Bengaluru entrepreneur accused of lying about ₹4.2 lakh salary says it’s ‘common in tech’

When the Bengaluru-based co-founder of a tech company shared a screenshot of his salary on X, it was supposed to be a lighthearted tweet about one of the perks of being an entrepreneur - getting to set your own salary. Instead, it devolved into accusations of lying and flexing on social media for clout, with dozens of people accusing the co-founder of exaggerating the number or faking the screenshot while claiming his salary was too high to be believable.

Here’s what happened

Abhishek Chakravarty, the Bengaluru-based co-founder of Youform, took to X to share a screenshot that shows ₹420,000 was credited to his ICICI bank account. “You run a small SaaS that gives you freedom to choose a magic number for your salary,” he wrote, tongue firmly in cheek and a winking emoji to convey the lighthearted tone of his post.

Chakravarty was clearly leaning into the cheeky undertone of the number ‘420’. But instead of laughs, his post invited scrutiny, with many accusing him of dishonesty.

Accusations galore

Some people claimed that the co-founder of Youform had faked the screenshot, pointing to the ‘incorrect’ placement of commas in the message. Many also said that his monthly salary of ₹4.2 lakh was too high and accused him of bragging on social media.

“I wish you had a better editing skill (Rs. 4,20,000.00) to be precise it comes like this buddy when it gets credited,” a user wrote.

“Not to undermine your efforts or achievements, but Indian banks still count in tens, thousands, lacs and so on, so the number should have had a ‘,’ after 4, like ‘4,20,000’, be it an international transaction or anything,” another X user named Yash added.

“Yes, it's a completely fake screenshot, any number in lakh would look like this,” a user named Mridul wrote.

Entrepreneur’s response

Abhishek Chakravarty, who previously built and sold Botflow, lashed out at critics, inviting them to a video call to verify for themselves.

“Want to come on a video call to see it is right and then apologise in public?” he asked one person. “Come over a video call to see it live and then apologise in public,” he told another.

Chakravarty also dismissed people who said the salary was too high, claiming it is common in tech to earn this much.

In response to a person supporting him, the Youform co-founder wrote: “Seriously! Also, they don’t realise how common is this figure as a salary in tech.”

When asked why he was getting triggered, he said: “Man I am not justifying the income, I am saying this because you are trying to defame me here on my timeline. Either come and disprove it or stay away.”