Technology
Business
Culture
Communication
Cultural Differences
Work Culture
International Comparison
Some personal observations about difference in work culture between Silicon Valley and india.
In SV, 60% Email + 40% Slack is where work lives. In india, 80% Whatsapp + 20% Slack is where work lives
Punctuality (in meetings, interviews, projects & product launches) is the default state in SV. Punctuality can be your competitive advantage in India
Everyone in India has hustle mentality (jugaad). The default state is to ask for forgiveness. In SV, default state is to ask for permission. Mostly because legal structures can be enforced, and any red flag to your immigration status must be treaded with caution.
In SV, default expectation of consumers is high quality, low maintenance & consistency (electronics, car, home, apps, etc). Every person therefore understands what high quality means, which then makes it easy for them to know if what they are building is high quality!
Hence in SV lesser time + resources are spent on maintenance shit (like Iβve rarely had the same leakage issue every 6 months), more in creation and innovation
In the US, everyone lives independently after 18 and most move to a different city. This means limited social distraction & a need to handle your own finances. Relationship with money, flexibility of location, & decision making power is different than when you live with parents.
I donβt know why, but Iβve rarely seen folks struggling with communication in SV. In india, this is one of the commonly tested things in hiring conversations.
In India, most vacation days are consumed to attend weddings + funerals + medical attention + family gatherings. In SV, most vacation days are consumed traveling & exploring new places.
It only takes 2-3 times meeting some in india to feel comfortable to message them on whatsapp & request for help/favor. Not the case in SV.
For parents, support systems are vastly different in India vs SV. Day cares are rare in india, this means heavy reliance on family for working parents. In SV, day cares are common, that means work day timings are tied to day care timings. This creates natural work-life balance
Commute is a pain everywhere. But consistency of that pain is what changes between SV & India. If it takes 1 hr one day, it will take 1-1.25 hr everyday in SV. Hence itβs easier to plan for it.
In SV, we never discussed politics as a team. In india, everything is fair game.
Lastly, in India most of your team members will likely be Indians. In all my years in SV, most of my team were folks from other countries. Best & fastest way to learn, appreciate and understand different cultures. You miss that opportunity in india.
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