| I'm in contact with people that are like Zresearch what I call 'thin start ups', companies that have a front office in the US for funding and representation issues, and a back office in India where all the development takes place. There are very good business reasons for setting things up this way. Still, I see GlusterFS as an Indian start-up, not an American one. It is run by Indians, from the top to the bottom and everywhere in between. To get funding and to be able to access the American market you have to have an office - preferably your titular main office - there. In this respect they are not different from Logitech, another 'American' company (never mind that they really are Swiss). As for your confusion re my statement about a limited view, yes, that's a generalization too, but it's a conversational trick to put those two at the same level. To say that you do know the Indian software industry at that level is an absolute statement that I think you can not make with any confidence. To say that you can't know the whole landscape simply because of its size is one I can make with confidence simply because you'd have to be omniscient in order to be able to do so. India is going through much the same phase as were Japan was when they were 'used' to produce electronics for the United States in the 60's of the last century. The amount of know-how that is being amassed there and the amount of money invested will sooner or later result in a tech boom. The fact that GlusterFS is an Indian (not an American) company to me is some proof that we are underway in this, and I know of another 50 or so companies that follow this same model. Just like Logitech is Swiss they're as Indian as can be, even though for the outside world they'll do everything they can to present a different face. That's simply good business and I don't begrudge them for it. Weasel words : qualifying your statements in such a way that you can twist their meaning later by pointing at your qualifiers. As for my view of the Indian software scene I have seriously considered moving to India in order to start a new company there but for logistical reasons have decided to stay in the Netherlands for the time being, I have a son in school here and I don't want him to pay part of the price of my business adventures. In the running up to that decision I did a very thorough survey of the Indian IT landscape and I was absolutely amazed at how much quality software comes out of India and how thin the 'we're a us company' veneer sometimes is. It's happening, it's happening now and if you are not a part of it then get moving, you have an amazing edge over the rest of the world. There are two countries right now where the chances of making it big as a hacker/ceo are substantially higher than in the rest of the world, the first is India, the second - and still to a lesser extent but I'm not sure how long that will last - is China. Say hi to Anand from me btw :) Regarding your friends with unfunded startups, drop me a line please. (email in my 'about' bit). |