India must build for the world again

India is slowly winning the access battle, where every Indian can access growth opportunities. Next, India can again build for the world. But we must choose the path of sustainable innovation and entrepreneurship.

India has historically been the source of intellectual foresight and wisdom for the world. It is the land of Advaitha, Aryabhatiya mathematics, and Ayurveda. These were the legacy of men and women who strived to excel and surpass existing knowledge. To me, this was the first period of the human revolution, breaking humanity away from the evolution dominated by survival instincts. Then we became a nation of individuals who applied this wisdom for the next several centuries. We built a prosperous nation that contributed to the prosperity of the world at large through global commerce and open immigration into its borders. In those centuries, India never invaded other countries or communities. This was the period of the first human renaissance. However (or perhaps because of it), that did not stop other nations and communities from invading India to steal and plunder. Over time, we became a repleted nation with a weak identity and soft character. India's independence movement was our period of the second revolution.

Today, we are a developing nation forming one-sixth of humanity with more than a fair share of poverty. We have much distance to cover before we take leadership in imparting knowledge to the world. It is time for the second Indian renaissance.

Pandit Nehru exhorted from the Red Fort that "Every Indian has to do something for the nation." Seventy-five years later, we have the platform for every Indian to participate. Be it a farmer, an artist, a scientist, or an artisan; an Indian can get access to growth opportunities today. Yes, it is a moving target, and there will always be space for us to get better, and it is also true that not every Indian knows they have access.

I see the bright new dawn of 'universal access' everywhere. I see more and more digital and physical public goods becoming world-class every day. I see roads getting built faster than ever before. I see digital goods such as mobile payments becoming accessible to the poorest section of Indians. India is embarking on ambitious programs in all facets of social development. For example, I listened to the brilliant vision of the AI4Bharat community recently. Shortly, all Indian languages can thrive, and our local subcultures can remain vibrant because the technology to seamlessly translate across all Indian languages that this group is building enables access across communities and social strata. Similar is the story with other public technology stacks such as the ONDC for open commerce. This is the first battle, the one for access. This is huge since India has massive human capital.

If the battle for access has been fought and we are winning, next is the battle for the right to build. What is the right to build? We live in a world that is driven by technology. The advancement in technology determines the progress of society and quality of life. If India must build for the world, we must lead with technology, but more importantly, we must build things of value. I am concerned about us losing our way in this regard. Take the Indian startup ecosystem, for example. We have a generation of entrepreneurs ready to run enterprising endeavors. A ton of capital is available to them through individuals and institutions in the private sector. Very few recent enterprises in India capture real market share while creating value for the investors.

To clarify, I mean old-school business fundamental of profit from the enterprise as the unit of value for an investor and not the exit at a higher valuation! Today, we see 'startups' that raise 'rounds' and 'exit' or close down. I meet 'founders' who first evaluate markets attractive to investors and then 'promising solutions' that are already attracting capital. Then they seek to copy the 'promising solutions' with minor modifications. This will not enable nation-building. We need sustained enterprises that build things of value, not short-term financial vehicles masquerading as enterprising endeavors.

To sustainably build things of value, we need builders who yearn to improve the world and humanity. The builders must deeply learn about the problem they intend to solve, whether in education or money-trading. They must solve it in a new way that can create substantial long-term economic value. They must build an organization to execute a strategy that reduces the risk of developing long-term economic value. This takes time. This requires learning. This requires patience. This requires resilience.

For India to build for the world, we must over-index on people who deeply understand the problems to solve, those who specialize in advanced technologies, and those with the experience to build large sustainable enterprises. The rest of India will take the cue from these builders and use the newfound access to build themselves. Once we build for the world and solve the big problems in education, energy, climate, and social development, we can expect the rest of the world to listen to the message of India, of universal humanity.