iThink - 11:16 am on Dec 28, 2009 (gmt 0)

I'm from India. I agree with every word of what vik_c has said.

American/western business culture simply doesn't exist in India. In the USA you start a small company with say 5-10 employees. If you succeed then all is well and good but if you don't succeed, you just file for bankruptcy under section 11 or whatever that is and move on to the next venture or the job etc. There is no permanent shame attached with trying and failing in a new business venture. After all most small businesses do fail just a few years after the start. Here in India, there is a stigma attached with the failure, so there are not many people willing to take risk by starting any business venture. I know some very bright and well educated people working for American companies like Oracle, Cisco, Microsoft, IBM, HP etc. in India. They have done very well in their jobs if you measure success by the salary that they are earning in their present jobs but if you ask them to start a small business or join an existing small business as a partner, they just walk away from the idea. The basic job of an entrepreneur is to take calculated risk because no business can succeed without taking certain amount of risk. People in educated class of our country are too risk averse, hence they don't want to try new ideas. They just want a job with a boss. Somehow killing instinct is missing from the well educated people in my country.

Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on which side of the table you are), cost of broadband internet service is going down in India. So, be prepared to receive more of the stupid link requests from my fellow countrymen :)