Homegrown startups outperform returnee tech talent, study shows

India’s fiercely competitive startup field has provided evidence to suggest that homegrown entrepreneurs fare better over the long run than returning diaspora with overseas experience, contradicting widely held beliefs.

A new study authored by AnnaLee Saxenian, professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who is renowned for her research on why Silicon Valley succeeded, and prominent tech entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa, pushes back on the idea that founders returning from the US and elsewhere are better equipped to build lasting businesses. Drawing on a sample of 596 Indian high-tech startups established between 2016 and 2023, their findings mark a departure from earlier work in the field, including their own.