I Run a Company Between Seattle and Bengaluru: How Both Cities Compare | Invesloan.com

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sid Masson, 37, the founder of Wokelo AI. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

After spending roughly three years as a consultant at Deloitte, I was feeling hollow.

Due to the nature of consulting, I never got to see the value of my work because I would move on to the next project before my suggestions were implemented.

I decided to pivot into tech. In 2021, in my mid-30s, I moved from India, where I‘m from, to Seattle for a master’s degree in business analytics at the University of Washington. This was the second time I had relocated to the US, after I moved there in 2015 while at Deloitte, and went back to India in 2019.

During the master’s course, I researched AI-driven analytics and was exposed to early generative AI technologies. I realized this technology could automate the grunt work I’d previously done as a consultant, like market research and building PowerPoint decks, as well as work by others in the knowledge economy, like investment bankers. In 2023, roughly a year after I finished my master’s, I launched the AI company, Wokelo.

My cofounder and I, who had also worked in consulting, decided to base the company between the US, where I lived, and India, where he lived, to maximize our access to clients and talent. I’m the CEO, and he’s the CTO.

Running a company between two locations isn’t easy, but if you make it work, it has amazing benefits.

Hiring staff in two time zones helps us work around the clock

We bootstrapped initially. First, we built and tested our product, a web app, and started fundraising when we were sure it worked. So far, we’ve raised $5.5 million across two funding rounds.

We raised $1.5 million from our first funding round in June 2023. At that time, we couldn’t afford to pay our employees crazy salaries, but I hired people for sales and customer-facing roles in the US, while my cofounder looked for product and tech staff in Bengaluru, which is known as India’s Silicon Valley.

It would’ve been convenient to hire in the US from Seattle or even the Bay Area, but Bengaluru has a strong startup ecosystem and really good tech talent, including developers, who cost a fraction of what they would in the US.

Not only does having talent working across two time zones keep our costs down, it allows our operations to run round-the-clock. India’s working hours overlap with the Middle East and South East Asia, while the US can overlap with Europe.

I don’t believe we’ve compromised on the quality of our talent and don’t treat our Bengaluru location as an outsourcing center. We see ourselves as one firm across time zones.

We’re not worried about recent changes to H-1B visa sponsorships, and it won’t impact our hiring strategy. We intend to hire local employees in the US who don’t require visa sponsorship, and use the L-1 visa for company transfers for moving talent from India to the US.

Working in different time zones requires my cofounder and me to compromise

My mornings are my cofounder’s evenings, so we typically have early morning or late night calls with each other. But after working in consulting, we’re used to long hours. It very much feels like we’re working together. We communicate a lot on Zoom and travel to meet each other in person every few months in either India or the US.

I spend between eight and nine months in the US and travel to India two to three times a year. I have family in India, so I combine family and work trips — it’s super fun.

I’m a big fan of Seattle and Bengaluru and their tech ecosystems

Our headquarters are in Seattle, and I live in nearby Redmond. Seattle’s blessed by great nature trails and hikes, but also a very vibrant tech ecosystem.

It’s an underdog city that doesn’t get a lot of attention, but the Amazons and Microsofts of the world are based in the area. Seattle founders like to joke that the cloudy weather gives you no other option but to focus on work.

In Bengaluru, you’ll find lots of Big Tech offices, and the exposure you can gain through events and the startup ecosystem is unparalleled in India.

It has a similar vibe to the Bay Area, even though the startup ecosystem isn’t as mature. Everyone’s talking about innovation and AI — it’s in the air, in my experience, more so than what I see in Seattle.

However, it probably has the worst infrastructure among Indian cities. The roads aren’t great, and traffic can be really messy, making travel an issue.

Founders need to find the right location for their business

We might hire people in other countries as we grow, but the US and India will largely remain the two poles of our company.

Hiring from other countries to lower costs isn’t straightforward unless you have lived or worked with people from there. You have to be mindful of cultural nuances. Between India and the US, for example, there are differences in local laws, hiring practices, and notice periods for employees. Our network and experience in India are what helped us attract talent from universities and other startups.

When running a startup, you need to think about what’s the right place for you.

Do you have a story to share about deciding where to run your business? Contact this reporter at [email protected]