Toughen Up: Vinod Khosla Backs Narayana Murthy

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (IANS) – Indian American businessman and co-founder of Sun Microsystems, Vinod Khosla has backed Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy’s suggestion that India’s youth must work 70 hours every week to improve the country’s overall work productivity.

Responding to a question by a user on X, the venture capitalist, said “For people who ‘felt attacked’ by this they need mental health therapy. They should learn to ‘toughen up’ and not feel attacked. OK to not work 70 hrs./wk and live with the consequences of the choices you make. He is speaking to ‘career ambitious’ young people but there are other ways to live with different choices,” his post read.

The 68-year-old billionaire had said in the past that he works 80-hour weeks, and that the “grind doesn’t appear to stop anytime soon”.

Further, Khosla said that one should be internally driven as bigger titles, bigger houses don’t make everyone happy.

“Not working 70 hrs./wk may not get you the biggest house or car to show to your neighbors, but you can make that choice. Lots of other things make people happy. Be internally driven and not externally driven by what others expect of success: bigger titles, bigger houses don’t make everyone happy,” the Silicon Valley veteran said.

In a recent episode of the “The Cerebral Valley Podcast”, Khosla said he plans on investing for the next 25 years if his health permits.

“I have this saying ‘You grow old when you retire, you don’t retire when you grow old,'” the investor continued. “I’ve seen too many people retire and grow old. So, I plan to do — health permitting — this for the next 25 years. And then I’ll be Warren Buffet’s age and he’s still doing it.”

In 2004, he started his own VC firm which has backed companies like Instacart, Impossible Foods, and DoorDash.

Murthy sparked a debate after he said in a YouTube podcast that if India wants to compete with developed economies that have made remarkable progress in recent decades, young people should work for 70 hours a week.