Come Home And Build is an evolving initiative to get the best minds to build from India. It features speakers who’ve honed their craft across the globe, resources on things to consider when making the move back and an attitude to make a difference.
8+ years in PHL, NY, CHI and SFO // IND since 2014
“I did not want immigration policies to dictate my life.”
I left India in 2004 to do my engineering in Philadelphia and then moved to New York to work for Goldman as an analyst for 6 years. I moved back to India in 2014 as Goldman started my green card process as I did not want to stick around in Goldman - I did not want immigration policies to dictate my life. I sold my stuff in Manhattan, moved to Bangalore and spent 2 months networking, looking for an early to growth stage startup. Finally I ended up working with Easytap for 2 years, which was my first professional experience in India. Later I went back for business school to Wharton, worked for Square in SF but the plan was to come back to India and do something of my own. I believe that moving back has been one of my best decisions. My parents live 10 minutes down the road and I have been amazed by the weather and food. The work life harmony in India is great. I am not a mother yet but if I ever decide to be one I know that balancing work and life is great in India. However this decision did require me to make some adjustments - the work culture in India is different, people get personal at times and you need to get used to standing in queues. However, just accepting the situation helped me settle in.
4+ years in SFO // IND since 2019
“Moving back to India was an obvious choice given India is a huge market which is completely untapped and there is a lot of potential to build something interesting.”
I built two companies in India, one of which was acquired by Intel. I worked with Intel for a year and then went to do my MBA at Stanford. I worked with Apple after that. In Nov 2016, both my wife and I got our Green Card. However, for us, moving back to India was an obvious choice as India is a huge market which is completely untapped and there is a lot of potential to build something interesting. The development horsepower in India is high and good food in India is a huge plus as well. Initially it was not very easy for us. I felt that market nuances necessary to build startups did not come to me as naturally. Being an engineer in a Series A startup in India is better in PPP terms compared to being an engineer in the US; you can afford and live life king size in India. I think of India as a 72 year old startup that is in the process of blitzscaling – with increasing smartphone and internet penetration and tech fluency. I shuttle between India and the US 10 days every 2 months to be with my wife.
7+ years in SFO // IND since 2019
“My advice is for people to make decisions on the basis of what gives them mental peace.”
I grew up in Delhi and worked in India till 2012 and then moved to the US when I got a job in Google in Mountain View. I started as an engineer and moved to a product role at Google, where I spent 7 years. My advice is for people to make decisions on the basis of what gives them mental peace. I always knew I wanted to start a company and wanted to do something in deep tech from India. My quality of life has improved - I do not need to spend time dealing with daily chores and food quality has infinitely improved. Pollution is an issue in Delhi but having basic things in life sorted helps me to avoid spending mental bandwidth and in focusing on work.
3+ years in SFO // IND since 2018
“We made a decision to come back to India overnight. Not getting an H1B initially felt like a setback but it gave me long term clarity. Uncertainty can be good.”
I started my career in India at ITC after graduating from IIT Madras in 2010 and went to the US for business school and spent 3+ years there working at Mckinsey (Palo Alto) and other firms. The initial thought of moving back to India was triggered by my H1B visa rejection. My then girlfriend and now wife had an H1B but we decided to stay together somehow instead of living in different countries. At the same time there was positive news all around the startup ecosystem in India. We made a decision to come back to India overnight. Not getting an H1B initially felt like a setback but it gave me long term clarity. Uncertainty can be good. While I did require some time to adjust to India, especially the traffic, pollution, job and apartment hunting. Every small thing seemed difficult in the beginning. But it was all outweighed by the overall positives like the opportunity to be close to family, great food and travel. Looking at the decision from a positive lens helped us a lot.
6+ years in DC // IND since 2015
“While in the US, I had an opportunity to apply for a green card, however I did not apply. I believe that the next generation of companies that will shape the world will come from India.”
I was born in Pune. My family moved to Hong Kong when I moved to Princeton for undergrad when I was 16. I remained in the States and moved to DC, where I founded a policy think tank which had over 200 people when I left. I later joined a consulting firm Booz & Co. Soon after, I realised I wanted to build a company in and from India. I moved back and joined a consulting firm called Technoserve. As part of my project I lived in villages for an entire year and got to see first hand how mobile phones were going to change the country. Later I went to Cambridge (UK) for an MBA and to figure out what business to build. While in the US, I had an opportunity to apply for a Green Card, however I did not apply. I believe that the next generation of companies that will shape the world will come from India. When I moved back I had no family in India, no base - it was like moving to any other city in the world. Moving to Mumbai was no different from moving to DC.
7+ years in SFO // IND since 2017
“While pollution is a negative, having family close is great for me.”
I grew up in Delhi and later went to Stanford after which I worked at Oracle and then joined a startup funded by Lightspeed which was acquired by Walmart Labs. I lived in the Bay Area and SF, leading a team of 50 at Walmart. At the time, India/APAC was growing significantly so I moved back to start the India office of an SF based startup. However, big headwinds hit e-commerce in India at the time and business scaled down. One option was to go back but I decided to join magicpin, a Series A startup funded by Lightspeed, which has since grown substantially. While pollution is a negative, having family close is great for me. One caveat I’d let others know is that it gets harder to move back to India with age.
9+ years in NY and SJC // IND since 2017
“I personally felt at home in India.”
I spent 10 years in Silicon Valley. My wife and I both had the Green Card. We decided to move back to India for personal reasons 12 years back. I transitioned to the India office of a Silicon Valley startup. Both my wife and I decided to give up our Green Card. I personally felt at home in India. My wife is a psychologist and we felt that we were able to contribute to the local ecosystem. I joined Flipkart in 2012 to help Amod Malviya, the co-founder, with pricing and inventory planning and then saw Flipkart valuation rise 20x in 5 years. In 2017 I joined Rubrik, a Lightspeed company, to start their India centre. I believe that an amazing quality of talent lies in India. If someone can channelise their energy and bring a world class environment to them, it can do wonders. In the hardest of times, I do think that moving back may be a mistake but no country is perfect and I feel happy about the decision 90% of the time.
14+ years in CHI // IND since 2016
“I believe the opportunity to create impact at scale in India is huge.”
I did my undergrad in India and moved to Virginia Tech to do a Masters in Engineering. I then worked at Booz & Co for 7 years, focused on consulting in consumer, retail & chemicals. This work was not challenging enough so I started looking for opportunities. I was thinking about moving back to India already. Around that time, my father passed away. That was when I decided to move back. I took a 3 month sabbatical and moved to India to look for a role in Bangalore. I joined Amazon Prime 4.5 years back and now lead Prime business in India. I believe the opportunity to create impact at scale in India is huge. Since joining Amazon, I have helped grow Prime to be the largest subscriber platform in india; we have members in 99% of the Pincodes in india. Also the opportunity for kids to be close to grandparents was great. I think traffic and pollution can be worked out. Work culture in India is very different. However Amazon India operates very similar to Amazon US. I do miss friends and places in Chicago but get an opportunity to visit the US every 2 -3 months. There are going to be adjustments but if people focus on the positives, and on the opportunity to create impact at scale, everything would look fine.
8+ years in SFO // IND since 2019
“My advice to people who are moving back would be to reach out to past connections to get plugged in faster in the ecosystem.“
I did my undergrad in Bangalore and Masters at CMU (ML for public policy), worked at Google and then Netflix. I later worked at Mindmeld in SF, which was later acquired by Cisco. My reasons for moving back involved H1B rejection and also my orientation to find an impact-driven role. I am now starting up in the rural sector and find the rural South India beautiful. A lot has happened in the last 10 years in India. I found a lot of entrepreneurial people who have created so much value and brought a profound change to this country. My life here is very similar to my life in the US: mobile connectivity is great even in rural areas and I got a pretty good upgrade in terms of quality in life. Traffic and pollution, dealing with local government does frustrate me at times but being closer to family and having pets are positive surprises for me. My advice to people who are moving back would be to reach out to past connections to get plugged in faster in the ecosystem.
15+ years in SFO // IND since 2018
“People think that coming back to India requires them to take a 30-50% salary haircut.”
I moved to the US in 2003 for a PhD but did not like it and got out with an MS instead. Between 2003-18, I had roles across engineering, product, bizdev and investing across companies like AMD, Google and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). I moved back to India in 2018 to join Lightspeed. For me it was always a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. For me, 70% of the decision was personal, 30% was professional (team, economics, role). People think that coming back to India requires them to take a 30-50% salary haircut but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much Series A startups pay for top-end sales, marketing, product or engineering roles which are highly valued in India. I am very happy in India; for the first time since college, I can see 10 years ahead and know where I will be and what I will be doing. The US always felt somewhat limited to me but now I feel free. Life in India is very simple after Jio. Everything is delivered at doorsteps. While pollution is a problem, I have zero regrets. I never wake up and find myself missing the US. However, I do miss my long drives on highways and national parks in SF.
The first edition of Come Home And Build features professionals who have honed their craft across the globe, and actively chose to return and build in India.
It was conducted over a webinar and the discussion and learnings have been shared for the benefit of everyone.
