| The IITs are definitely overhyped however there is no doubt that there are some real quality minds in there. That said, there isn't a great deal of research required to understand why fresh grads in India don't do startups. It's just common sense. Here are some of the top reasons that I can think of right off the bat: 1. It's too risky. The reason I went to IIT is so that I can get a stable job at the end of it. Why would I throw that away now with a Startup ? 2. I don't know how to do it. There is no startup eco system in India. There are some changes happening in Bangalore recently but India is such a large country that if you're in another region, you are pretty disconnected from what goes on elsewhere. 3. I have a job lined up that'll pay me $35,000/year. A lot of IITians have jobs lined up for themselves (especially the good ones...). Why exactly would they want to invest their time and effort in a Startup - the equivalent of starting from scratch - if they can take the IIT badge that they have earned and get a head start on everyone else while climbing the corporate ladder ? 4. I want to pursue studying X/an MBA/something else. 5. NO ONE in society will understand why I didn't take the $35k/year job and decided to work for NOTHING for at-least 1 YEAR of my life. OMG! DEATH AND SUFFERING!!! Indian society is tough. If you decide to 'do a startup' your parents will hear no end of it from their relatives, neighbors and even colleagues. Most Indian kids can't put their parents through that kind of crap, unfortunately, that's how society works. Everyone will STFU once your startup makes $1M/year but until then prepare yourself for constant nagging. Basically, in India if you work for X multinational corporation then your parents get bragging rights and everyone's eyes widen with wonder... Sad, but true. So in conclusion, I'd like to say that it's far more likely for people who are NOT from the IITs to work on startups in India. The risk/reward ratio for IITians is perceived to be MUCH higher because of all the options laid out in front of them already. Choice is a bitch :P |
Its far more easier to say all this when you tons of financial support to fall back on in case of failures. And there are a lot of rich kids I know who do it. I have friends who happily didn't finish their graduation, worked at call centers and threw random efforts at businesses and failed. Often is such cases, some one else is footing the bill. And most of your failures are sponsored by the person's dad or elder brother.
In most of such cases its not risk that they are taking. They just don't have any more options left. They are not good at doing day jobs, because they have had it easily their whole lives. Such guys just can't work under a boss. So they feel business is what they need to do.
Now if you are struggling to pay your home rent, you have a sister to marry off and your Dad's retirement is due next year. I don't see why such a person should not take a job in a big company. You won't understand the plight of this guy, unless you walk in his shoes.
You can call him coward, or under confident or just not capable to taking risks. The fact is such a guy is fighting a daily battle to keep his affairs running. Big risks, with big financial failures are not possible for his already financially stressed life.