Startup Founder Complains About iPhone’s Battery Life, Xiaomi India MD Gifts Him Free Redmi Note 4

There are several benefits to being a startup founder. There’s power, money, and a chance to make a dent in the universe. And if you play your cards right, the chance to get free phones.

CommonFloor cofounder Sumit Jain today uploaded a video on Twitter complaining about the battery life of his iPhone. “My iPhone 6 is acting crazy. The battery has stopped at 9% and is always showing that I am charging it,” he said. His attached video showed his iPhone displaying the charging sign while it wasn’t connected to an adapter. “It looks like I’ve discovered wireless charging,” he joked.

 

At this point, Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jain jumped in. “I’ll be happy to send you a Redmi Note 4,” he offered. And he didn’t miss his chance to rub it in to Apple. “(It) has an amazing battery life of 1.5+ days.”

Sumit Jain has since tweeted that he’ll happily take the Note 4 (who’s saying no to a free phone), and Twitter’s been left bemused. LinkedIn India head Akshay Kothari tweeted that it was a testament to Twitter’s power.

But you don’t just give away free phones and expect matters to end there. WebEngage founder Avlesh Singh too wanted his own Redmi.

And Manu Kumar Jain acceded once again.

Xiaomi is launching the Mi Home devices in India today, so Jain’s largesse might not be entirely coincidental. But he’s set of a bit off a chain reaction of people wondering how they can get free phones.

Jain is yet to respond to any of the non celeb users’ requests, which has led to intense speculation on the criteria that the Xiaomi India MD emloys while give away free phones.

And some are trying to start off public support campaigns, much like #NuggsForCarter.

Nothing’s worked so far. It appears that you need to be a famous startup founder to get a free phone. If you needed any more incentive to work hard on your startups, it might just be this.