Med school.

The labor factor is one reason TiE's Raghu Mendu is raising $125 million for a venture capital firm, Ventureast Capital, that will be based in both Los Angeles and Chennai, formerly known as Madras. The firm wants to help U.S. companies leverage the pool of highly skilled labor in India and help India-based companies take advantage of technology being developed in the U.S.TiE's local chapter is expanding its reach in other ways: It recently started holding angel forums in which start-ups can pitch their ideas to potential seed investors, and it is launching a chapter affiliate in San Diego.


Still, the process of brewing more South Asian-run technology companies in Southern California--and guiding them toward initial public stock offerings--will take more time to gather momentum, said Ravin Agrawal, a partner at EastWest Venture Group, a Los Angeles venture capital firm.

To help stoke the fire for more start-ups, Agrawal recently began holding gatherings of about 40 people every six weeks at the Westwood Brewing Co. The group, informally called the South Asian Venture Alliance, meets for networking purposes and to discuss ideas for new ventures. It works independently of TiE.But whether young South Asian entrepreneurs turn to established networking groups to jump-start their ventures, the interaction with older, successful business owners is what matters most.


"These people give you the sense that anything is possible," said Vikas Bhushan, 33, founder of Santa Monica-based Medschool.com. "If you achieve one-tenth of where they set their sights, then you could be very successful and proud." Without the guidance of TiE mentors, who have helped steer his company through several metamorphoses, BuyBuzz's Walia said he doesn't know where his company would be."A large portion of this is not making the bread but deciding what kind of bread you're going to make," he said.