The new entrepreneurs

Indolink.com reports on a study released today that breaks down the impact of Indian immigrants on several key U.S. economic sectors. Titled, “AmericaÂ’s New Immigrant Entrepreneurs,” the document is full of interesting pie and bar charts that reveal the disproportionate influence that Indian immigrants have had in the last couple of decades. However, I’m here for those of you who don’t like pie and bar charts (slackers).

The joint Duke University – UC Berkeley study reveals that Indian immigrants have founded more engineering and technology companies from 1995 to 2005 than immigrants from the U.K., China, Taiwan and Japan combined. The report also shows that Indians have overtaken the Chinese, albeit marginally, as the leading group of immigrant entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

The immigrant contributions must be viewed as part of a “U.S. global advantage” and provide a pointer to what “the U.S. must do to keep its edge,” the study says. In addition the study reveals that the patents awarded to non-citizen immigrants – typically foreign graduate students completing their PhDÂ’s, green card holders awaiting citizenship, and employees of multinationals on temporary visas – increased from 7.8% in 1998 to 24.2% in 2006.

It’s “a report that will without doubt rock the boat,” claims Vivek Wadhwa of Duke University, the primary author of the study. [Link]

originoftechies.jpg
Here are the key findings of the report.

• At least one key founder in 25.3% of the engineering and technology companies started in the U.S. from 1995 to 2005 was foreign-born, with 26% of all immigrant-founded companies having Indian founders.

• Indians have founded more engineering and technology companies in the US in the past decade than immigrants from the U.K., China, Taiwan and Japan combined.

• Nationwide, the immigrant-founded companies produced $52 billion in sales and employed 450,000 workers in 2005.

• States with an above-average rate of immigrant-founded companies include California (39%), New Jersey (38%), Georgia (30%), and Massachusetts (29%). Below average includes Washington (11%), Ohio (14%), North Carolina (14%) and Texas (18%). Indian immigrant-founders were well represented in California, Florida, Texas, and New Jersey

• Indian and U.K. entrepreneurs tend to be dispersed around the country, with Indians having sizable concentrations in California and New Jersey and the British in California and Georgia. Chinese and Taiwanese entrepreneurs strongly favor California with 49% of Chinese and 81% of Taiwanese companies located there.

• The mix of immigrants varies by state. Hispanics constitute the dominant group in Florida with immigrants from Cuba, Columbia, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala founding 35% of the companies. Israelis constitute the largest founding group in Massachusetts with 17%. Indians dominate New Jersey with 47% of all startups.

• Almost 80% of immigrant-founded companies in the US were within just two industry fields: software and innovation/manufacturing-related services.

• Immigrants were least likely to start companies in the defense/aerospace and environmental industries. They were most highly represented as founders in the semiconductor, computer, communications, and software fields. [Link]

<

p>The basic conclusion of the study is obvious. We NEED MORE IMMIGRANTS to maintain our edge as a nation. In case you doubt this check out this recent article in the Christian Science Monitor. Apparently the U.S. government has finally begun to accept the fact that if it doesn’t start making science and engineering a sexier option then we are headed for disaster. The Department of Defense is holding screenwriting classes to show people that studying science can lead to a glamorous job:

So what they’ve done for the past three years is convene a three-to-five-day screenwriting class at the venerated American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Called the Catalyst Workshop, it’s a lot like other screenwriting classes that have become a cottage industry across the nation. But here’s the twist – all participants in this one are actually scientists. Hardcore, PhD-laden, lab-certified scientists. Here’s the second twist – the training was all paid for by the Pentagon.

These screenwriting classes are indeed your Department of Defense tax dollars at work. Egregious example of DOD waste? Some bizarre recruiting promise? The cinematic equivalent of $700 toilet seats? Actually, it’s the Pentagon’s way of trying to enhance the nation’s science-and-technology adroitness. [Link]

Anyways, take a look at the report. The graphs make it a quick read with some nice insights.

118 thoughts on “The new entrepreneurs

  1. And one of the founders of the latest IT sensation YouTube is also chinese.

    Out of three youtube guys, one of them is Bangladeshi-German American too. Siddhartha blogged about him while ago.

    As I said earlier, I do not think Indian-origin or Indian or South Asian immigrants are the only captains of business innovation in America, but are fairly well represented.

    The point to note that most of them are 1st genners from a developing country who made it in early 80s.

    How can you forget kingmaker, Vinod Khosla of Sun Microsystems fame.

  2. How can you forget kingmaker, Vinod Khosla of Sun Microsystems fame.

    Sabeer Bhatia and Vinod Khosla are yesterday’s news. Neither is involved with the companies they founded. Khosla was one of 5 or 6 founders of Sun. I think he is now doing something in alternative energy.

    We are talking of current big names in tech. Which is why I did not mention the chinese sole founder of Computer Associates either, which is a major software corporation; or the chinese founder of Wang Labs (30,000 employees at its peak)….

  3. This discussion is not really something I have too much knowledge about, but what about Vinod Dham?

  4. I’d like to add to the chest thumping. Besides Khosla, Promod Haque, Rob L Soni, and Geoffrey Yang land on Forbes Midas list…top financiers of tech ventures.

    Unfortuantely, this doesn’t make me a better businessman. So I thump with one fist only…but I hold an American flag in the other.

  5. …the disappearance of a rather cushy middle-class formed by low-skilled and semi-educated Americans thanks to high union wages of American manufacturing. (C’mon guys, you can’t get $18/hour for tightening screws in today’s global economy.

    So what is the alternative to tightening screws? Even if all of these people decided to lay down their tools and pursue “real” middle-class jobs (allowing for the very large assumption that they could readily acquire the skills needed to do so)… would there even be places for them? The competition for professional-level jobs (and professional level education) is already fierce.

    In theory, the solution to outsourcing, offshoring and the other hazards of globalization is for America to focus on what it does best… creativity and entrepreneurship. The problem is that over time business owners, managers and inventors have only comprised a tiny portion of the workers in any given economy. Not coincidentally, only a small percentage of the population has the ability and inclination to do well at these pursuits. If America is supposed to concede mastery of hands-on labor in favor of more intellectual pursuits… if all the cutting-edge widgets and IPO’s are built using largely foreign workers… what becomes of all those extra Americans?

    The solution I hear proposed more and more often is that the American middle class should be scaled down. The argument is that the Keynesian consumer economy that has dominated the US since WW II is a fluke, a historical aberration… and not a positive one. Large numbers of ordinary people… factory workers, bus drivers, clerks, etc… are now enjoying the middle class lifestyle previously restricted to a relatively small group of merchants and professionals. Part of the opposition to this trend has a moral basis. Some will argue that it is unfair that the average have access to things… spacious homes, personal vehicles, luxury goods, entertainment, travel… that were previously reserved for the exceptional. Others claim that overconsumption by the masses is literally destroying the planet. A more practical/cynical take on the issue holds that a lower standard of living is the only card that most Americans will have to play in the globalization game. The one certain way for domestic workers to beat their foreign competition is to accept comparably low wages while working onshore…

    For those that agree that this is the best course, there is one very large question left unanswered. How could such a thing be done safely? The economic dangers are obvious. American consumers drive a substantial portion of the world economy. Where would businesses find enough new customers to compensate for the contraction of that middle class? Would the American upper middle class and wealthy be earning that much more… and consuming that much more… so that they could now carry the economy on their backs? Expanding foreign markets might also make up for the shortfall… but what if other countries decide not to repeat America’s “mistake.” Obviously any solution that relies on mantaining the previous level of material production and consumption would not satisfy environmentalists… Even if the economic consequences could be managed… what about the political and social fallout? Presumably the legions of the downwardly mobile would not accept their lot gladly. The upheaval caused by such a process would make existing benchmarks for recent civil unrest… such as the 60’s/Vietnam era… seem trivial in comparison. The most obvious parallel would be the Great Depression. Of course there would be important differences. This would be a controlled demolition instead of an accidental collapse… and there would be little hope that it could be undone in anyone’s lifetime. By the time it was complete this country’s society and culture would be changed beyond recognition… For a truly frightening prospect… imagine such an implosion happening in both the US and Europe. By no means does America hold a monopoly on over-entitled bolt-tighteners…

  6. Whys a story like this get only 56 posts but one on a desi swimsuit calender get nearly 120 posts?

  7. Doordarshan says

    This Vivek Wadhwa guy is a chest-thumping ethnic propagandist

    Maybe, but we love him because, Mytake says

    Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed.

    I understand people who thump their chest and overstate their achievements (and of their communities), but not the one who undermines it! Would that be an inferiority complex?

  8. I hate to dampen all the feelings of Indian nationalism spurred on by this posting, but the fact is that even though the Chinese have founded fewer companies, the ones that they have founded are much more significant and their roles in these companies have been a lot more meaningful.

    Look at for example Yahoo, youtube and QUALCOMM.

    The most significant company with an Indian founder is Sun Microsystems. But Vinod KhoslaÂ’s role was very minor, and he got out well before the company amounted to anything. Let’s also look at Hotmail. Some people think that Sabeer Bhatia actually invented e-mail, which is hilarious. He just happened to get in very early on and contributed nothing to the technology.

    My point is that this is just another post trying to perpetuate this model minority myth to make us feel we’re better than everyone else.

  9. Let’s also look at Hotmail. Some people think that Sabeer Bhatia actually invented e-mail, which is hilarious. He just happened to get in very early on and contributed nothing to the technology.

    Proof?

  10. Seems like there are a lot of Indians/Asians working in premier VC firms in the US too, especially given the new rush of private equity money flowing to the region: As yourself what about India and China?

    Doordarshan: I would disagree that Vinodh Khosla is yesterdays’ news. He went on to work with Kleiner Perkins and was instrumental in a lot of successful startups, Google, being one of them. Venture work in alternative energy looks like the next big thing, although years away from being as profitable as tech was, its the next thing on the global agenda that needs a big overhaul.

  11. I hate to dampen all the feelings of Indian nationalism spurred on by this posting, but the fact is that even though the Chinese have founded fewer companies, the ones that they have founded are much more significant and their roles in these companies have been a lot more meaningful. Look at for example Yahoo, youtube and QUALCOMM.

    And Computer Associates. The three founders of ATI are all chinese as well; so is one of the two founders of Nvidia. These two companies dominate the graphics card business. Incidentally, the company that dominates the sound card business with Soundblaster was also founded by a chinese (albeit in Singapore). Ebay was founded by an iranian. Amazon’s founder Bezos is claimed by the hispanic community as one of theirs.

    Here’s a list of the top 100 IT companies globally, ranked by revenues. No company founded by an indian, in India or anywhere else, can be found in the top 50. While 10 companies founded by chinese, in the US, Taiwan, Hongkong, make the top 50. The total revenues of all the indian companies (almost all in software services) in the top 100 is less than that of Acer which is only the fourth-largest Taiwanese company. And less than a quarter of the revenues of Nokia founded in tiny Finland.

    Yet the Indian media boasts of India being an IT Global Superpower and of indian immigrants dominating IT in America! Isn’t that pathetic? Can such boasting fool anyone who knows the facts? What does all this jive-talking self-promotion accomplish? The biggest victims of this con game are indians themselves.

  12. what about Vinod Dham?

    Vinod Dham was leader of a large team at Intel. His boss was chinese, who in turn reported to his hungarian jewish boss, the CEO of Intel.

    Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed. I think the Indian media has woken up to that fact. Coz if you ain’t bragging, you don’t have anything. Nobody gives a sh*t about a silent guy in the bar. And it doesn’t matter if you dont have a porsche, you just need to be loud and aggressive when talking about yourself, otherwise someone else will.

    Interesting rationale for this dishonest desi boasting. Loud talking ghetto jive-talkers in America can relate to this justification I am sure. But at the end of the day such men are looked at with pity or contempt. And they remain in their ghettos fooling each other with tall tales and wild claims. Anyone with a brain can see that its real accomplishments that count, not baseless boasting.

    I understand people who thump their chest and overstate their achievements (and of their communities), but not the one who undermines it! Would that be an inferiority complex?

    It is not a question of undermining your achievements, but of being honest about them. You can thump your chest all you want but if the numbers dont back you up you just look like an ignorant fool or a deceitful con artist.

  13. Here’s a list of the top 100 IT companies globally

    Where is the list?

    What does all this jive-talking self-promotion accomplish?

    Increased attention to the community, easier access to capital, better political representation, better India US relations to name a few.

    The biggest victims of this con game are indians themselves.

    How so?

  14. Vikram,

    Never thought I would have to debate against you on SM…

    You start off well by writing…

    I doubt the government can project a “sexier” image for engineering and sciences when the popular culture’s idea of a techie is a socially inept geek

    True. It’s not the Government’s job not “sell” certain professions to the public, especially in a country found on free-market principles.

    But then you say…

    another case of corporate greed putting profits above people. environmental issues do require industries to be regulated and fined for violations, why not people issues (which in a way is also environmental)?

    People issues are not similiar to environmental. When a river is polluted by industrial waste, downstream innocent people suffer for no fault of their own, sometimes dying by the dozens. The corporation in question is treating public property like private property – hence there needs to be laws against that.

    But when a company outsources manufacturing to China or call-center to India, that’s no skin off anyone’s nose. The company is not violating anyone’s public or private property. They are not violating any pre-determined agreements. Sure, the CEO may make a 100 Million bonus, but that does not come at anyone’s expense. Any if talent leaves the country and profits fall, the company will wind down and the CEO will retire to Bahamas. It’s perfectly legal. Let him enjoy – he’s earned it. The market has rewarded him for perceived productivity.

    If you want to stop this, the only recourse is for the public to not buy anything made overseas. That will prohibit them from buying even milk (cartons are made by Japanese machines), toilet paper (Most paper comes from Indonesian rain forests), DVD players(Asia), Vodka(Europe) etc etc.

    You would have to become a sanyasi!!

    M. Nam

  15. Here’s a list of the top 100 IT companies globally, ranked by revenues. No company founded by an indian, in India or anywhere else, can be found in the top 50

    India’s capitalist revolution has just begun, so it’s silly to use revenue as a metric. Abhi’s data indicates indians are dominating other immigrants (but not Americans) in founding tech start-ups. so give them at least 10yrs to become billionaires and multimillionaires like the Khoslas and Bhatias.

    The biggest victims of this con game are indians themselves.

    Indian immigrants are many things, but victims? As for the Indians themselves, its not exactly capitalistic irrational exuberence that’s been oppressing them all these years.

    BTW, watch out for Indians in bitotech start-ups and Biotech VC.

  16. It is not a question of undermining your achievements, but of being honest about them.

    Do live in a fantasy world where you think honesty always wins?!

  17. Here’s a list of the top 100 IT companies globally, ranked by revenues. No company founded by an indian, in India or anywhere else, can be found in the top 50. While 10 companies founded by chinese, in the US, Taiwan, Hongkong, make the top 50. The total revenues of all the indian companies (almost all in software services) in the top 100 is less than that of Acer which is only the fourth-largest Taiwanese company. And less than a quarter of the revenues of Nokia founded in tiny Finland.

    So according to you if companies are not in the top 50 you cannot brag? So the measure of success and the right to bragging is reserved by the top 50 companies homelands. You can go ahead and claim Indians are good for nothing. But people who make a change are there and always be there from all countries. If you don’t like the claims of Indian media about IT global power dont listen to it.

    I hate to dampen all the feelings of Indian nationalism spurred on by this posting

    It is not about nationalism. When Lou Dobbs berates Indians as “stealing jobs” then some facts have to be put on the table. This is one of them.

  18. Not to threadjack but did you see the Sundance Documentary on “Office Tiger”? Its an Indian BPO company started by a couple of American Wall Street guys. “Driven” is an understatement – for these 2 guys and their Indian managers. Some of the dynamics in the place made me cringe though. They recently got bought out by R.R. Donelly for $250 million. The closing shot was of a man getting drwoned in a sea of shredded paper 🙂

  19. Whys a story like this get only 56 posts but one on a desi swimsuit calender get nearly 120 posts?
    1. Premature call on the 56 posts. It aint over till its over 🙂
    2. Maybe a scaled down variant of the color of the bikeshed is to blame ? Its easier to notice and comment on media-pushed glamour and eye-candy than it is to be a regular reader of Forbes\NYT or whatever medium one chooses to keep abreast.
    3. I prefer fewer but more intelligent comments to tons of comments with fluff. I spend most of my lunchtime reading SM comments 🙁 …my other RSS feeds beg me to visit them. I wonder if a Slashdot style comments system would work for SM(Maybe the poster-lurker ratio is bigger than i can guess). For both these sites, i spend more time reading comments than i do to RTFA.
  20. But when a company outsources manufacturing to China or call-center to India, that’s no skin off anyone’s nose. The company is not violating anyone’s public or private property. They are not violating any pre-determined agreements. Sure, the CEO may make a 100 Million bonus, but that does not come at anyone’s expense. Any if talent leaves the country and profits fall, the company will wind down and the CEO will retire to Bahamas. It’s perfectly legal. Let him enjoy – he’s earned it. The market has rewarded him for perceived productivity.

    I think that the $100 million bonus does come at someone’s expense, considering that many companies are scrapping employee pension plans while giving executives iron clad protection for their own personal retirement plans. “Perfectly legal” is a gray area that the CEOs and their legal teams fight hard to define in their favor in most of these cases. There are several cases of lawsuits against executives to sue them for return of their outrageous severances. If enough of this keeps up and there are enough pissed off ex-employees, perhaps the phrase “executive head hunter” may take on a literal meaning…

    More than a 100 years ago Mark Twain summarized it best:

    “But it was impossible to save the Great Republic. She was rotten to the heart. Lust of conquest had long ago done its work; trampling upon the helpless abroad had taught her, by a natural process, to endure with apathy the like at home; multitudes who had applauded the crushing of other people’s liberties, lived to suffer for their mistake in their own persons. The government was irrevocably in the hands of the prodigiously rich and their hangers-on; the suffrage was become a mere machine, which they used as they chose. There was no principle but commercialism, no patriotism but of the pocket.”
  21. Whys a story like this get only 56 posts but one on a desi swimsuit calender get nearly 120 posts?

    sex trumps power

  22. Where is the list?

    I forgot. Here it is ranked by revenues, the US dominates:

    http://bwnt.businessweek.com/it100/2006/index.asp?sortCol=rank_sales&sortOrder=ASC&pageNum=1&resultNum=100

    And here it is ranked by revenue growth, three of the four fastest growing IT companies are chinese, from Taiwan and Hong Kong:

    http://bwnt.businessweek.com/it100/2006/index.asp?sortCol=chg_sales&sortOrder=DESC&pageNum=1&resultNum=100

    What does all this jive-talking self-promotion accomplish? Increased attention to the community, easier access to capital, better political representation, better India US relations to name a few.

    Do you really think american businessmen and politicians are all so dumb that they are conned by desi jive-talking? Compare FDI in India to that in China for example, what does that tell you?

    The biggest victims of this con game are indians themselves. How so?

    Who is falling for these lies? Indians mostly. How is it beneficial to believe in untruths?

    India’s capitalist revolution has just begun, so it’s silly to use revenue as a metric

    Whats really silly is to strut around thinking India is already an “IT Superpower”, that Indian immigrants dominate IT in America, or that IITians are mainly responsible for the Silicon Valley boom…

    Do live in a fantasy world where you think honesty always wins?!

    Its revealing of the sad state of the indian psyche that you all think that dishonesty, boastfulness etc give indians an advantage over others. If you think that the developing stereotype of desis as delusional, liars and braggarts is a good thing, you better think again pal.

  23. Do you really think american businessmen and politicians are all so dumb that they are conned by desi jive-talking?

    They must be no? they are already talking about us more than ever!

    Its revealing of the sad state of the indian psyche that you all think that dishonesty, boastfulness etc give indians an advantage over others. If you think that the developing stereotype of desis as delusional, liars and braggarts is a good thing, you better think again pal.

    Om Shanti Om! Whatever makes you feel better about yourself.

  24. Its revealing of the sad state of the indian psyche that you all think that dishonesty, boastfulness etc give indians an advantage over others. If you think that the developing stereotype of desis as delusional, liars and braggarts is a good thing, you better think again pal.

    Its sad that you actually believe American companies rake in revenues because of honesty and humility. Please. Saying 25% of the tech company founders were Indian is neither “delusional,liar, and braggart” nor “strutting around claiming “IT super power”. All the article mentioned was 25% of the company started that provided “employment” to many people in “US”. This is good news especially when Lou Dobbs of the world claim Indians steal jobs. But again you can believe whatever you want to. Whatever makes you happy.

  25. Doordarshan:

    You’re fighting strawmen. someone demonstrates indian immigrants dominate other immigrants in tech start-ups and you read this as “Indian immigrants dominate IT in America.” So you post stats on revenue (with non-working links) to disprove an assertion no one made.

    you claim indians “ridiculously exaggerate desi status and accomplishments” but you’re the one making the exaggerations.

    for example, you complain about an article that says “A University of California study found that 10 per cent of all start-ups in the Silicon Valley between 1995 and 1998 were by Indians, most of whom had come from the IIT system.” by exagerating that claim into “IITians are mainly responsible for the Silicon Valley boom…”

    you respond to KarmaByte’s theory:

    Increased attention to the community, easier access to capital, better political representation, better India US relations to name a few.

    with this:

    Compare FDI in India to that in China for example, what does that tell you?

    …as if KarmaByte made a claim that India is more attractive than China right now. Only you are, by insinuation, making that claim.

    Likewise, you reply to my claim:

    India’s capitalist revolution has just begun, so it’s silly to use revenue as a metric

    with this:

    Whats really silly is to strut around thinking India is already an “IT Superpower”,

    If the revolution has just begun, how can it already be a superpower?

    To be fair, I see why you’re getting so worked up. The claims you think you’re responding to are in fact quite ridiculous.

    Sit down, have a kingfisher, watch a bollywood flick (which has surpassed hollywood by some measures). things are looking up for India; which is (before you bust another nut) not saying much considering where she’s looking up from, but is something nonetheless. So maybe just one celebratory beer is in order.

  26. Thanks Manju, that was well put. Was getting tired of that. Need a distinction here between ranting and debating.

  27. You’re fighting strawmen.

    I dont think you understand what a straw man argument means.

    you post stats on revenue (with non-working links) to disprove an assertion no one made.

    Are you denying that the Indian media has hoodwinked indians into the delusion that India is already an “IT Superpower”? Then you must think these men, whose names you should recognize, are also “fighting strawmen” like me:

    http://www.rediff.com/money/2004/feb/05nass.htm

    “After two decades of being in the information technology business, India is still a ‘toddler’ with only 2 per cent of global market share, according to N R Narayana Murthy, Chairman and Chief Mentor, Infosys Technologies Ltd.

    “We are just toddling; hence we should stop terming ourselves as an IT superpower,” Murthy said…….Politicians, administrators and the media should stop saying that we are a superpower,” he said and added that the country has a long way to go, both in terms of quantity and quality of services.”

    http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-515630,curpg-2.cms

    “India not an IT superpower: Kanwal Rekhi”

    “The hype over IndiaÂ’s IT superpower status made him state the obvious: “India is a bit player, it is just learning and it is not an IT superpower. The IT industry is very broad, with applications, platforms, products, hardware…. and India is a very narrow player,” he said. The figures speak for themselves: the global IT industry is in trillions of dollars; IBM Global Services alone being a $42-billion business. IndiaÂ’s IT services exports are worth $10 billion.”

    for example, you complain about an article that says “A University of California study found that 10 per cent of all start-ups in the Silicon Valley between 1995 and 1998 were by Indians, most of whom had come from the IIT system.” by exagerating that claim into “IITians are mainly responsible for the Silicon Valley boom…”

    Its not me but the Indian media that is exaggerating that claim. Didnt you read that link I provided above:

    http://www.ibnlive.com/news/iitians-laid-the-foundation-for-silicon-valley-boom/top/30269-7.html

    “IITians started Silicon Valley boom”

    you respond to KarmaByte’s theory: Increased attention to the community, easier access to capital, better political representation, better India US relations to name a few. with this: Compare FDI in India to that in China for example, what does that tell you? …as if KarmaByte made a claim that India is more attractive than China right now. Only you are, by insinuation, making that claim.

    What part of FDI inflow and “easier access to capital” didnt you understand?

    If the revolution has just begun, how can it already be a superpower?

    Lol. You are acting as if its me who is claiming that India is a superpower. Is it dishonesty or something else thats making you twist my words and intent?

    watch a bollywood flick (which has surpassed hollywood by some measures)

    That belongs in the same category of jive-talk as: India has surpassed the world in IT.

  28. A little bit of self-promotion is healthy and even necessary for improving our chances in this society. But we need to go beyond that. With all the money, education and other resources floating around in the desi community, we have practically no organization granting scholarships to the young, seed capital to budding entrepreneurs, legal aid to the disadvantaged or discriminated, shelter to the battered women… I could go on and on. We need to mobilize in these areas rather than splurge on more multi-million dollar temples and annual parades, which seem to be our main public expression of ethnic pride. I am just as religious as the next guy and personally guilty of organizing a few desi parades in my time, but I am beginning to question if we are sufficiently focused on the more pressing needs of a diaspora that is now two-million strong. The desi population has reached that critical mass where the far more serious social and human problems begin to surface. Do we have the initiatives in place to address those needs?

    This is not really off the topic. Entrepreneurship, for example, could be targeted for community funding and mentoring. We all know of the informal business loan system among the Gujaratis. Why not have a similar but more formalized community loan program for all desis? I know TIE is one organization that has done a remarkable job in this area, but it is strictly a high tech venture capital program, not a broad-based desi lending organization. Speaking of entrepreneurship, why not raise funds to send our youth to the best business programs instead of building another addition to the temple? Please excuse me if I sound sacriligeous, because I am not, but I find our goals as a community completely misdirected.

  29. Are you denying that the Indian media has hoodwinked indians into the delusion that India is already an “IT Superpower”?

    I agree, absolutely delusional. And this is nothing, we’ve been hoodwinked into far worse. O the litany of woes in South Asia! Bride burnings, bonded labor, communalism, casteism, Islamism, Hindu nationalism, the misery of the Dalits and tribes, disease upon disease, including eradicated ones like polio, superstition, epic mallnutrition, 70 million (70 MILLION) people bathing in a river of pestilence in honor of devious godlings!

    We need to burn the place down and start over. And these colorist, black “brownz” who think they’re “wheatish” delude themselves into believing there is some worth in “hybrid global desi culture”!

  30. Doordarshan:

    Are you denying that the Indian media has hoodwinked indians into the delusion that India is already an “IT Superpower”?

    I don’t doubt some in the press claim India’s an “IT superpower,”–it’s the press after all– but on this thread no one but you used the terms to which you so object. So you strangely spent a lot of time disproving a claim only you took seriously.

    Its not me but the Indian media that is exaggerating that claim. Didnt you read that link I provided above:

    I read it. Here’s what the article reports:

    A University of California study found that 10 per cent of all start-ups in the Silicon Valley between 1995 and 1998 were by Indians, most of whom had come from the IIT system.

    Here’s their exaggerated headline:

    IITians started Silicon Valley boom

    And somehow, you managed to exagerate their exageration, with this description of what they wrote:

    IITians are mainly responsible for the Silicon Valley boom

    Congratulations, your jive outdid theirs.

    What part of FDI inflow and “easier access to capital” didnt you understand?

    The part where comparing china’s FDI to India’s somehow disproves Karmabytes notion that self-promotion attracts capital…something every investment banker knows.

    Lol. You are acting as if its me who is claiming that India is a superpower. Is it dishonesty or something else thats making you twist my words and intent?

    You respond to my claim that India capitalist revolution is in its infant stage, by mocking the almost opposite notion that india is an IT superpower. It’s not your words getting twisted…it’s your panties.

  31. Are you denying that the Indian media has hoodwinked indians into the delusion that India is already an “IT Superpower”?
    Its not me but the Indian media that is exaggerating that claim.

    Doordarshan, dude! why are you berating us on the contention you have with the Indian media? Seriously, who wronged you so badly brother? We are here to help you, tell us.

  32. Here’s another Indian CEO, who didn’t come up in this discussion so far. Sanjay

    Technically not Indian as he’s Sri Lankan by birth.

  33. Here’s another Indian CEO, who didn’t come up in this discussion so far. Sanjay

    I think there are a lot of CEOs. How about Amar Bose of Bose Audio systems.

  34. Immigrants have a much tougher time measuring up to the enormous people oriented task that is business.

    Agreed. This probably has to do with cultural differences and the way people in both the work place and social spheres interact with each other in various countries/cultures. The roles men and women play and how they interact in various countries and cultures would also have to be taken into account, as well as the roles that seniors and juniors in age play across countries and cultures.

    The major MNCs over in India address all these issues with their employees and India is developing a “customer service bhav” now as well as improving interactions amongst various placed employees.

  35. I think the real striking success of Indians (and immigrants more broadly), incuding 1st generation, has been in financial services. There was a time a couple years ago that the investment banking/institutional securities function of almost every major firm was run by immigrants – CSFB (Ogunlesi), Merrill (Zakaria), Morgan Stanley (Meguid/Pendit/Chamma), Citi (Menezes), Bear (Noujaim) etc. etc. All of this, in an industry that is exceptionally people oriented.

    So I would dispute the notion that immigrants are most successful in analytic/tech oriented industries. I would go so far as to say that the act of immigration provides a sensitivity that is a competitive advantage in “people businesses”.

  36. self-promotion attracts capital…something every investment banker knows.

    Yeah right, you know more about what investment bankers want than Narayana Murthy and Kanwal Rekhi. They dont agree that this kind of self-promotion is productive at all. Its nothing but an embarrassment. When the “self-promotion” is out of touch with reality the self-promoters attract ridicule not capital. If all this hype and self-promotion is working so well as you all imagine why does India, even after years of boasting, still attract only a minute fraction of global FDI? All that this bragging and hyping seems to accomplish is to fool the Bollywood and Kingfisher crowd into premature celebrations.

    I don’t doubt some in the press claim India’s an “IT superpower,”–it’s the press after all– but on this thread no one but you used the terms to which you so object. So you strangely spent a lot of time disproving a claim only you took seriously.

    There you go being dishonest again. The posters arguing with me, who you are supporting, are seriously defending this media hype as in: “Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed. I think the Indian media has woken up to that fact. Coz if you ain’t bragging, you don’t have anything.” and “What does all this jive-talking self-promotion accomplish? Increased attention to the community, easier access to capital” and “self-promotion attracts capital”.

    why are you berating us on the contention you have with the Indian media?

    Thats funny. Just a few hours ago you were justifying the indian media’s silly boastings: “Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed. I think the Indian media has woken up to that fact. Coz if you ain’t bragging, you don’t have anything.”

    Meanwhile this new study is providing additional fuel for the desi media in its roaring campaign to make deluded fools out of itself and its readers:

    http://www.indiawest.com/view.php?subaction=showfull&id=1167954561&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&amp;

    “Indians Dominate Tech Sector in U.S.: Study”

    http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/5922_1889303,0015002100000000.htm

    “If India is shining at home, the diaspora is dazzling in America.”

    http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1072784

    “Guess who is making Uncle Sam rich? A study shows that Indian immigrants have emerged as the biggest wealth creators among all immigrants in the US.”

    http://www.ibnlive.com/news/iitians-laid-the-foundation-for-silicon-valley-boom/top/30269-7.html

    “IITians started Silicon Valley boom”

    It seems that many,if not most, here think such dishonest headlines instead of being an embarrassment, are a cause for celebration!

  37. Yeah right, you know more about what investment bankers want than Narayana Murthy and Kanwal Rekhi.

    You provided no quotes where they said promotion doesn’t attract capital. You exagerate just like the media you so dislike.

    The posters arguing with me, who you are supporting, are seriously defending this media hype

    You bought up the media hype, and no one defended it’s accuracy, they just pointed out it’s a normal occurance in business. There’s a lot of boasting here on Wall St in America too. Happens all the time.

    It seems that many,if not most, here think such dishonest headlines instead of being an embarrassment, are a cause for celebration!

    Abhi’s post was not about the media you cite, so that’s not what the celebration’s about. In fact, you are the only commenter using the term “IT superpower” to refer to india…so this very thread is evidence that indians are not “hoodwinked” as you say, into beliving India is an “IT superpower.” You should be happy b/c, in essence, there’s really very little disagrement…unless you’re really upset about something else.

  38. Thats funny. Just a few hours ago you were justifying the indian media’s silly boastings: “Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed. I think the Indian media has woken up to that fact. Coz if you ain’t bragging, you don’t have anything.”

    Thats funnier, I never said that! It was said here FYI.

  39. Doordarshan seems like a Pakistani troll. The bitter tone of his arguments is too envious to pass off as simply critical and pejorative. For instance nobody claimed to be an ‘IT Superpower’, its just an exercise in putting words in everybodys’ mouth and motivated disputation to push further his agenda – attack our achievements by belittling our abiity to compare with the best. We are Injuns after all!

  40. Doordarshan seems like a Pakistani troll. The bitter tone of his arguments is too envious to pass off as simply critical and pejorative.

    ooooh. That makes sense. Here in the Americas, Canadians get the same way too. 😉

  41. Thats funny. Just a few hours ago you were justifying the indian media’s silly boastings: “Whoever makes the loudest noise gets noticed. I think the Indian media has woken up to that fact. Coz if you ain’t bragging, you don’t have anything.”

    Yes i said that. And i still stand by it. First it is not “silly” boastings. There is enough facts to support the bragging. Secondly. You seem to misuderstand “marketing”, and “facts”. Marketing is about “image”. And i don’t know who would be laughing at the “silly boastings” which includes the fact 25% of the tech startups had some sort of Indian involved.
    Let me give you an example. HR department will not give raises to just anyone. It will give raises to people who think they deserve a raise. Everyone thinks they deserve a raise. But only a few speak it out loud and get what they want. Because if you don’t have the confidence to brag then you won’t get anything. Of course you need facts to support. Only to a certain extent. Remaining is filled with image. How you present yourself. And nobody is climbing on top of the mountain with a loudspeaker and claiming India is on the top. Now that, would be silly.

    And I guess Gorbag is right. Pakistani troll, indeed.

  42. Gorbag is right. Pakistani troll, indeed.

    That just confirms that this pathetic need to lie/exaggerate/hype is so deeply entrenched in the indian psyche that anyone who points out that it is embarrassing/unproductive/wrong is assumed to be an enemy of India. Perhaps you also suspect that Narayana Murthi and Kanwal Rekhi and others who agree with them must be pakistanis?

    There is enough facts to support the bragging.

    Show us the facts that support bombastic claims like:

    “India Shining” “India is an IT Superpower” “Indians Dominate Tech Sector in U.S.” “IITians started Silicon Valley boom” “Indian immigrants have emerged as the biggest wealth creators among all immigrants in the US.”

    They are all shameless lies.

    i don’t know who would be laughing at the “silly boastings” which includes the fact 25% of the tech startups had some sort of Indian involved.

    Anyone who knows the facts would laugh at such claims. In fact anyone who doesn’t have reading comprehension issues would also laugh at your “fact” that “25% of the tech startups had some sort of Indian involved”. Thats actually 25% of the startups by all immigrants. That puts the figure for indian involvement in total tech startups at ~6%. Get it now?

    And even that 6% figure is probably dubious, since the methodology of this shabby study is flawed. An indian who is known as a cheerleader/hypemeister for his community (see his other article linked above) leads a study which employs disproportionate numbers of indian students to phone a list of tech companies asking for personal information about their founders, CEOs, Presidents and CTOs. Not surprisingly a huge chunk of companies did not go along with the survey. The data has to be skewed as a result.

    Secondly, the study does not compare the quality of the startups founded by indians to that founded by other immigrant groups. The study finds that “immigrant entrepreneurs’ companies employed 450,000 workers and generated $52 billion in sales in 2005”. That itself is very unimpressive compared to the size of the american economy and workforce, and the indian contribution to this wealth generation is even less impressive, since none of the companies founded by indians is in the top 20 of american tech companies. Compare that to Google founded by a russian-american or Yahoo and Qualcomm founded by chinese-americans.

  43. That just confirms that this pathetic need to lie/exaggerate/hype is so deeply entrenched in the indian psyche that anyone who points out that it is embarrassing/unproductive/wrong is assumed to be an enemy of India.

    We haven’t seen any constructive comment or argument from you here so, what do we assume?

    waah waaaah waaaaaaaaaaaaah!

    Why are you wasting your time here Doordarshan?