‘What have you done since Hotmail’: Sabeer Bhatia says stigma around failure is so strong in India, people don’t experiment

Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia calls out India’s education system for stifling creativity and discouraging failure. 

Sabeer Bhatia, the man who co-founded Hotmail, knows a thing or two about building something from scratch. But even years after launching one of the world’s first webmail services, people still ask him one question: “What have you done since Hotmail?”

For Bhatia, that question says a lot about how we, in India, think about success—and failure. In a recent chat on the NNP podcast, he didn’t hold back. He said, “We live in a conformist society—people are often told, ‘Listen to others, do what they say.’ But why follow a path that’s already been walked?”

According to Bhatia, the problem begins with our schools. He said India’s education system is designed to “produce workers who take orders” rather than “visionaries” who challenge the system.

He gave an example from his own family. “Teachers don’t correct [spelling mistakes] because spelling is irrelevant. What matters is the thought,” he said, talking about how his children are taught in the US. “In India, children are punished for making errors instead of being supported to think for themselves.”

And he didn’t mince words when describing the state of learning in the country: “You’re never asked to write a paper. You’re asked to memorise 13 chapters and regurgitate them. That is not education.”

Another major issue, according to Bhatia, is how society defines success. 

A society that’s afraid to fail

Bhatia also touched on India’s deep discomfort with failure. Sharing his own experience, he said, “People have even asked me, ‘What have you done since Hotmail?’”—as if one moment, good or bad, should define someone forever.

He believes this fear is holding back innovation. “Unless India stops confusing blind obedience with real intelligence, it will continue to lose talented minds,” he said.

According to Bhatia, another major issue is how society defines success. He explained that many Indian students choose careers like medicine or engineering not out of passion but because that’s what society tells them to do. “You can’t suppress the arts, sports, and culture and expect to build a balanced society,” he added.

Even when young people want to take a different route—like starting a business—the foundation they’ve been given doesn’t prepare them for that leap.

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