
  71. 10.1145/3359277
     ↗
  72. 10.1177/1461445620916363
     ↗
  73. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  74. Sharma N. (2021 September 7). Reliance Jio's cheap data turned India's internet dreams into reality. Quartz. …
  75. 10.1163/22142312-bja10020
     ↗
  76. 10.4337/9781845421472.00012
     ↗
  77. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  78. Spinuzzi C. Jakobs E. Pogue G. (2016). A good idea is not enough: Understanding the challenges of entrepreneu…
  79. Startupurban. (2021 December 30). RedBus—The success story of Phanindra Sama and his pioneering company. Star…
  80. 10.4159/9780674243477
     ↗
  81. Midnight’s machines: A political history of technology in India
  82. The emerging nature of work in platform economy companies in Bengaluru, India: The case o…
    E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies
  83. 10.4324/9781003140054-6
     ↗
  84. 10.1177/1350508412458495
     ↗
  85. 10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101251
     ↗
  86. The most inspirational success story of OLA Cabs. (2018 September 17). Business Connect. https://businessconn…
  87. The legacy of social exclusion: A correspondence study of job discrimination in India
    Economic and Political Weekly
  88. 10.1177/00194662221146656
     ↗
  89. Employment, exclusion and “merit” in the Indian IT industry
    Economic and Political Weekly
  90. Interrupting merit, subverting legibility: Navigating caste in “casteless” worlds of computing
  91. 10.1525/as.2012.52.2.395
     ↗
  92. 10.1146/annurev-soc-071913-043303
     ↗
  93. Vaitheeswaran K. (2017 July 20). The Indian startup ecosystem is like the caste system. Quartz. https://qz.co…
  94. 10.1177/0266242618818249
     ↗
  95. Varshney R. (2020 July 29). How these IITians turned their student project into a profitable global edtech co…
  96. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  97. 10.1177/14648849221115223
     ↗
  98. 10.4324/9780429198748
     ↗
  99. Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  100. Written Communication
  101. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
  102. 10.1111/j.1467-954X.1990.tb03349.x
     ↗