Whale tank: The upscale societies where uber-rich tech and startup czars stay connected and network with one another
Altamount Road, the SoBo Billionaires' Row that's home to Mukesh Ambani, appears to have company in India's other metro cities, such as Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR, for the uber-rich tech and startup czars to stay connected and network with one another — from the comfort of their drawing rooms or gyms and club houses for that matter.
In Bengaluru, houses in the Billionaires' Street (Koramangala), Epsilon Villas or Adarsh Palm Retreat (APR) are owned by the likes of Sachin and Binny Bansal, Flipkart cofounders, and its CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy along with a few Infosys co-founders and the Raveendrans. The owners of several new-age firms such as Unacademy's Gaurav Munjal, PhonePe's Sameer Nigam, Meesho's Vidit Aatrey, the Zetwerk founders dot the palm tree and Mercedes-lined APR. 'India's CTO' Nandan Nilekani, Wipro owners — the Premjis, and Rahul Dravid also own homes in Koramangala, where property rates have already built a formidable moat of exclusivity.
Up north, the landscape is a carbon copy of the southern Silicon Valley. The joke is that should a CEO need to raise funds, s/he need not step out of DLF's The Camellias, where rates are not far from touching the Rs 1-lakh/sq feet mark.
Business Meetings, Brainstorming Sessions
The Camellias in Gurgaon or Adarsh in Bengaluru are places where business meetings, brainstorming sessions and deal talks are concluded during morning runs and evening walks. There's a 'network effect' that attracts more and more such individuals as these communities start building up,
