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India will become a powerhouse of Startups, and we need more engines to drive that change.
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Roughly 40% of India's population is between the ages of 15-24. However, if you look at the number of startups in India by the young brigade, there are only a few thousand.
What stops youth from entering the startup arena? What stops them from innovating and building solutions for themselves and the society at large? Why is our youth lured by big corporate jobs even if it is at the cost of following their passion?
All these questions popped up in the mind of Aditya when he started his startup journey at the age of 17. He was apprehensive about how it may turn up and what will society say at large. He harbored thoughts that he is wasting his life after getting an admission into one of the best undergraduate B-schools in the country. But, that is not just specific to Aditya. That is how the majority of the youth feel when they think of starting their enterprise. Uncertainty, complexity, and fear of failure are common thoughts in young minds. Adding the societal pressure to succeed also builds up even more tension around. So who is to blame for this? Is it the young minds or the society at large?
We asked Aditya to share his views on the same. Aditya said, "Success sells and is so inspiring. It is the failure that is the hard sell. "
And this reflects in his journey too. No one noticed or picked him up when he was failing in life and his startup. When he started getting the results is when he started getting recognition all around. That is a sad but true state of affairs of entrepreneurship in our country.
Adding to that, Aditya said, “People would have told me a thousand times I can't do this, but that made me a thousand times surer that I will. "
Today, Aditya is a well-known name in the Industry. At 23, he has won prestigious awards including, "Padma Shri Nominee 2020, Parliamentary Award, Duke of Edinburgh Award, United Nations Volunteer Award, and Indian Achiever Award 2020." Not only that, Aditya has been invited to share his journey at more than 200+ institutions globally. In his current capacity, he heads Faad Network as the CEO and is also an Advisor and Mentor with NITI Aayog and Govt of NCT of Delhi.
But, he has been those very few who have struggled and made it outshining at an early age. There are a thousand others who fail and never see the light. This fact motivated Aditya to give his life in fulfilling the mission of bringing more young entrepreneurs from the country.
How will he do that? He said, " Entrepreneurship is all about the right mindset. The first step is to embrace failures. See failures as a stepping stone and not a roadblock. Celebrate failure more, if not less than success."
No change has happened overnight. We need more innovators and entrepreneurs to step up the charge and take those risks. The resources are there now, more than ever before. The effort is what matters, not the outcome. That should be the vision of the new India - Young, Powerful, and Entrepreneurial. India will become a powerhouse of Startups, and we need more engines to drive that change.