

The 'Real' reason why few IITian's do a start up - slaxman
http://ubiquitary.wordpress.com/2012/07/09/the-real-reason-why-few-iitians-do-a-startup/

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vijayanands
Very Sensational. And very little proof to back it up.

I dont know if IIT Delhi is the most entrepreneurial - because some is running
around with a watermelon helmet and produced a movie? :)

Any cohort, be is the top 20% or the long tail, will have few risktakers. how
does having the IIT Tagline make things any different?

Even by your own thought process, I wouldnt say they dont want to fail, they
just have a very different notion of success and I'm sure they believe they
are successful. Let them be.

At the end of the day, whether we choose to become entrepreneurs, fight the
daily battles of life, or take a route that pays well - we have to stay true
to our Dharma (that's really what it all comes down to).

PS: It does look like IITians and IIM grads find their way into the ecosystem
- most of them as venture capitalists. About 60% of the Associate Partners in
Indian Venture Capital firms come from IIT / IIMs (lower from 80% as to 5-10
years ago). Thats out of a sample of 1500 AP Positions (roughly)

Source ([http://bestengagingcommunities.com/2012/07/10/how-to-get-
a-j...](http://bestengagingcommunities.com/2012/07/10/how-to-get-a-job-as-a-
venture-capitalist/))

~~~
slaxman
Well running around with a watermelon helmet is catchy, isnt it? ;-) Anyways,
I do not intend to say that having IIT tagline makes anything different. But I
am aware of the quality of students there. (I do not mean that there aren't
quality students elsewhere. It's just that this is the environment I am aware
about.)

In fact, the bottom line of the article that most important trait you need
when you start up is the willingness to fail. If you don't have that, it does
not matter what your background is or how smart you are, you aren't going to
succeed as an entrepreneur.

~~~
vijayanands
Disagree. If you arent hallucinated by the vision that you can somehow change
the world, you wouldnt dare step out either. One has to be a masochist to want
to set up themselves for failure.

Once again, its not the embracing of failure, but what you perceive as
failure. Most start out for the fact that they love what they do and would do
it even if they werent paid for it - its the learning along the way, the
friends they make and the experience that drives them. The payout, is a bonus.
Failure is not going anywhere, and not even getting a lesson out of it or
growing a new skill.

There is nothing wrong with the article. You are setting yourself up for some
trouble when you claim you know the "real" reason - backed by zilch data, and
just pure perception :)

