A Bengaluru-based tech entrepreneur recently found himself in a storm of criticism after sharing what he intended as a humorous post about his earnings. Abhishek Chakravarty, co-founder of the SaaS startup Youform, posted a screenshot on X showing ₹4.2 lakh credited to his ICICI Bank account, jokingly calling it the benefit of choosing your own salary as a founder.
“Running a small SaaS lets you pick a fun salary number,” Chakravarty captioned the image, paired with a wink emoji — a clear nod to the tongue-in-cheek nature of the post and the cultural connotation of ‘420’.
However, what began as a lighthearted moment quickly drew backlash. Several users accused him of faking the bank message, pointing out a formatting flaw — the comma was incorrectly placed, which they claimed was inconsistent with standard Indian numbering formats.
Critics also questioned the authenticity of the salary amount, saying ₹4.2 lakh per month was too extravagant and appeared like flexing. One user mocked the formatting, while others argued Indian bank statements typically display lakhs with commas after the first digit — “4,20,000”.
Facing growing skepticism, Chakravarty clapped back. He invited skeptics to join a video call to confirm the transaction’s authenticity in real time, demanding public apologies if proven wrong. He further asserted that such salaries are quite normal in the tech world.
“Come and verify it live or stop spreading false claims,” he responded to a critic, firmly defending his post.
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