August - 2000 - issue > Cover

On a cool June night at Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners, perhaps the last thing one might expect to see would be a bunch of Indian engineers. But there they were, dressed in Askme.com gear, and rejoicing in what is billed as a team-building exercise and an effort to enhance people skills for budding leaders. Call it the Microsoft way, but the point is: Indian high-tech professionals are dead serious when it comes to business.

Former Microsoft executive Digvijay Chauhan — “Dig” to most of his colleagues at Askme.com — is credited with the transformation of high-tech Indian professionals into savvy marketers and management executives. Haresh Ved, a partner at Cronus Ventures, believes it’s people like Chauhan that are changing the perception of Indian executives. Not too long ago, they were seen as self-centered, focused solely on the bottom line. But every day, Indians are becoming more and more proficient in their marketing and management skills.


Microsoft Factor

The experience of working at Microsoft has provided many Indians with the tools to further their careers inside as well as outside of the company. From illustrating the best practices in developing products to showing the way to long-term strategizing, the company has been an instrumental stepping-stone in the evolution of Indian professionals in this area. For example, Raghav Kher, former director of strategic business decisions at Microsoft, considers the skills he learned in the areas of business development, strategic alliances and tactical marketing invaluable in helping him start his business, iMandi.com.

"One of the great assets that Seattle has is ex-Microsoft executives who are actively helping startups with both their expertise and seed capital," says Shirish Nadkarni, co-founder of TeamOn, which designs Web-based communication tools. " For example, we have access to two such ex-MS executives, Pete Higgins and Sabeer Bhatia, who are both early investors and board members in TeamOn. Their involvement has been crucial in getting us off to a successful start."

The financial stability and contacts Microsoft employees gain are also important — they offer employees the resources and luxury to explore career options outside of Microsoft. Also, the experience in working and competing with smart people inside the company is helpful in building confidence and establishing relationships that may turn into business relationships outside the company. Chauhan, who has partnered with Ramesh Parameswaran and Vijay Vashee while working for Microsoft, says, “If you can make it here (at Microsoft), you can make it anywhere.”

Chauhan, who headed Microsoft’s Internet Explorer/UNIX team, says that focusing on long-term strategy was something he carried over when he founded Askme.com. “The goal when we left Microsoft was very clear. It was not to create a few hundred million-dollar company — it was to create a multi-billion dollar company,” he states. “We wanted to do something really big. We believe we have an idea and a team that could execute and create the next Yahoo, Amazon, or eBay.”

In the Internet world, speed is critical. Chauhan has brought this sense of urgency to Askme.com, where the firm recruited its primary team, acquired office space and built its Web site in 30 days. At Microsoft, employees receive rewards and incentives for putting products onto the market.

The Microsoft factor doesn't always work advantageously, points out Venky Harinarayana, a co-founder of Junglee.com, which was acquired by Amazon. "Unlike theBay Area, angel investors (in Seattle) typically are not entrepreneurs themselves," which means entrepreneurs may not receive the same strong guidance as from former entrepreneurs. What is more, the investors "may be more risk averse," said Harinarayan, an Amazon executive and a board member of ureach.com, a hot communications startup.


Training in India

There are, of course, many other factors that have lent ably to the success of Indians in this part of the country. One that is widely cited is the education many of them received in top-notch schools in India. The rigors of the Indian educational system are legendary. Top institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) put students through the most arduous endeavor of their young lives. Hours of dedication and sacrifice are required to graduate.

Without the support of a community, an educational system is like a table without legs. In India, the educational system is supported by the culture. Indian society stresses education and the merits of individuals are heavily dependant upon their academic credentials.

Venky Harinarayan, an IIT graduate and currently an executive at Amazon.com, says, “Out of 25 computer science students (in his class), I think 13 are in Microsoft right now.” Three others are at Qualcomm. Sabina Nawaz, group manager at Microsoft, points to the emphasis on the core subjects of physics and math as helping her learn the fundamentals she needed to work in the IT industry.

The successful path of pioneers in the area has provided other Indians with patterns to model their own careers after. The saying “success breeds success” is truly applicable in this situation. Ved cites Pradeep Singh, founder of Aditi, and Naveen Jain, founder of Infospace, as two Indian entrepreneurs that he admires. Like them, Ved also worked at Microsoft and decided to leave to start his own business. The presence of the first wave of entrepreneurs gives others following a benchmark and confidence to gauge their own careers.

Such pioneers are an invaluable source of information and resources. Ved remarked that taking on this mentorship role is something that he enjoys and is part of the reason why he started a venture capital firm. It is the perfect vehicle for him to teach and guide entrepreneurs as they begin the treacherous journey of building a business. After going through the “trenches,” an experienced entrepreneur knows what it takes to succeed and often can help other entrepreneurs.

Seattle has also emerged as a great high-tech center comparable with many other leading regions in the country. Says Deepak Amin, founder of vJungle, “A few years ago, I would have said that Seattle was lagging behind other areas and was probably not the best area for entrepreneurial ventures. However, things have changed dramatically.” Amin, whose startup is an enabler of the virtual office concept, says the region has almost everything an entrepreneur would seek: active investment community (including angels), institutional and corporate support, strong and growing labor market, technological infrastructure and not the least, a ready local market for technology products.