Startups and India
This came up while discussing this with my friends..
"Living in India is lot like working in a startup!"
Interesting point if you come to think of it.
While I was in the US everything was so developed, all the process were very organized. You woke up in the morning and you knew you won't have to worry about hot water... Get into your car and thanks to mapquest you can almost always knew how much time its going to take you in going from one place to another. Even while driving you don't have to think and you can simply assume an Autopilot mode because everyone else will just follow their lanes and won't be of any trouble to you as such.
On the other hand, in India you are still on the defining stage of all these processes. The infrastructure is being setup so a hot water bath cannot be guaranteed unless you wake up a little early and switch on your geysers :) ... Highways (a.k.a Freeways) and metros are being built so it might take you anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours to travel between the same places. And never dare to take a AutoPilot because the traffic rules are still under development. Everyone must be wondering why is it still a fun to live in India? Well, its pretty much similar to the fun you get while working in a startup environment.
US according to me is more like a corporate blue chip company where everything is almost exactly the way it should be. Nice infrastructure, well defined best practices, planned processes for everything..things that symbolizes a blue chip also represents America.
Today's India is more like a startup where every process is still under development. Developing processes, not the best of offices to work in, highly spirited team, a vision to change the world, visible growth and changes around you... things characteristic about any good startup represents India.
The phenomenal rate of around 10% at which our GDP is growing will probably make India as one of the richest nations in the world in the coming 30 years. With an economy of some $700 billion today, India is expected to scale to around $40 trillion during this time. Everything is under development, everywhere you go things are changing for good. New bridges are being built, new airlines are making way, new business models are being established. Now who wouldn't want to be a part of such change?
6 Comments:
Hi Lomesh,
This was quite an interesting comparison. Having lived in Delhi most of my growing years and now in Sydney, I can really understand this observation. You are right, a lot is changing but I hope I am wrong, a lot of growth is happening for a very small proportion of people and I fear, a lot of peopel are left behind. THis is something that I don't see addressed in most discussions which is of concern.
Hasnain Zaheer
PS: have sent you a mail just a few mins back. Read your e-mails quite late
2:11 AM
I agree, India IS a lot like a startup, where the energy level is high, everywhere there is stuff happening and predictability of things is low.
Great analogy ... very true.
5:20 AM
Excellent Analogy..I cant think of a better one..Thinking on these lines one can really correlate the two and have a better perspective on both.
Cheers
3:08 AM
Couldn't have come up with a better analogy. Getting used to life in Delhi, after 6 years out. Its quite a struggle to get the ordinary things done, but oh so fun!
11:25 PM
Wow, what a way to tell Indians that Indians are enjoying the real world. I think you really enjoy the work (all crazy innovations like crossing the road from anywhere and everywhere) in the startup phase and later it is just a program with every mode so organized.
1:16 AM
Amazing way of looking at India. People like you are working to better lives of people who can afford to have things. Unfortunately, a lot of people out there in villages, and in small towns, whose conditions are dismal. On my way to Agra from Delhi airport, taxi driver took us from a couple of small villages and I noticed that their conditions haven't improved a bit. We all know that they need education, employment, and opportunities.
I hope what you said about India being a startup and will grow up to be a blue chip company come true in coming years in true sense across the board.
12:07 PM
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