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Numerous individuals leave high-paying jobs to pursue entrepreneurship. Similarly, this man recently left social media baffled after sharing his journey of leaving Silicon Valley, California, to create a startup culture in Bihar. Amit Kumar, who previously served as Vice President of Product Development at Meta, revealed that he left Meta USA in 2023 with a mission “to build something meaningful” in his home state. After years of effort, he realised that good intent alone could not drive change. In a now-viral LinkedIn post, Kumar recalled his journey and wrote, “Two years ago, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life. I quit my job at Meta USA and returned to India with a purpose: to build something meaningful in Bihar, my home state,” he wrote. He further expressed that he had hoped to use his global experience and dedication to help shape a strong startup culture in Bihar. “I wanted to create opportunities, mentor young entrepreneurs, and prove that Bihar could stand as a hub of innovation and growth,” he said. What Did The User Realise? But after years of effort, personal investment, countless sleepless nights and even raising Rs 130 crore in pre-seed funding from global markets, Kumar said he had realised one hard truth that intent alone was not enough. “The ground reality is very different. I’ve seen more self-interest than collaboration, more promises than actions, and more manipulation than professionalism,” he wrote. “The challenges didn’t come from a lack of ideas or funding, but from a lack of integrity, transparency, and accountability in many local interactions,” he added. Kumar admitted that some of his trust had been misplaced, acknowledging that emotional attachment to his home state led him to relax processes. “I didn’t follow strict processes while dealing with certain people because I was too emotional, driven by my connection to Bihar and my belief in Biharis,” he said, adding, “That trust, unfortunately, was often misplaced.” How Did LinkedIn Users React? As expected, viewers couldn’t stop themselves from reacting to Kumar’s viral post. The LinkedIn post drew thousands of reactions from professionals across India. “Sad to hear this. As a Bihari, it always haunted me. Despite being hard-working and smart, we lack integrity, respect, and honesty. I relocated from Bihar in the ’90s, but seeing your words, it feels like nothing has changed,” read a comment. “Sad to hear about your experience. I, too, returned to India for entrepreneurship and have been partly successful because I chose Bengaluru. Bihar still lacks top-down commitment. Let’s connect if I can help in any way from here,” commented a user. Some entrepreneurs resonated with Kumar’s experience, saying, “As someone who has built a startup in Bihar (with the same intent and sentiment of giving back to the motherland), I resonate with your struggles. Societal and Psychological Praxis is a major barrier in creating something new there. But as an optimist, I can see the rate of progressive change taking place at the grassroots level. We need people like you to lead that change,” said a user. “As unfortunate as it gets. Really disheartened to read this. All the Best, Amit, thanks a lot for trying,” posted another. An individual stated, “Every Bihari who achieved something in his/her life wants to return to Bihar but unfortunately, the system/mindset of Bihar & Bihari is still the same, and they don’t want to change at all.” Kumar concluded his post with a message of acceptance rather than frustration. “Change can only begin when truth is accepted, and I’ve accepted mine,” he said, expressing hope that Bihar would eventually rise ‘not through slogans, but through integrity, discipline, and real work.’
