Founder Mode: the startup simulator game for India
फ़ाउंडर मोड: भारत के लिए स्टार्टअप सिम्युलेटर गेम
Name your startup, pick a business model and a city, and run it month by month. Split your focus, set prices, spend on ads, play action cards and handle surprises — from a viral reel to a GST notice. Raise angel, seed and Series A rounds and watch your cap table change. Everything runs in your browser.
How to play
- Create your founder character, then pick a business model, city, team, difficulty (Easy, Normal or Real life) and how much of your savings goes into the company.
- Each month, spend 10 founder-focus tokens across Build, Marketing, Sales, Hiring and Fundraising. Unspent tokens are rest.
- Set your ad budget and price, choose hires and play one action card.
- Run the month. Watch cash, runway, MRR, customers and morale update, then respond to any event.
- After 36 months (or when cash runs out) you get an ending, lessons from your own run and a shareable result card.
What you will learn
- Burn rate and runway — and why you raise 6+ months before cash runs out
- Unit economics: CAC, churn, LTV and why LTV:CAC near 3:1 matters
- Dilution, the ESOP pool and priced rounds (angel, seed, Series A)
- GST thresholds, B2B vs B2C pricing, ROC and TDS compliance
- Vesting, co-founder conflict, burnout and team morale
- Founder pay: what a salary does to burn, your own savings and investor trust
- Debt vs equity: MUDRA loans, revenue-based financing, bridge and down rounds
A simplified simulation for learning, not financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Everything runs in your browser; progress is saved only on this device.
Try the real calculators
- Burn & runway calculator
- Unit economics calculator
- Funding round simulator
- Bootstrap or raise funding?
- Pitch deck checklist
- Co-founder equity split
Also play: Paisa Samajh: personal finance life game · All games
Frequently asked questions
What is Founder Mode?
A free, browser-based startup simulator set in India. You run a startup for up to 36 months and make the decisions founders make: where to spend time, how much to spend on ads, what to charge, who to hire and when to raise money.
Is it realistic?
The mechanics follow real concepts — customer acquisition cost, churn, gross margin, GST registration thresholds from our Facts Registry, priced rounds with an ESOP top-up, 4-year vesting with a 1-year cliff, the Startup India Seed Fund and DPIIT recognition. Numbers are simplified so a full game takes 15–25 minutes.
Can students and teachers use it?
Yes. It works on phones, needs no sign-up and is free. Each run ends with “What you learned” — lessons computed from your own decisions, linked to calculators for burn, unit economics and fundraising — which makes it useful for entrepreneurship classes and E-cells.
Is my game saved?
Your progress and your best runs are saved only in this browser on this device (localStorage). Nothing is uploaded.
Can I play in Hindi?
Yes. Use the English / हिंदी switch at the top of the game. All events, cards and lessons are available in both languages.
Is this financial advice?
No. Both games are simplified simulations for learning. Returns, events and rules are modelled on real Indian concepts but simplified, and results do not predict what will happen to you. Use the linked calculators and a qualified adviser for real decisions.