Why Does Only America Back Outsiders?

Aravind Srinivas says a massive opportunity exists for an outsider in America that does not exist in any other country. He cannot think of another country where an outsider can arrive, want to improve things, and find people who do more than grant permission. They invest, share the profits, and feel part of the journey when hard problems get solved. He calls the spirit of backing risk with venture capital or friends and family capital uniquely American.

Silicon Valley, he says, is the American dream showing up as tech entrepreneurship. The dream is the chance to solve really hard problems and be rewarded no matter who you are, and the chance still excites him. He still thinks America is the only country that allows it, and that people do not appreciate it enough. People are very ambitious, and they compound on their successes. He arrived as a middle class kid from India for whom getting a job already counted as success. Other people's ambition is infectious and makes you dream bigger, so the dream you arrive with does not stay static. You see other people dreaming bigger and bigger and you kind of want to aspire to be them. He calls the peer pressure incredible and still feels lucky to be here.