Social barriers are often the first Indian entrepreneurs encounter

These barriers have fallen but we still have a way to go before entrepreneurship is widely celebrated

In the mid-late 90s, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay started thinking about setting up a school to encourage entrepreneurship. An infotech incubator, KRESIT, was created and funded by eminent alumni Nandan Nilekani and Kanwal Rekhi. What was the culture of entrepreneurship in India at the time? Professor Deepak Phatak, professor emeritus at IIT Bombay, recently shared an interesting anecdote about his interaction with an entrepreneur looking for incubation at KRESIT.

During the selection interview, the person mentioned that his father wanted to meet Professor Phatak, who agreed without knowing what it was about and then found the father had a worry to express: If the startup were to fail and his son was saddled with debt, how would he find a suitable bride? In a society where stable jobs were the norm, the idea of an IIT graduate from a middle-class family opting for entrepreneurship, risking debt and societal judgement, was unthinkable.