Why Perplexity's Founder Doesn't Think the American Dream Is Over

Some say the American dream is fading, but for Aravind Srinivas, the CEO and co-founder of Perplexity, the US is still the land of opportunity.

On an episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," published on July 1, Srinivas said America's startup ecosystem enables people to turn risky business ideas into success stories.

"I always thought America's the only country where you can come here and have an idea, and people listen to you and encourage you to go pursue it. The risk-seeking culture is just incredible," he said.

"Everywhere else, you kind of are either explicitly or implicitly forced to defer to authority," he added.

Srinivas, who co-founded the AI-powered search engine Perplexity in 2022, was raised in India and moved to the US to study at UC Berkeley. He told Rogan that Google was "the number one company that everybody wanted to work in" when he arrived in the US. He added that the country allows people to build enterprises that could challenge even the biggest companies, and "people actually want new ideas."

"That spirit of questioning is encouraged a lot here," he said, recalling his time in academia when people would give him very honest feedback about ideas.

When Rogan asked Srinivas whether he thought this environment existed elsewhere, like in India, Srinivas said, "It's a simplification to say it's not anywhere else," and added, "it's not as encouraged." Srinivas defined the American dream as being "taken seriously" for one's ideas, adding that's "why America's still at the top."

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His comments come amid a debate about whether the US is truly the best place to build a company. In 2024, Business Insider asked six founders who moved back to India from other countries what led them to build in their own backyards instead of abroad. They cited factors including India's booming entrepreneurial culture and proximity to family. Bengaluru, a city in southern India, has become a particularly buzzy center for startups, earning the nickname "India's Silicon Valley."

At the same time, changes to immigration policy have created challenges for founders in the US. In September 2025, the Trump administration introduced a $100k fee — which is currently tied up in litigation — for companies sponsoring certain new H-1B visas, which have long directed talent to the US.

The change sparked concern that startups would struggle to compete with larger companies able to afford the fee. Business Insider reported that some founders froze hiring.

To Haley Sacks, the financial influencer known as Mrs. Dow Jones, "the American dream is very dead," she told Business Insider in an interview published last month. She argued there isn't an easy pathway to maxing out your 401(k), buying a house, and retiring in today's landscape. She said that millennials and Gen Z have "inherited a system that is broken," plagued by rising inflation and student debt, as well as disruption to entry-level jobs because of AI.

Do you have a story to share about where you're choosing to build your business? Contact this reporter at ccheong@businessinsider.com