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Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

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Re: Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

#41

Post by raghava »

anonInd wrote: post #40
kamaal wrote: post #38

Not just the start up in general its a little to hire good developers in India. Not because they are unavailable, but because they are often lost in the huge crowd rush. The general good folks that come out IIT's and REC's do either join a company like Google or alike. Or Write a entrance exam like CAT to work for some investment bank. Or do their MS in US and permanently plan to settle down some where in the west. I…

Very well written . The education system in India is absolutely a joke. Here is how it works . After 10th exams you take up science for 10+2. Simultaneously, you enroll for Maths,Physics and Chemistry tutions ( for IIT entrence exams). If you are dedicated ,hardworking ,sharp and have no social life ( ie do not do the things every teenager should do viz chase girls, get laid, loaf around) you might get into IITs or a…

> My teammates(4-5 yrs of experience) can not write code that will print a directory structure.

Let them first get through fizz-buzz test, then we can talk of traversing a directory through code.

For the uninitiated, one needs to understand that most (numbers are in 75% and above, and am not kidding) of the 'developers' out here are in the IT industry not because of their love for software/programming but because it pays relatively well. And those who truly love programming are the real outcasts here.

Re: Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

#42

Post by raghava »

divtxt wrote: post #6
yummyfajitas wrote: post #5

I don't buy these reasons. I know of a startup which hits all the bullet points. If it works, the CTO has enough equity to never work again (unless he wants to). They want a full partner, not a coding body, which is precisely why they are giving away equity. They want the partner to completely own the tech side [1], make all the tech decisions, as well as participate in strategic decisions. Local talent was completel…

Sorry - your example is probably one of the exceptions. I know two startup founders in Bangalore who face these issues - especially reason #1: matching the compensation for good talent. And reason #3: there are almost no examples of non-founder startup millionaires in Bangalore (/India). This is how most developers in Bangalore got rich in the last decade: get the highest compensation you can and invest as much as yo…

> example is probably one of the exceptions.

Precisely. I myself have seen many MBA types running around looking for 'developers who would strictly be employers only, to implement that cool idea (which usually is a clone of some famous thing on the other side of planet)' with no equity offered. And as there is no safety-net through social security here, any worthy fellow would choose the obvious and avoid such startups, as the risks far outweigh the benefits.

People get what they pay for, simple as that.

Re: Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

#43

Post by raghava »

aksbhat wrote: post #23

If you are a good dev/student and some bank is willing to lend you 40,000$, it is far easier to join a good US university for a masters degree and then get a job in Silicon valley. So all you are left with are people who cannot take above option.

Should I take that you mean to say all those not flying off to a foreign university due to various reasons of their own (a personal obligation, may be, or something like that) are not fit or worthy enough?

Re: Why startups in India find it hard to hire devs

#44

Post by raghava »

BerislavLopac wrote: post #3
themonk wrote: post #2

Because founder wants to keep all the equity. Very few examples where early developers got share of success.

But would they be willing to work for equity anyway? Where I live no developer would work without pay (or for a reduced salary) for a startup if they could (and they could, easily) find offshoring work paid much above average local salaries.

> work without pay (or for a reduced salary)

One needs to take into account the social context when discussing India. If a guy does not earn, even if he is working on curing cancer or educating the poorest of poor, he is considered a big-time loser and a bum. If there comes along a startup with a cloned idea wanting some people who can code for lesser salary, none in their right minds would choose it; because there are a million things that could go wrong and generally, people here are less honourable when it comes to financial matters#, and always have an eye on bigger cut in the pie.

Lesser pay would not work. Equal, or even slightly higher pay compared to big IT shops, along with equity will work wonders.

#Yes, I am generalizing, but that's the situation in a society ripe with a huge poor/middle class section wanting to make it big somehow and cross those barriers.

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