By Vishal Gondal
The improbable has truly happened. Donald Trump is going to be the President of the Unites States of America. I have never seen such widely divided opinions or stance against any elected representative in modern politics.
Although the world might truly be in a state of shock, if you ask people around me, they will tell you that I predicted the improbable way back when he was chosen as the Republican nominee. Well the thing is, coming from a startup background I have seen quite a few Davids vs Goliaths in my lifetime.
I have seen this in the Silicon Valley itself where the new innovators and thinkers have overthrown the established order against all odds.
We call this disruption. And when used in a very positive connotation, it is nothing but a byproduct of innovation. Trump said many things good and bad but in essence Trump spoke a lot about disrupting the established order – creating jobs, bringing back the industries and that has resonated with a lot of Americans.
They wanted change and Trump showed them a path towards it. While most failed to see or predict what the public wanted, this landmark judgement will force them to look inwards, ask questions and come up with answers. A lot of folks have started predicting doom for America and how it may lose its edge, talks of California separating from USA.
I have spent a lot of time Silicon Valley and I can tell you that this judgement will not be bad given how smart and resilient the people of America are. Every dark cloud has a silver lining and I see a lot of new startups focused on areas of healthcare, manufacturing, security, infrastructure, fin-tech getting a major boost from the Trump administration and its policies.
If there is anyone who has the license to distrust the system it’s Donald Trump. The same goes for India and Indians living in the United States. Indian software companies who have been traditionally focused on software services will be forced to look at products and IP based solution.
This shift from services to product will benefit both startup ecosystems of America & India and many of these companies will be looking at investments & acquisitions. I believe the trade relations between the two largest democracies will strengthen leading to a powerful alliance owing to the geopolitical scenarios and rapid industrialisation in India.
Most Indians living in the US are small business owners or white collar workers and they will have a greater role to play in this changing landscape as both of them will be focused on creating more jobs and more value. To conclude, while Trump may not be perfect, in his quest to make America great again a lot of that greatness will rub off on the people dealing with America.
The author is CEO, GOQii.