Expensive college degrees and more study loan? Rs 50,000 crore man has a surprising advice

You don’t have to step out of your country or abandon your roots to reach the pinnacle of success, argues billionaire Sridhar Vembu. The founder of Rs 50,000 crore IT firm Zoho took to X on Monday and stated that youngsters with big dreams need not step outside their town or village or leave their family and support system behind to make it.

Re-sharing a post shared by an American investor, Nate Fischer, who proposed an overhaul of the US education system by making it more decentralised, the business tycoon mourned how, in the pursuit of the rat race, youngsters are made to leave their families, spend a fortune in education and gain no real-world skills to boot.

He then went on to propose that rural areas and small towns need to be revived so that employment and business opportunities could be generated there. That way, the youth would not have to leave everything they know behind and step into an unfamiliar world.


“In the Indian context, I fundamentally believe we have to revive our rural areas to revive our civilisation and that means being able to retain and nurture talent locally. We invest a lot of time and resources trying to ensure young people can stay near home and still have a decent economic future while being close to their families and their roots,” he wrote.

Netizens React

Vembu’s post drew polarised reactions. Some seconded Vembu’s sentiments, while others felt that youngsters should not miss opportunities offered by the global market. To this, Vembu cited the example of the Japanese, explaining how they manage to build high-quality products and generate employment opportunities without stepping out of their country.

“People do not compete in the "global marketplace"; products do. Take the Japanese - they still build great foundational technologies (cameras, for instance) and the people who work on cameras are not "globally competitive" (they only speak Japanese and spent their entire lives in Japan). The products they build are on every cell phone…” he wrote.


One netizen wrote, "We need exponentially more gurukuls which focus on holistic skill development rather than rat race of exams. I dont think everyone needs to go to college Some of best entrepreneurs I've met cant speak proper english and were below average at below average colleges."

Who Is Sridhar Vembu?

Born in 1968, Sridhar Vembu is a renowned Indian entrepreneur and billionaire best known as the founder of Zoho Corporation. He formerly held the position of Chief Executive Officer at the company, which has grown into a global leader in cloud-based business software solutions. As of 2024, Forbes places him among India's most affluent individuals, ranking him 39th with an estimated net worth of $5.85 billion. In recognition of his significant contributions to the technology sector and entrepreneurship, he was honored with the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award, in 2021.