Its 2010 and as we step into the next decade, Business and Technology remain the scale of measuring the overall strength of any country. Though jaw-dropping start ups keep coming forward from the dorm rooms and garages of the Silicon Valley, investors in US are worried that the  government is not doing enough to entice entrepreneurs to stay.

So the US congress is now considering what can be called as a ‘start-up Visa’. A visa for foreign born “techies” who have good ideas, so that they can stay ‘in’ US and continue working on them. This is especially valid for foreign students who drop out of school to found their own companies. It is particularly hard for them to get visas and continue in the valley, and US is aware of its losing ground if it doesn’t encourage smart brains from India and China to stay within.

The visa also aims at attracting foreign capital. So if your business plan is good enough to attract $250,000 through Venture Capital or $100,000 as angel funding, or shows prospects of creating 5-10 jobs and around $1Mn in revenue, then you are eligible and up for the visa. Such visas are already in place in Canada, UK and Australia and US knows the importance of funding the founders if it does not want to give away any advantage to one of these.
But the point to ponder upon is, if US, with all that it is, is thinking so seriously and taking steps to attract talent, imagine what steps India is going to have to take to at least retain its talent. The reforms from 1991 have provided the fuel for entrepreneurs to pick themselves up without licensing hassles, but do we have a government that is worried about start ups in India?

According to Dr Venkatraman, Indian born US based 2009-Nobel Prize winner, if India does not invest in the facilities that support long term research now, it is going to find itself 10-20 years behind in harnessing technology for better benefits.

We have one of the most, if not the most, competitive educational systems in the world. But it is also true that most of the smart brains are showing all their competitive spirit in India and Creativity outside it!

There is indeed a lot of activity going on in the start up incubators in India. Loads of VC funding and a build up of an entrepreneurial ecosystem with foundations like NEN, but we seem to miss godfathers like Andy Bechtolsheim and Mike Markkula coming ahead to mentor the Google’s or Apple’s of tomorrow.

With the Indian population all set to hit 1.5 Bn by 2020, the Indian market and economy is essentially going to piggyback on the ability of future job creators. The ecomonic reforms from 1991 have provided the fuel for entrepreneurs to pick themselves up without licensing hassles and red tape , now it is the turn for our educational reforms to pick up soon enough to catapault innovation and R&D. Are outdated rotten courses going to make way for a fast changing and flexible course systems that incorporate iphone and Android apps on the go ?

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