India and the entrepreneur mindset

My son was pitching his startup to a real, live audience for the first time this weekend. The event had 10 fantastic ideas by students from all parts of the country. While the brilliance of these ideas and their bold execution took one by surprise, what really got my attention was how each speaker (each of them a stellar entrepreneur themselves) spoke about the dire need to pull our children out of the job seeker mindset and to instill in them the job creator mindset. 

"In school, don't think of how you will kill your creativity and do a course to become a job seeker. Think about how you will harness and unleash the same creativity to be a job creator by the time you graduate from college." 

- Said one of the speakers. 

Another speaker said: 

The British have worked hard to make sure our children grow up with the clerk mindset. Change what your education is telling you to become. Give up the clerk mindset and get the entrepreneur mindset. 

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Obviously, these quotes make one think immediately of the Gujaratis, who traditionally look down upon jobs as a form of slavery and inspire each child to start something of their own. It is a cultural thing. 

And then, one got to thinking some more: 

From the days of Indus Valley Civilisation, India has been and continues to be, at its heart, a mercantile civilisation*. 

Agriculture does employ the most people, but trade generates the most value. 

After the Mughals, there was relative stability in Delhi and trade flourished. By 1600 AD, as many as FOUR East India companies had been incorporated in Europe because Europeans were sick of how much money they were having to pay to India for their needs - Dutch, Portugese, French, and British East India companies. 

India did not just know how to make great stuff. We also knew how to sell it profitably. 

Even today, mercantile trade in the form of family business contributes to the bulk of our secondary sector GDP. 

And that is why, Indians will find their way back to entrepreneurship. We may have eliminated it from our education, but we have it in our homes. 

I think we underestimate the importance of historical legacy when we talk about India becoming the fastest growing startup nation of the world. As soon as the ecosystem was created and favourable conditions provided, we soared. Including the 100 bright young minds who submitted their entries to this national startup contest for students. As one of the speakers said - "If this is how the young minds of today are thinking, I know that our future is in safe hands. This country will progress." 

*Trade relations of SIVC with other contemporary civilisations are well documented. My hypothesis on the seals is that these were mercantile seals with codes instead of actual text. The code would include things like source(name and location of merchant, much like brands today), type of product, grade/quality of product, and potentially, the units carried. Most of these seals can be imprinted upon another surface, much like lac seals used even today by Marwadi marchants. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0UlCatC1e4

Here is another person who shares the same hypothesis: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8qA6sSXNts

Here are some estimates: 

https://www.businesstoday.in/opinion/interviews/story/family-businesses-contribute-over-70-to-india-gdp-says-farhad-forbes-of-family-business-network-225943-2019-09-09

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/india-ranks-3rd-globally-in-terms-of-number-of-family-owned-businesses/articleshow/65807479.cms

https://www.forbesindia.com/special-report/indias-family-businesses/1617/1

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1041770/india-business-structure-family-businesses-by-type/