India should learn

The city of Stockholm has fewer than one million residents, roughly a tenth of Bangalore’s population. The Scandinavian capital is abuzz[u'búz(buzzing,noisy,गुंजायमान)] with innovative ideas and startup savvy. How does a city with so few people grow a density of technology unicorns (startups valued at $1 billion or more) and multi-hundred dollar startups to beat Bangalore hollow[hó-low(empty,खोखला)] ?

Stockholm is the world’s most prolific tech startup hub after Silicon Valley on a per-capita basis.
Stockholm’s startups enjoy a huge advantage, and its milieu[meel'yû(environment,वातावरण)] is miles ahead of Bangalore’s in many respects.

The Swedes benefit from no-cost undergraduate education and low-priced university education that frees them to think about starting ventures and funding them without having to worry about paying off huge college loans, like in the United States. A whole generation of digital-native Swedes grew up in the high-speed internet era, which has led to the nurturing of ideas and plunging into entrepreneurship.

In contrast, Bangalore’s entrepreneurs are on their own, with little or no government support to speak of. India’s positives could be that the country is a lot less regulated when compared to Scandinavia, where testing and beta trials for technology products take time.

There are many other dissimilarities. Stockholm is squeaky clean, its residents enjoy a high quality of life, and its infrastructure is enviable[en-vee-u-bul(desirable,वांछनीय)]. There is order everywhere — public transport systems run on the dot. Bangalore’s infrastructure is broken. In India’s tech capital, roads are clogged and the recent Diwali rush saw the streets being converted into one giant[jI-unt(big,बड़ा)] parking lot. Yet, vehicles sales are high. Public transport systems are pitiful, power blackouts are common and water supply is deficient. On the bright side, the weather is glorious nearly all year round. Perhaps Bangalore’s bedlam[bed-lum(disorder,अव्यवस्था)]
helps foster[fós-tu(strengthen,मजबूत)] creative entrepreneurial ideas.

Many of India’s technology startups chase users in the domestic market, but Stockholm’s startups aim for the global stage from the word go. For instance, Stockholm-born Truecaller, does not have a significant user base in Sweden and is relatively unknown in the West. Its largest market is in India, home to 100 million of its 200 million worldwide users.

In Bangalore, an entrepreneur’s life is unpredictable. On the other hand, Stockholm’s entrepreneurs can partake[paa'teyk(share,सम्मिलित)] of Sweden’s low-cost healthcare and generous pensions, thanks to the country’s high taxes, which yield[yee(-u)ld(give,return,मुनाफा)] a munificent[myoo'ni-fi-sunt(generous,उदार)] cradle-to-grave(start to an end,जन्म से अंत तक)] welfare system. The city’s high quality of life and social security cushion have helped a smorgasbord['smor-gus,bord(mixture,मिश्रण)] of startups thrive[thrIv(growth,पनपना)]. In Stockholm, an entrepreneur is focused on only one goal — his or her startup.

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