I am incredibly optimistic about India

India seems broken. Pollution. Poverty. Inequality. Low income. Broken infrastructure. Monopolies. Unemployment. Illiteracy. It takes 2 minutes to come up with this laundry list. You can only be optimistic about this if you’re delusional.

But pessimists sound smart, optimists make money

They said India is a unique country because it disappoints both the pessimists and the optimists. I think that needs updating because it will only disappoint the pessimist. India’s 400M millenial energy, UPI scale innovation, moon flying technology, 7% world-beating growth are unlocking a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

India is entering the era of the optimist

Counterintuitively, it is easier to be a pessimist than an optimist in India. Throw a stone, and you will hit a problem. Optimism is harder because one must see what India could be rather than what India is.

Optimism requires imagination

In 2010, imagining a $1.6T India would be a $3.5Tn economy was hard. In 2013, imagining India’s internet penetration to 5x and become 50% was hard. In 2016, imagining $1Tn of transactions would be done with a little thing called UPI was hard. In 2019, imagining India would have 100 unicorns was hard. In 2022, imagining India could land on the moon was hard

Today, imagining India will be a superpower is hard

All that we imagine of course does not come true. It is why pessimism is so widespread. But I have realised most people overestimate what happens in one year and underestimate what happens in ten years.

Optimists benefit hugely from the world’s underestimation of what is possible

Optimists who do something about their optimism are entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are not necessarily “founders” of companies. They could be your neighborhood kirana lady, or the delivery guy moving to a big city, or the small-town girl becoming an influencer, or your friendly neighborhood VC. They convert their optimism into action, which reaps benefits when the impossible becomes true.

Optimism is a choice, and it is necessary if you want to benefit from growth

I love it when people say I champion India. I feel awesome when people say I champion startups. Both have so much in common. Both have so much broken, yet so much potential. Both are underdogs. Both have more naysayers than cheerleaders. But both will change the world if they end up succeeding.

I choose to be the optimist who imagines them achieving the impossible