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Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

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Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#21

Post by Keios »

plinkplonk wrote: post #17
Keios wrote: post #9

IMO, YCombinator should fund startups in India. Contrary to popular belief there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. I would not take anyone seriously who generalizes a whole nation, especially one as diverse as India, in one fell swoop. I am not saying the startup levels are anywhere on the scale of Silicon Valley, I am saying that there is sufficient talent of all types available in India…

Please name some successful startups that came out of India. Acquisition data would be nice! Now it is possible that there is a bit of a chicken and egg problem here. But, imho, it is not enough to state baldly that there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. IT as in "outsourcing" or "India Development Centres" sure. But the level of talent or software startups available is nowhere near what…

Chicken and egg indeed. Your perspective seems to be based on a very "US" centric view, which is perhaps one way to look at the issue. Needless to say entrepreneurial activity may not evolve in the same fashion in India as it did in the US. For example there may never be a specific area or city in India which becomes a Silicon Valley^(SV)

In the US specific areas/cities have historically done better in somethings - especially technology. This may never come to pass in India because of the presence of very different dynamics.

Also, you assume that India already has a world of startups - it does not, it merely has an untapped potential. I will not answer your question about programming languages that have come out of India, or Open Source intiatives - I would merely advise you to count how many Indians have contributed to similar goals in Silicon Valley, you could start back from the 1980s - I think oppurtunity called them to the US and they wisely followed. Also please check similar sources for linux, even the ubuntu flavor has Indians contributing. IMO in the future resident Indians will contribute to such projects, historically some non-resident Indians have. This is so because today's infrastructre allows us. (contd..)

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#22

Post by Keios »

Keios wrote: post #21
plinkplonk wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please name some successful startups that came out of India. Acquisition data would be nice! Now it is possible that there is a bit of a chicken and egg problem here. But, imho, it is not enough to state baldly that there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. IT as in "outsourcing" or "India Development Centres" sure. But the level of talent or software startups available is nowhere near what…

Chicken and egg indeed. Your perspective seems to be based on a very "US" centric view, which is perhaps one way to look at the issue. Needless to say entrepreneurial activity may not evolve in the same fashion in India as it did in the US. For example there may never be a specific area or city in India which becomes a Silicon Valley^(SV) In the US specific areas/cities have historically done better in somethings - e…

If the most important criteria for any seeding firm is how many startups exist in any given geographic area - I humbly disagree. It just indicates how easy it is to do business in a specific area, ideas and skills are not born in specific areas they occur universally. YC should actively look for great ideas from all over the world and then support the best, this may invlove moving them from thier current location, such as India, to one which is more conducive to thier pursuits, such as SV^^.The core competency for a YC type seeding company is to find talent and YCs primary service is to help hackers by providing an environment which gives them a shot. YC should be hunting for hackers who can create stuff that people want to pay for - in some fashion. Having existing startups IMO is not the criteria unless you wish to confound your judgment.

To summarize, you base your argument on a assumption that India should already be SV, while I think that is a superflous criteria for making great investment decisions as far as Tech startups go. I may well be wrong - but like you I try not to be blinkered.

PS: Please look at a wider spectrum when you talk of Tech Startups out of India, a great example is an IIT Chennai startup that works in a huge and untapped Indian rural market - can't recall the name. And that's just one, there are many more, I know of many tech startups out of New Delhi, who cater to an Indian audience.

^IMO Banglore and the Silicon Valley have very little in common - Indian tech startups are not yet geo-specific and may never be. Please don't compare Banglore with SV.

^^You may extend this logic to other industries and see that it works, Fashion comes to mind, Indian Fashion designers often also do work in Paris.

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#23

Post by plinkplonk »

Keios wrote: post #9

IMO, YCombinator should fund startups in India. Contrary to popular belief there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. I would not take anyone seriously who generalizes a whole nation, especially one as diverse as India, in one fell swoop. I am not saying the startup levels are anywhere on the scale of Silicon Valley, I am saying that there is sufficient talent of all types available in India…

"If YCombinator helped with Visas"

Yeow I hope not! INS's visa rules are a legal and procedural snake pit, with plenty of people abusing and bending the rules to get a chance to come to the USA. IMHO YC should keep to doing what it knows best . It is bad situation but not YC's problem to solve.

I would imagine that YC has (a LOT) more work than it can handle. Why would YC want to add to it by expanding to India (or anywhere else. If India why not China? If China ... )

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#24

Post by plinkplonk »

Keios wrote: post #22
Keios wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicken and egg indeed. Your perspective seems to be based on a very "US" centric view, which is perhaps one way to look at the issue. Needless to say entrepreneurial activity may not evolve in the same fashion in India as it did in the US. For example there may never be a specific area or city in India which becomes a Silicon Valley^(SV) In the US specific areas/cities have historically done better in somethings - e…

If the most important criteria for any seeding firm is how many startups exist in any given geographic area - I humbly disagree. It just indicates how easy it is to do business in a specific area, ideas and skills are not born in specific areas they occur universally. YC should actively look for great ideas from all over the world and then support the best, this may invlove moving them from thier current location, su…

"Indian Fashion designers often also do work in Paris"

Do they ask angel funds focussed on the USA to "come to India" and sponsor their visas to France ? :-) news to me - please send some references.

"you base your argument on a assumption that India should already be SV"

Huh? I said there is little demonstrated high quality technical (significant contributions to open source projects) or entrepreneurial (in the Y fundable startup sense) activity in India.

That doesn't mean I argue that "India should be SV" as you claim.

you say

"YC should actively look for great ideas from all over the world and then support the best, this may involve moving them from their current location, such as India, to one which is more conducive to their pursuits, such as SV"

The problem is , this is very easy to say and very very hard (if not impossible), to do "all over the world" . As Paul Graham pointed out, it will be a (very) long time before YC can deal with all the great ideas in the USA.

I don't think (I could be wrong) YC has the bandwidth to run some kind of United Nations "Save the Startups and Good Ideas Worldwide" effort. They do their thing well in the scope they choose to work in. We should respect that choice.

Now you (or I) can ask them to consider coming to India , but if they reply "not in cards for now, we have lots to do here" then we should shut up and look for alternatives (imho) than whine that YC is not looking "worldwide" or "not helping with the visas " or whatever.

FWIW, my advice (as an Indian ,based in India and thinking of a startup of my own) is to put fingers to keyboard and start coding and "build something people want". That's great advice and that's what I plan to do, YC or no YC.

You can build software from India and you can host anywhere in the world (hosting fees are cheap enough that 3 months of work in Bangalore will get you enough funds. And someone pointed out the cost of living is so low in India you don't need angel funds) till you get a few hundred thousand users . At that point believe me you won't need YC to "get a visa" or get you VC funding.

Now as to the YC 's more intangible benefits,

Would I like Paul Graham's connections and advice working for me? Certainly.

Do I think I am somehow entitled to them just because "I want"? certainly not!

" great example is an IIT Chennai startup that works in a huge and untapped Indian rural market - can't recall the name"

I hope you can see the humour in that statement.

Anyway this is my opinion. If you think you can persuade YC to "come to India" or are depending on or hoping that YC will come to India to help your startup be successful, I wish you luck :-D

I'll go back to my code now. Thanks for listening.

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#25

Post by Keios »

plinkplonk wrote: post #23
Keios wrote: post #9

IMO, YCombinator should fund startups in India. Contrary to popular belief there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. I would not take anyone seriously who generalizes a whole nation, especially one as diverse as India, in one fell swoop. I am not saying the startup levels are anywhere on the scale of Silicon Valley, I am saying that there is sufficient talent of all types available in India…

"If YCombinator helped with Visas" Yeow I hope not! INS's visa rules are a legal and procedural snake pit, with plenty of people abusing and bending the rules to get a chance to come to the USA. IMHO YC should keep to doing what it knows best . It is bad situation but not YC's problem to solve. I would imagine that YC has (a LOT) more work than it can handle. Why would YC want to add to it by expanding to India (or a…

I am not suggesting they change rules, I am suggesting that they setup a vehicle which can help hackers understand this snakepit better. They don't need to do it themselves they can get someone to aid the shortlisted folks.

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#26

Post by sharpshoot »

subhash wrote: post #8

Do you mean YCombinator should come to India? Or have such a phenomenon work in India? Personally, I think angel funding is not very relevant in India because the startup costs are extremely low. Also, VCs are not as prevalent as in the US (that seems to be changing with proto.in etc) so the VC contacts that YCombinator provides might not apply either. But the advice and ideas of someone like Paul Graham would do won…

Sabeer Bhatia - founder of hotmail?

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#27

Post by Keios »

plinkplonk wrote: post #24
Keios wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the most important criteria for any seeding firm is how many startups exist in any given geographic area - I humbly disagree. It just indicates how easy it is to do business in a specific area, ideas and skills are not born in specific areas they occur universally. YC should actively look for great ideas from all over the world and then support the best, this may invlove moving them from thier current location, su…

"Indian Fashion designers often also do work in Paris" Do they ask angel funds focussed on the USA to "come to India" and sponsor their visas to France ? :-) news to me - please send some references. "you base your argument on a assumption that India should already be SV" Huh? I said there is little demonstrated high quality technical (significant contributions to open source projects) or entrepreneurial (in the Y fu…

1.As far as fashion is concerned, they do ask for both funding and contacts to sell merchandize, you should check. It is not cheap to do a ramp show in Paris or New York, it is not always succusful.I am not suggesting sponsoring visas - I never did.

2. I suggested that there is much demonstrated capability, I also suggested you do some research starting from the 1980s. I also highlighted why I think there has been lack of resident Indian success in this arena while non-resident Indians have had a better game.

3.I do not think it is difficult to identify good ideas from all over the world - YC already does it in an unorganized format. My contention is that in a virtual platform such as our trade offers us, thinking local is unnecessary and perhaps outdated baggage we carry. There is no need to deploy talent scouts or some such to find the necessary hackers, they will find YCombinator or other such oppurtunities - it just needs to be a more encouraging process than it already is.

4. I have no clue what gave you the notion of a YC United Nations save the world thingy?!

5. I am certain YC has lots to do, and I put up my thoughts for discussion on this thread that someone else started, pg has since then responded but the discussion on the Indian startup scenario can carry on nonetheless. Your comment about 'whining' is inappropriate. I will not regard it as a personal comment, just a poor choice of words - correct me if I am wrong. :)

6.I agree with your advice about hacking away and building something that people want. I hack too, have been doing it for a long while, intend to do it forever, thanks for the advice nonetheless.

7.I have some advice too, I suggest you study hosting costs along with hardware costs - there is no way any salary in Banglore(for a techie) is going to take care of your hosting costs and just how long are you planning to host for before you need help. If your startup is anygood, it will need some serious servers, If you need references for good hosting providers and thier price charts, send me an email and i will send you some. keios.titan (at) gmail. Obviously, hardware or hosting requried depends on your application. My startup project has fairly high hosting demands.

8.You said: "Do I think I am somehow entitled to them just because "I want"? certainly not!"

I said: What!?!

I would like Paul's advice and YComb's resources too, I do not think they will come to me - I will go to them.

9. Well if you suggest the humour is because i cant recall the name, then I don't see the humour. The IIT Chennai startup targets a rural population, I am not a target customer.

10. I am not in the least persuading YC to come to India, and certainly I am not betting on that. I am saying "that they should help hackers who don't know any better through all the other rigmarole involved if they shortlist them."

Its there decision and this is a discussion board you know.

Best of luck with your project, do let me know if you come to Delhi sometime :)

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#28

Post by udai »

plinkplonk wrote: post #23
Keios wrote: post #9

IMO, YCombinator should fund startups in India. Contrary to popular belief there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. I would not take anyone seriously who generalizes a whole nation, especially one as diverse as India, in one fell swoop. I am not saying the startup levels are anywhere on the scale of Silicon Valley, I am saying that there is sufficient talent of all types available in India…

"If YCombinator helped with Visas" Yeow I hope not! INS's visa rules are a legal and procedural snake pit, with plenty of people abusing and bending the rules to get a chance to come to the USA. IMHO YC should keep to doing what it knows best . It is bad situation but not YC's problem to solve. I would imagine that YC has (a LOT) more work than it can handle. Why would YC want to add to it by expanding to India (or a…

plinkplonk - find what u're saying pretty interesting, and wanted to bounce some things off you. What's best way to connect? You can email me at udai (at) askme (dot) com

Re: Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

#29

Post by rsdighe »

plinkplonk wrote: post #17
Keios wrote: post #9

IMO, YCombinator should fund startups in India. Contrary to popular belief there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. I would not take anyone seriously who generalizes a whole nation, especially one as diverse as India, in one fell swoop. I am not saying the startup levels are anywhere on the scale of Silicon Valley, I am saying that there is sufficient talent of all types available in India…

Please name some successful startups that came out of India. Acquisition data would be nice! Now it is possible that there is a bit of a chicken and egg problem here. But, imho, it is not enough to state baldly that there is significant entrepreneurial and IT activity happening here. IT as in "outsourcing" or "India Development Centres" sure. But the level of talent or software startups available is nowhere near what…

i do believe that something Y combinator could be the early initiators of change, of course the startups are flaky but I wonder why google can hire top talent in bangalore and something like guruji cannot build a better search engine?? it can't be lack of talent ? zoho is based in pleasanton if i am not wrong its just owned by indian that hardly makes it a Indian startup. anyways it doesn't have to be Y Combinator i think there are pretty smart people will india who will start it sooner or later it just remains to be seen who it will be.
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