Great Story: The Smartest Unknown Indian Entrepreneur

This story is inspiring on two levels: 1) that contextually specific hiring practices that are counter the norm are not only possible but scalable and efficient and 2) that caring in know way hinders the ability for this company to be a competitive and viable business.

Originally published in Forbes, ThinkChange India picked up the article from The Indian Economy Blog:

In an interesting article on Forbes titled ‘The Smartest Unknown Indian Entrepreneur’ , Sramana Mitra profiles Sridhar Vembu, the founder and CEO of an Indian firm called AdventNet. The firm today, is a ‘100%, bootstrapped, $40-millio[n]-a-year revenue business that sends $ 1 million to the bank every month in profits’.

But beyond the mere profits of the company, it is its hiring practices that deserve the greatest praise.

“We hire young professionals whom others disregard,” Vembu says. “We don’t look at colleges, degrees or grades. Not everyone in India comes from a socio-economic background to get the opportunity to go to a top-ranking engineering school, but many are really smart regardless.

“We even go to poor high schools, and hire those kids who are bright but are not going to college due to pressure to start making money right away,” Vembu continues. “They need to support their families. We train them, and in nine months, they produce at the level of college grads. Their resumes are not as marketable, but I tell you, these kids can code just as well as the rest. Often, better.”