Ever wondered, why don’t we see a Facebook or Google or Netscape or Youtube kind of startups taking place in India? Even if something similar is there, it may not be as big as Facebook or Google. Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft said, “Indians are the smartest people on earth.” This question has always intrigued me. So, why we can’t see an Indian coming up with a great start up venture. Is it our education the restriction? Is it because we don’t have Universities like Harvard and Stanford? Does a place where the business is started, makes a difference? But we have IITs and IIMs where some of the smartest people study.
Check out these some amazing facts about Indians heading some great companies worldwide, Sanjay Jha is the CEO of Motorola Mobility (which was recently sold to Google for around $12 billion) and was CEO of Motorola Inc before, Vikram Pandit is the head of Citigroup, Ajay Jain is one of the contenders to head Berkshire Hathway founded by the billionaire investor Warren Buffet when a succession takes place, Sabeer Bhatia co-founder of Hotmail which was later sold to Microsoft for $400 million, Vinod Khosla was the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Ram Sriram was the founding board member of Google & one of the first investors in Google and recently Anshu Jain was appointed as the Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank. You can see many more examples of these kind.
But the point is, there is something missing in us which is restricting us to go ahead. We are smart, we are hardworking, we do come up with some brilliant ideas, we have some of the best brains in the world, we have great thinkers, yet we are lacking somewhere. I am not saying this because we need to prove to the world, but because we have the talent, ability and capacity to do it. One impediment I foresee is that, just imagine you suddenly going in front of your parents and saying, I am going to start a company and imagine what would be their reaction, it would be a negative one initially. I am not blaming them, but that’s the way it is. The encouragement is not that much here. Our way of education is also to be partly blamed for this.
Even if we come up or don’t come up with the next Facebook or Google thing that may change the world, we will still remain the same. But the point is, somewhere a brilliant idea might be lost or couldn’t take shape just because we didn’t encourage it or due to various other reasons and the same takes place in some other part of the World. Think about it.
Have you heard about a company called Infosys, or Flipkart or hotmail ? :-D
ReplyDeletei wish hotmail wasnt sold to MS,it had potential back then...
Chintan is right in a way but gotto agree with you too- it's sad we aren't living up to our potential.
ReplyDeleteWell , I think Indians have done a great job so far…..I kindda agree that we do have some restrictions probably because we need funds, we need increased investments in R&D , also we need people who can look beyond money for an idea…someone whose first intention is to serve a purpose and not just to earn some extra dollars…
ReplyDeleteIndians might not have invented facebook or google…..but we sure did invent zero and the numbering systems and we kindda excelled in mathematics…We did not invent computers but we are the best in computer skills and the world out their are after Indians who have amazing technical skills, In fact we have learnt to master them than the people who invented it. Also India is now having its industrial revolution. Its hard to make new technology when we do not have much access to the existing technology. For example the existence of youtube, facebook, google would not have been possible without the existence of a computer. How can we invent a light bulb without having access to electricity?
We have companies like TATA,Infosys,Wipro…all globally known Indian companies.
We are a nation undergoing a lot of changes, we are developing, we are facing challenges like corruption ,poverty ,terrorism. Amidst all this we are inventing…we are thriving as people…and Bill Gates was right we are the smartest people on earth….and that’s why we are everywhere….You can find Indians literally everywhere…UK, US, Germany, Australia and so on….One day we will overcome all these challenges and constraints and release our full potential….Until then Jai hind…:)
@Chitan: Hey, I know these companies and have done a research on these companies. Infy is an amazing company, no doubt about it. Like Flipkart, there are some more amazing companies like mginger, Redbus.in, Way2sms and much more. But there is a difference when compared to Facebook or Google. That X factor is missing. Behind these businesses, the idea is so simple. I guess you know the story behind selling Hotmail to Microsoft, it's an amazing one...:).
ReplyDelete@Vijay: Agree with you.
@Preethi: I completely agree with you, no question on that. But what I am saying is how a simple idea can be turned into a great business venture. That's what I love about Facebook or Google. See Youtube for example, the idea is so simple and it was sold to Google for $1.6 billion. We have excelled in everything, then why are we not in this and Why can't we...?? That's my point.
All I can say is ....we can't invent something which has already been invented...he..he...ok that's on a lighter note.....
ReplyDeleteIts not that people here don't have ideas, but there are a lot of hindrances in order to turn them into reality...
ReplyDelete