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Reason #4: Do
you want to make your parents happy by a) always working at a stable
job, or b) potentially being Narayana Murthy (who took a lot of
risk to start Infosys and almost went out of business early on)?
I'm serious. Wayne Greztky, probably the greatest ice-hockey player
ever, once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." I'm lucky
to have a wife who tells me "The only thing worse than failing is not
even trying." I'm sure you are saying, "Amar, you don't understand, you
don't know my parents or my in-laws, or it just seems too risky to work
at one of these little start-ups." You are right, I don't understand.
You get more ownership of the work you get to do, you can make the same
salary as a big company, you get a meaningful percentage of equity -
what's not to like?
Reason #5: It
is probably the best time in the last 25 years, if not ever, in India to
start a company.
If you are smart, have a good idea, and can assemble a good team, then
statistically, you have a lesser chance of failing today and in the next
10 years than at any time in India's past.
India has entered a
period of fast and sustained economic growth, as long as the government
keeps on its current path of increased economic liberalization. With a
demographic bulge in the 10-25 year age bracket, the country is
virtually guaranteed a consumption boom for the next couple of decades.
There are so many industries in India that are already growing at 20-30%
per year. More opportunities will also open up as the government makes
hitherto closed sectors open to private sector participation and
competition. With a fast growing economy, solid world-wide economic
growth, and a large talent pool at your disposal, it has never been a
better time in India to start or join a start-up as an early-stage
employee.
What does this all mean for India?
In the US, there are tens
of thousands of people employed at start-ups, working hard to innovate
and build products and services. The US has tens of thousands of hi-tech
start-up companies. India has a few thousand. It's unlikely that India's
thousands of tech start-ups are going to create more winners than the
US' tens of thousands of hi-tech companies, the US just has too many
more chances at success, since it has so many more start-ups.
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