 "Indian Start-ups need to adopt Silicon Valley's crazy talk")
Like many others, I find myself admiring Zoho, one of the most successful SaaS companies that has come out of India.
The company started not long after the Dot-Com Bubble in the midst of competition doing the exact same things and offering the exact same product. Yet it emerged as one of the leading Made in India software exports despite harsh competition.
However, one disappointing moment for me in the company’s detailed story coverage by Tech in Asia was the moment where the founder felt at ease in acknowledging the company really doesn’t have a mid-term vision. The founder said: "I still don’t know what Zoho’s path will be 10 years from now, which is part of the fun – discovering new things to do."
This attitude looks to me like a complete antithesis of Silicon Valley culture where your vision is to disrupt something or anything and create the future.
Such an over-obsession of Silicon Valley companies with disruption, with leaving nothing untouched, no stone unturned, and no industry unaffected has gone too far for many people. There’s an appropriate term for it – crazy talk.
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Crazy talk or no crazy talk, these Silicon Valley guys are actually doing it.
To them, a 10-year vision which contains nothing else but the word “disruption” is good enough and they go after it.
Perhaps Indian companies, especially those we praise, need some healthy dose of crazy talk.
Perhaps a company that has no disruption in its mind should not be the type of company future founders should aspire, idolise, and emulate despite the evident success story having the principles of organic growth in its core.
This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here