Culture against startups?
By Techgirl

If I had a rupee for every time a fellow Indian told me about how we Indians cannot work in a team or appreciate a neighbour’s success, I would be able to buy all the shoes in Mumbai.  And many fashion accessories to go with my new shoes.

If you saw the following article in one the most popular websites written by the bright founder of an Indian startup lamenting the fact that America is the best place for Indian entrepreneurs, what would you think?

“
I’ve been reading a lot about the proposed US Startup Visa.

Right now, one of the biggest things that prevents smart entrepreneurs (Indian or otherwise) from going to live and work in Silicon Valley, is the Visa issue. Sure, most nationalities can get 3 months worth of time in the States, but after that, they need to leave and come back again… and thus begins the dance with the immigration chaps at San Francisco International Airport.

This is the comfort blanket that most Indian entrepreneurs cling to.

It stops them actually doing anything.

Instead they arse about in India dealing with total numbskull venture capitalists — most of whom are playing the role admirably up until it comes to coughing up cash.

In Silicon Valley, they get risk.

Your brilliant, amazing, its-gotta-work idea is risky. Anything new is inherently risky. But in America, you try it. You mitigate as much risk as you can then you try it. You get stuck in and you see what happens.

In India, entrepreneurs try too. The first thing that happens is they become social outcasts. They’re labeled, with a bit of a laugh, ‘delboys’. But those doing the labelling do actually mean it. And this is the horrifying thing in India — normal people do quite like to thwart the efforts of anyone thinking outside the box. There are two fundamental points about the Indian culture contributing to this:

1. Indian people are inherently jealous of any success whatsoever. I often joke, ‘that shouldn’t be allowed‘, when I hear someone has made a pile of cash. I am being ironic, but it’s fascinating to watch the number of people who actually nod along with the statement.

2. Know your place. Indian people need to ‘place’ you in society. They need to understand where precisely you are in the hierarchy. And if you’re seeking to change that hierarchy — by doing something entrepreneurial, well, that’s your fault. See point 1.

……….
“

Confession time. The above article was not written by an Indian but by a 32 year successful Britisher Ewan who has studied in one of the best colleges and in his words ‘made a lot of money’.  Ewan published his views in his own website mobileindustryreview which is widely accepted as one of the most influential mobile phone sites in the world.

The only thing I did was to replace the word ‘British’ with the word ‘Indian’ in the article to show you that some European startups share the same frustration as our bright young men and women.

Techgoss note: Techgirl is a senior Tech journalist who reports on the IT, KPO and KPO Sectors for a leading media house.  In her spare time, she dabbles in satire in her blog http://techgirltalk.blogspot.com