I think I can somewhat relate to where you are coming from. I did my Bachelor's in Engg from Mumbai in 2001 and then went to the US - did my MS there, dabbled in Google SoC, worked in a Sunnyvale startup, lived in SF for three years and have just returned back for good to Mumbai last week after living away from here for eight years.
The plan for returning here was to start something of own.
One of my key reasons for returning was the cumbersome H1B/GC process. After living in the US for five+ years I was still three years away from getting a GC. And this is hugely limiting if you want to work for a real early-stage startup which is where the real excitement is.. and they can rarely sponsor H1Bs.
There is an article by Paul Graham on Founders Visa - http://www.paulgraham.com/foundervisa.html. Honestly, until this becomes are reality I would say that having a H1B and looking for work with a real YC kind of startup is not really feasible and rarely works out.
I do not have answers for the questions you have asked above. But I can share some of my experiences of working full-time in Mumbai, Bangalore and the SF Bay Area.
One thing you have got right for the startup mindset is your desire not to work in the kind of onsite/services jobs that the "big" IT firms from India provide. If you feel you would like to explore some creative/innovative technology start-up type of work there is a good chance you'll have to form your own team and take the leap. While I agree with you that the start-up culture in India is different - I'm not sure I can completely grasp what you mean by efforts/returns ratio is inadequate. "Returns" is very subjective.
I think if you work on some of the strengths of having a start-up in India but with global reach and applications - then there is no reason why you would not be able to get adequate returns as well as the kind of satisfaction.. if that is also something that you are looking for.
"I think if you work on some of the strengths of having a start-up in India but with global reach and applications ..." - Can you please elaborate on these strengths of having a start-up in India (apart from lower costs of living)?
well - for one
1. You (the founder of a startup in India) would have a better understanding of the Indian technology consumer market and the application of your idea to the Indian scenario than a tech company which is originated elsewhere.
2. You are in the same time-zone as 1 billion other people. If you have ways or means of crowd-sourcing any tasks needed for your startup - where better to crowd-source than here (of course this depends on how effective are you at crowd-sourcing)
3. If you can spot an opportunity in a crisis - then this place offers you the ideal basecamp to look for those crisis/opportunities.
I could go on.
I guess at the end of the day it all depends on the problem you are looking to solve or the "big idea". For e.g. If your startup is about making it easier for suburban residents to interact with their neighbors or promote neighborhood activities - Mumbai would be the wrong place to start that startup. But if you are looking at implementing infrastructure technologies for dense urban setups than Napa Valley, CA wouldn't be ideal.
Comments
I think I can somewhat relate to where you are coming from. I did my Bachelor's in Engg from Mumbai in 2001 and then went to the US - did my MS there, dabbled in Google SoC, worked in a Sunnyvale startup, lived in SF for three years and have just returned back for good to Mumbai last week after living away from here for eight years.
The plan for returning here was to start something of own.
One of my key reasons for returning was the cumbersome H1B/GC process. After living in the US for five+ years I was still three years away from getting a GC. And this is hugely limiting if you want to work for a real early-stage startup which is where the real excitement is.. and they can rarely sponsor H1Bs.
There is an article by Paul Graham on Founders Visa - http://www.paulgraham.com/foundervisa.html. Honestly, until this becomes are reality I would say that having a H1B and looking for work with a real YC kind of startup is not really feasible and rarely works out.
I do not have answers for the questions you have asked above. But I can share some of my experiences of working full-time in Mumbai, Bangalore and the SF Bay Area.
One thing you have got right for the startup mindset is your desire not to work in the kind of onsite/services jobs that the "big" IT firms from India provide. If you feel you would like to explore some creative/innovative technology start-up type of work there is a good chance you'll have to form your own team and take the leap. While I agree with you that the start-up culture in India is different - I'm not sure I can completely grasp what you mean by efforts/returns ratio is inadequate. "Returns" is very subjective.
I think if you work on some of the strengths of having a start-up in India but with global reach and applications - then there is no reason why you would not be able to get adequate returns as well as the kind of satisfaction.. if that is also something that you are looking for.
I'm available on email to discuss this further..
"I think if you work on some of the strengths of having a start-up in India but with global reach and applications ..." - Can you please elaborate on these strengths of having a start-up in India (apart from lower costs of living)?
well - for one 1. You (the founder of a startup in India) would have a better understanding of the Indian technology consumer market and the application of your idea to the Indian scenario than a tech company which is originated elsewhere. 2. You are in the same time-zone as 1 billion other people. If you have ways or means of crowd-sourcing any tasks needed for your startup - where better to crowd-source than here (of course this depends on how effective are you at crowd-sourcing) 3. If you can spot an opportunity in a crisis - then this place offers you the ideal basecamp to look for those crisis/opportunities.
I could go on.
I guess at the end of the day it all depends on the problem you are looking to solve or the "big idea". For e.g. If your startup is about making it easier for suburban residents to interact with their neighbors or promote neighborhood activities - Mumbai would be the wrong place to start that startup. But if you are looking at implementing infrastructure technologies for dense urban setups than Napa Valley, CA wouldn't be ideal.