Having worked on a few startups now, I can assure you hard work != the key to success in startups.
It's a process of experimentation, constant observation, accumulating knowledge and forging ahead on your own with very little external encouragement.
If you told me IIT kids spent countless hours experimenting and tinkering with their own projects, then it'd be a different story.
But the test prep process for IIT JEE/AIEEE is a very pre-defined route, that EVERYONE is doing, with lots of encouragement from parents and a soul-killing process of cramming - for the singular goal of passing tests set up by a very bureaucratic establishment.
It sounds like the opposite of the preparation needed for risk aversion and creative endeavors.
