Recently met ~80 people in SF / Bay Area who were interested in moving back to India. Lots of interesting Qs; many misconceptions cleared, many known truths reinforced -- both good & bad. Here’s a sample of the top Qs & As 👇& reasons to move back:
Primary reasons seem to be: personal life in India is better, excitement about India's startup ecosystem, US H1B/green card woes, life in SF becoming too formulaic, and FOMO ("my friends are all making it big there").
Now the Qs:
1/ Main concerns before moving back? Traffic & Pollution. Live close to work (<30min at peak) + get a mask. Salary was another. The right salary solves a lot of issues. I wrote up a lifestyle comparison tool to help know what salary could work for you: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d…
2/ +ive surprises? Daily hassles (bills, long lines, etc) & common civic sense were issues that I didn't face much of. Except airports & movies, never stood in lines. Bill payments of all kinds now on📱. Food, groceries, laundry, home repairs, etc now at your doorstep for ~free.
3/ Do you regret moving back? I get this Q a lot. In the last 1yr, I’ve never woken up to think “oh shit, wish I were back in SF”. Know what you are moving back for. If India is your last resort (e.g. H1B renewal got rejected), your adjustment will be harder.
4/ What roles do startups have trouble hiring? For Seed, it’s usually deep-tech/engg esp. AI & Cloud. For A/B, product & sales leaders become bottlenecks. Best of India is == best anywhere, but India needs more Sheryl Sandbergs and Eric Schmidts for every Zuckerberg and Page.
5/ What about crime-rate, inflation, etc? Focus on what affects you. If gun crime were a factor, no one would move to US. Inflation affects spend categories differently, e.g. food inflation in India was 2.x% in '19. I moved back not to save more, but for a 10x impact potential.
6/ Is there a gender pay gap? There is, and it depends on which industry you pick. Is it worse than the US? Korn Ferry data says it’s not, but I'd love for women to answer this 👇. In the blue-collar sector, India seems to have the worst gender-pay gap in the world. 
7/ Why have so many Sr Industry veterans who moved to India returned back to US? Cultural fit & expectations. People return to India expecting it would have become Denmark while they were gone. Nope. If you keep one leg in the US boat, chances are you will pull the other leg in.
8/ I want to be a VC in India, what do I do till I return? VC is a local business, so it's tough to really have an impact from abroad. Angel investing is already too smart and hot in India for the best founders to care for your $$s.
9/ Do women feel safe working late nights in India at startups, given long hours? I’d love to hear this from the women. Tagging a few I know who've lived outside of India as well: @kmanjita @AkankshaHazari @shuvi @parul8ue @hena1220 @RachitaVora
@kmanjita @AkankshaHazari @shuvi @parul8ue @hena1220 @RachitaVora 10/ If you are a US native looking to move back, please fill out this form and we'll get in touch with you: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI… 🙏🙏
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