4 ms·

Can India be next Y Combinator destination?

10 points by sabhishek 19y ago

jsjenkins168 19y ago
This is answered in the YC FAQ: http://ycombinator.org/faq.html http://ycombinator.org/faq.html
- akkartik 19y ago
  Do you mean the question about YC in your town? If so, not quite. Moving to a different town to start a startup is just a test of commitment. Moving to a different country, though, dilutes the test with a bunch of bureaucratic stuff.
  - bluishgreen 19y ago
    Kartik, Right on the mark! You haven't seen ugly until you have seen buracrazy, but you've got to do what you've got to do! :)
gyro_robo 19y ago
How far does $20k US go in India?
- jey 19y ago
  A lot, lot further than it would in the US. Your average Indian worker probably earns somewhere between $75 - $150 USD per month.
  - gyro_robo 19y ago
    "We'll give you $600; you give us 6% of your company"?
  - plinkplonk 19y ago
    an average Indian programmer gets significantly more. the average salary for someone just out of school is about 1200 $ /month (in Bangalore, as of today). Companies like Google pay much more.
    - jey 19y ago
      Yes, but I think he's asking about lower-bounds on money needed to survive while starting a startup. When you're starting a startup, you can't afford an opulent lifestyle. In the US, a programmer would make a lot more than $6000 per 3 months, but YC only gives you about $6k to $7.5k per person, and this money is expected to sustain you past the 3 month YC program until you get external funding. A programmer in the US probably earns between $70k and $90k per year. (Although it can be considerably higher in places like Silicon Valley)
      - plinkplonk 19y ago
        very good point! I missed that totally! I should know better than to type when sleepy!
sharpshoot 19y ago
In between summer and winter funding sessions, when does pg have time to take a break?
- pg 19y ago
  Exactly what I was thinking...
  - sabhishek 19y ago
    Can you consider persons who could telecommute ? Thanks a lot for responding.
    - pg 19y ago
      What YC does, we have to do in person. Kind of like a university. So founders have to at least be able to get here for the 3 months. They could return to their home country after that, but they'd be more likely to succeed if they stayed in the US-- partly because it's a better environment for startups, and partly because it would be easier for us to help them.
      - sabhishek 19y ago
        Thanks for the comment pg. I will apply for the next YC funding cycle,and will bother about the Visa and all after getting called :-).
jey 19y ago
Probably not, but YCombinator could be an Indian's next destination. I don't think India has the startup culture nor tech culture etc that is enjoyed by America. (neither does Europe, apparently) sabhishek - You should apply to a YC funding cycle. Deal with the visa issues later! (but not too late)
- rsdighe 19y ago
  i asked the same question to google's chris sacca -- i was wondering what could be done to have a Y combinator sort of a thing in India. he shared a similar opinion to what ur saying, in india the entrepreneurial culture is a little missing + in addition he thought indians were very good at backend stuff and not necessary in aesthetics. it might be debatable you don't need the whole of indian IT engineers god in aesthetics to support y combinator - i was in silicon valley , and currently in UK. but u do see a difference in culture but yet i can tell u there are lot of people who do cool stuff here, in america people the impression i get the english is the only language people worry about here u are dealing with french, germans, italians, spanish and they are very different, no wonder u find clones of US starts ups in europe adapted for european markets.
  - budu3 19y ago
    "Entrepreneurial culture" missing in India? I beg to differ. Indians have an entrepreneurial culture that has been cultivated for years due to their unique set of circumstances. Must Indians are self-employed and have a very self reliant attitude. I think what you meant was "Tech-startup culture".
- deleted 19y ago
  [deleted]
- sabhishek 19y ago
  Thats true to certain extent Jey, but not entirely. Lots of Indians are coming out with exciting ideas everyday, but we don't have a person like PG here who could give right advice at the right time and this causes more startups to tank :-). Thanks for the comment.
subhash 19y ago
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 wonders, but I can't think of a resident Indian in that place.
- sabhishek 19y ago
  What I wrote is what I meant .. :-) You are right Subhash unfortunately there's is no PG equivalent in India , and thats the point. Angel funding is not an issue, what PG advices is what that matters most.
- sharpshoot 19y ago
  Sabeer Bhatia - founder of hotmail?
Keios 19y ago
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. Unfortunately, these questions come up for the wrong reasons such as Visa problems. If YCombinator helped with Visas, then I don't think this question or other similar ones would pop up. In terms of finances, the dollar goes a long mile in India and that is a plus. Perhaps a YC startup will probably run out of India in the future, especially because web startups are allowed 100% foreign ownership and foreign direct investment in India. I thought it might be interesting to start a google group for all Indians who read Ycombinator and similar stuff and maybe want do a startup - http://groups.google.com/group/TechStartups-India http://groups.google.com/group/TechStartups-India Join in, lets find out how many Indians are around and lets chat/meet up :)
- plinkplonk 19y ago
  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 Silicon Valley offers. The few startups I have seen here in Bangalore are all a bit flaky. Examples :- Guruji.com claims to do "India Specific Search" better than Google. Their search engine is terrible . Minglebox attempts to create an Orkut clone (there was a scandal recently about some incestous connections between the VC and a founder of the company and suspicions about the objectivity of the deal and so on). The only half decent software startup I know in India is Zoho and it remains to be seen if they can avoid being crushed by the Google Office juggernaut. Now as to talent. Name 10 Indians who have significantly contributed to Open Source software and are based in India. Any significant languages, frameworks etc that came out of India? I am not saying there aren't extremely bright people or developers in India . Given the size of the population it is impossible not to have bright people . But there does seem to be a distinct lack of entrepreneurial ability and the people who do seem to be very good developers don't want to take the risks of running their own company. Which is what Google Sacca was talking about. The people who do want to run their own companies are not correlated with high levels of programming skill, who prefer to emigrate to the USA. Having worked 10 years in Bangalore, I assert that YC will find hypothetical Indian operations massively unsuccessful. This may change in the future. But for now, YC should focus on the US. And before anyone accuses me of "racism "or something , I am Indian. I just try not to be blinkered.
pg 19y ago
I realize there are a lot of talented hackers in India, but our next "destination" is the 99% of hackers in the US who could start startups and instead just go get jobs at big companies. Even in the US, we've just begun.
deleted 19y ago
[deleted]
pageman 19y ago
I don't think there's enough visas at the moment (even without YCombinator getting into the fray)
- falsestprophet 19y ago
  I bet you could get creative enough with the law to allow foreigners to work without a proper visa. I am not a lawyer but I imagine if the team can get a tourist visa for three months, their new company was incorporated off-shore, in Ireland or the British Virgin Islands, and paid them in their home countries in advance for three months work that they could live in the Bay Area and participate fully with the added bonus of lower corporate taxes. Or everyone could go to jail.
budu3 19y ago
The US might be the most favorable environment for tech startups but it is not the only breeding ground for great tech startups. South Africa (Ubuntu Linux), India (Hotmail), Brazil (Orkut), Sweden/Denmark (Skype), China (Maxtheon browser) and the list goes on.
ralph 19y ago
The advantage of the US seems to be a large pool of candidates can move freely between states. The other place I can think of like that is the EU where a resident is allowed to work in another country without requiring a visa, etc. The differing cultures of the EU's countries is an extra benefit.
nrohan 19y ago
I guess IIT Powai had started KRSIT course for this sort thing. Although, it seems thats not very much successful. Anyway, the main reason as already stated is that such people land in US rather than in India to become rich! And even if someone builds such product in India, US is the main market to sell it. Selling the product remotely is not that easy!
juwo 19y ago
It is high time India (and Russia, China, Vietnam etc) founded their own angel investors. People willing to risk, willing to believe in their own people. We rely too much on the generosity of America. The IT boom in India has been largely, IMHO, as a result of American projects rolling in. Why cant we generate our own? All the Valley VCs from India (they are too well known for me to mention) should be ashamed of themselves. The top VC in the world is Indian. that is why Bill Gates gives $100M and plenty of his time and energy to eradicate diseases in India's children. LN Mittal who is the 3rd or 4th richest man in the world, gives how much to his home country? (no reports of his giving). Selfishness. that is the bane of India. That is why you have beggars on the streets alongside Mercedes Benzes. And yet another unpopular post from me. :)

10 points by sabhishek 19y ago

jsjenkins168 19y ago

This is answered in the YC FAQ: http://ycombinator.org/faq.html http://ycombinator.org/faq.html

akkartik 19y ago
Do you mean the question about YC in your town? If so, not quite. Moving to a different town to start a startup is just a test of commitment. Moving to a different country, though, dilutes the test with a bunch of bureaucratic stuff.
- bluishgreen 19y ago
  Kartik, Right on the mark! You haven't seen ugly until you have seen buracrazy, but you've got to do what you've got to do! :)

gyro_robo 19y ago

How far does $20k US go in India?

jey 19y ago
A lot, lot further than it would in the US. Your average Indian worker probably earns somewhere between $75 - $150 USD per month.
- gyro_robo 19y ago
  "We'll give you $600; you give us 6% of your company"?
- plinkplonk 19y ago
  an average Indian programmer gets significantly more. the average salary for someone just out of school is about 1200 $ /month (in Bangalore, as of today). Companies like Google pay much more.
  - jey 19y ago
    Yes, but I think he's asking about lower-bounds on money needed to survive while starting a startup. When you're starting a startup, you can't afford an opulent lifestyle. In the US, a programmer would make a lot more than $6000 per 3 months, but YC only gives you about $6k to $7.5k per person, and this money is expected to sustain you past the 3 month YC program until you get external funding. A programmer in the US probably earns between $70k and $90k per year. (Although it can be considerably higher in places like Silicon Valley)
    - plinkplonk 19y ago
      very good point! I missed that totally! I should know better than to type when sleepy!

sharpshoot 19y ago

In between summer and winter funding sessions, when does pg have time to take a break?

pg 19y ago
Exactly what I was thinking...
- sabhishek 19y ago
  Can you consider persons who could telecommute ? Thanks a lot for responding.
  - pg 19y ago
    What YC does, we have to do in person. Kind of like a university. So founders have to at least be able to get here for the 3 months. They could return to their home country after that, but they'd be more likely to succeed if they stayed in the US-- partly because it's a better environment for startups, and partly because it would be easier for us to help them.
    - sabhishek 19y ago
      Thanks for the comment pg. I will apply for the next YC funding cycle,and will bother about the Visa and all after getting called :-).

jey 19y ago

Probably not, but YCombinator could be an Indian's next destination. I don't think India has the startup culture nor tech culture etc that is enjoyed by America. (neither does Europe, apparently) sabhishek - You should apply to a YC funding cycle. Deal with the visa issues later! (but not too late)

rsdighe 19y ago
i asked the same question to google's chris sacca -- i was wondering what could be done to have a Y combinator sort of a thing in India. he shared a similar opinion to what ur saying, in india the entrepreneurial culture is a little missing + in addition he thought indians were very good at backend stuff and not necessary in aesthetics. it might be debatable you don't need the whole of indian IT engineers god in aesthetics to support y combinator - i was in silicon valley , and currently in UK. but u do see a difference in culture but yet i can tell u there are lot of people who do cool stuff here, in america people the impression i get the english is the only language people worry about here u are dealing with french, germans, italians, spanish and they are very different, no wonder u find clones of US starts ups in europe adapted for european markets.
- budu3 19y ago
  "Entrepreneurial culture" missing in India? I beg to differ. Indians have an entrepreneurial culture that has been cultivated for years due to their unique set of circumstances. Must Indians are self-employed and have a very self reliant attitude. I think what you meant was "Tech-startup culture".
deleted 19y ago
[deleted]
sabhishek 19y ago
Thats true to certain extent Jey, but not entirely. Lots of Indians are coming out with exciting ideas everyday, but we don't have a person like PG here who could give right advice at the right time and this causes more startups to tank :-). Thanks for the comment.

subhash 19y ago

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 wonders, but I can't think of a resident Indian in that place.

sabhishek 19y ago
What I wrote is what I meant .. :-) You are right Subhash unfortunately there's is no PG equivalent in India , and thats the point. Angel funding is not an issue, what PG advices is what that matters most.
sharpshoot 19y ago
Sabeer Bhatia - founder of hotmail?

Keios 19y ago

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. Unfortunately, these questions come up for the wrong reasons such as Visa problems. If YCombinator helped with Visas, then I don't think this question or other similar ones would pop up. In terms of finances, the dollar goes a long mile in India and that is a plus. Perhaps a YC startup will probably run out of India in the future, especially because web startups are allowed 100% foreign ownership and foreign direct investment in India. I thought it might be interesting to start a google group for all Indians who read Ycombinator and similar stuff and maybe want do a startup - http://groups.google.com/group/TechStartups-India http://groups.google.com/group/TechStartups-India Join in, lets find out how many Indians are around and lets chat/meet up :)

plinkplonk 19y ago
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 Silicon Valley offers. The few startups I have seen here in Bangalore are all a bit flaky. Examples :- Guruji.com claims to do "India Specific Search" better than Google. Their search engine is terrible . Minglebox attempts to create an Orkut clone (there was a scandal recently about some incestous connections between the VC and a founder of the company and suspicions about the objectivity of the deal and so on). The only half decent software startup I know in India is Zoho and it remains to be seen if they can avoid being crushed by the Google Office juggernaut. Now as to talent. Name 10 Indians who have significantly contributed to Open Source software and are based in India. Any significant languages, frameworks etc that came out of India? I am not saying there aren't extremely bright people or developers in India . Given the size of the population it is impossible not to have bright people . But there does seem to be a distinct lack of entrepreneurial ability and the people who do seem to be very good developers don't want to take the risks of running their own company. Which is what Google Sacca was talking about. The people who do want to run their own companies are not correlated with high levels of programming skill, who prefer to emigrate to the USA. Having worked 10 years in Bangalore, I assert that YC will find hypothetical Indian operations massively unsuccessful. This may change in the future. But for now, YC should focus on the US. And before anyone accuses me of "racism "or something , I am Indian. I just try not to be blinkered.

pg 19y ago

I realize there are a lot of talented hackers in India, but our next "destination" is the 99% of hackers in the US who could start startups and instead just go get jobs at big companies. Even in the US, we've just begun.

deleted 19y ago

[deleted]

pageman 19y ago

I don't think there's enough visas at the moment (even without YCombinator getting into the fray)

falsestprophet 19y ago
I bet you could get creative enough with the law to allow foreigners to work without a proper visa. I am not a lawyer but I imagine if the team can get a tourist visa for three months, their new company was incorporated off-shore, in Ireland or the British Virgin Islands, and paid them in their home countries in advance for three months work that they could live in the Bay Area and participate fully with the added bonus of lower corporate taxes. Or everyone could go to jail.

budu3 19y ago

The US might be the most favorable environment for tech startups but it is not the only breeding ground for great tech startups. South Africa (Ubuntu Linux), India (Hotmail), Brazil (Orkut), Sweden/Denmark (Skype), China (Maxtheon browser) and the list goes on.

ralph 19y ago

The advantage of the US seems to be a large pool of candidates can move freely between states. The other place I can think of like that is the EU where a resident is allowed to work in another country without requiring a visa, etc. The differing cultures of the EU's countries is an extra benefit.

nrohan 19y ago

I guess IIT Powai had started KRSIT course for this sort thing. Although, it seems thats not very much successful. Anyway, the main reason as already stated is that such people land in US rather than in India to become rich! And even if someone builds such product in India, US is the main market to sell it. Selling the product remotely is not that easy!

juwo 19y ago

It is high time India (and Russia, China, Vietnam etc) founded their own angel investors. People willing to risk, willing to believe in their own people. We rely too much on the generosity of America. The IT boom in India has been largely, IMHO, as a result of American projects rolling in. Why cant we generate our own? All the Valley VCs from India (they are too well known for me to mention) should be ashamed of themselves. The top VC in the world is Indian. that is why Bill Gates gives $100M and plenty of his time and energy to eradicate diseases in India's children. LN Mittal who is the 3rd or 4th richest man in the world, gives how much to his home country? (no reports of his giving). Selfishness. that is the bane of India. That is why you have beggars on the streets alongside Mercedes Benzes. And yet another unpopular post from me. :)