At ~4% of all entrepreneurs, Indians are at #2!!

It was a little moment of pride when my alma-mater, Duke University, published a profile on the current breed of entrepreneurs. Savvy technocrats in Silicon Valley have long established their mark in the US. That profile is now changing with Indian origin professionals being recognized for innovative offerings in Medical, Logistics, Telecom and Retail industries. As a nation (and being a perennial optimist), I feel we have many attributes in our favor - Education, Youth, Ambition. We now have to take the constraints, which are just as many, into stride and strive to overcome.

This info-graphic limits the scope to US start-ups and we are the largest non-native demographic of entrepreneurs. I can only try to imagine our collective impact and influence in nations like UK, South Africa, Germany, Australia. Based on the survey taken for this poll, it was not as urprising that people became entrepreneurs for building wealth (who doesn't!) but that just as many people found their motivation in not wanting to work for someone and have a strong desire to own a company. It is clear that this polling debunked some of the common myths that many of us unjustly burden ourselves with. Over 36% of the people came from lower middle class so limited start-up budget is not the biggest barrier to entry. Vast majority of the people were married and most of them had at least 1 child, so while family responsibilities are important, that is definitely not the reason to stall your idea.

We all need a way to shake away the self-doubts and find our way to the greater potential that we can be. Carpe diem friends! Toasting to everyone's success..