I think that Indian FOBs have developed a great ability to talk through their arses. Indeed, I found that start-ups with other asian entrepreneur founders were much more technology focused. Believe me, many FOB Indian “TECHNOLOGY GUYS” free-rode on the backs of techies who were non-Indian. It is for this reason that I absolutely hate the bastardized the-farm-meets-bhendi-baazar accent since I have heard it in so many pitches. My mind switches off and I immediately go into self-preservation mode!

Just my $0.02. Sorry to all the trolls on here but I won’t be debating this with any of you. Peace.

It seems that many of you have been left out and have not achieved any meaningful success. Don’t be so resentful of other that have, please! Let’s take pride in the accomplishments of the community.

Give me the name of a tech company started just by one single person. Hmmm, can’t think of a single one. First get your facts right. Apple was not just started by steve jobs(Steve Wozniak? is not an half arab), and yahoo was founded by two guys and only one of them was chinese. How about microsoft. And one more thing even one of the major venture capitalist that funded google was Ram shriram.

You are an old man who wants to believe India is a disgusting, poor, good for nothing country. Go ahead, you are the one who is fooling yourself, its so sad.

If defeat comes in the form of increased investment, bring it on. We’ll “taunt”, “hype”, “self-promote”, “thump our chests”, live by means of “stubborn dishonesty” and maybe we’ll give the investors some value for their money if we deem it necessary >:)

Extraordinary Popular Delusions & the Madness of Crowds

And boy, back in those days, there was a lot of self promotion attracing a lot of money, maybe not smart money, but money nonethelss.

The part where he says excessive self-promotion doesn’t attract capital. You’re reading far too much into his comments, the same way some in the press read far too much into India’s recent economic gains.

So why are you defending the hype/self-promotion?

Show me where I defended the self-promotion. Once again, just like the press you so loathe, you’re reading too much into my comments.

And since you are well aware of the reasons for Murthy’s discouragement of the hype, why were you dishonestly speculating that his reasons involved “market crash, inflation, recession”?

good point. It was just specualtion since this is one of the well know dangers of self-promotion and irrational exuberence, to use Alan Greenspan’s term. But after closer reading, I see his real concern is Anerican fears of an Indain “threat” to their business may lead to a political retaliation.

Why are you dishonestly speculating that Murthy’s discouragement of a particular hype (India as IT SUperpower) means he’s saying self-promotion does not attract capital? No where does he say that, and it can’t be inferred, unless you are a member of the same excitable press you’re using this thread to rail against.

Jeez, such stubborn dishonesty. What part of “We are just toddling; hence we should stop terming ourselves as an IT superpower” didnt you follow?

So Murthy is concerned that Americans are starting to consider India a threat and this may lead to a political retaliation.

And that despite India’s very low market share. This is another reason not to thump your chest. Why taunt those who butter your bread? Isnt that self-defeating? So why are you defending the hype/self-promotion?

And since you are well aware of the reasons for Murthy’s discouragement of the hype, why were you dishonestly speculating that his reasons involved “market crash, inflation, recession”?

It is obvious that they discourage such “self-promotion” for the simple reason that it is a lie.

Actually, in the very article you cite, Murthy gives his reason for wanting to stop calling India an IT superpower:

In fact, despite India’s low market share, global IT majors have begun to consider certain Indian companies like Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Satyam as a ‘threat’ to their businesses, he pointed out. He also said the growing opposition to outsourcing of jobs in the United States was a ‘sensitive issue,’ which had to be dealt with ‘sensibly.’”It should not be sensationalised and carried on the front pages of Indian newspapers, especially when the US is facing an election year,” he said.

So Murthy is concerned that Americans are starting to consider India a threat and this may lead to a political retaliation.

Firstly, I have already provided quotes from which anyone who understands english and logic can easily deduce where Narayana Murthy and Kanwal Rekhi stand on this issue.

Yes, it is easy. In the very article you cite Rekhi explicitly states where he stands. India is not an IT superpower but:

In the US, it is essential for every start up to have an India office. The sense there is the India cost advantage, trained manpower and the country is on the verge of something big,”

And you should be happy that the TOI calls his prudent observations “obvious”

The hype over India’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.

These prudent observations, pointing out India great strides are not yet enough to declare her a “superpower” are a good counter measure to the excitable persons on either side of this issue.

Firstly, I have already provided quotes from which anyone who understands english and logic can easily deduce where Narayana Murthy and Kanwal Rekhi stand on this issue. Secondly, it isn’t just “certain excitable people in the media” who are BSing/jive-talking, it is much if not most of the mainstream desi media, and worse, it was the ruling political party of India at that time, the BJP, which took the hyping and delusions of grandeur to idiotic levels with bombastic boasts like: “India is today an IT superpower. The world respects us. It also fears our abilities.”

Such irrational exuberence has its downside (market crash, inflation, recession, –which is what Murthy and Rekhi are probably worried about) but supressing investment is not one of them.

What part of “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” and “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.” didnt you understand? It is obvious that they discourage such “self-promotion” for the simple reason that it is a lie. Not because of “market crash, inflation, recession, –which is what Murthy and Rekhi are probably worried about” as you are feverishly imagining.

But this less than 1% of the population from India has been involved with (according to you) 6% of the tech startups.

According to the study genius, not according to me. How did you manage to conclude from that study that Indians are involved in 25% of tech startups??

And that 6% figure is also deceptive. That does not mean that 6% of founders, CEOs, Presidents, and CTOs of american tech startups are indians. Only that at least one indian immigrant was involved in 6% of startups according to this (shoddy) survey. For example in the most prominent american tech company with an indian founder, Sun, Vinod Khosla was just one of 4 founders. 94% of tech startups, including the most successful ones, had no indian involvement at all in their founding. Yet we have the desi media making laughably tall claims, based on this survey, such as: “Indians Dominate Tech Sector in U.S.”!

So, where were these “dominant” indians during the CES and Macworld Expo? There was the iconic Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple who is half-arab, there was Jerry Yang chinese founder and CEO of Yahoo, and the overwhelming proportion of the rest were american-born whites. Where were the supposedly dominant indians hiding?