Maser Group Chairman Prateek Suri warns Gen Z against mistaking visibility for value

Prateek Suri, Maser Group Chairman and Founder, has observed a generation of young entrepreneurs mistake visibility for value—an error he considers one of the most consequential of the digital age. Having built a business across diverse industries and markets over several decades, Suri is direct about the costs and risks inherent in the rapid pace of the modern era.

While Suri acknowledges the clear advantages Gen Z brings to entrepreneurship—including global exposure, rapid adaptation, and unprecedented digital tools—his concerns remain pointed. He argues that social media has fundamentally altered the perception of success, transforming platforms once meant for connection into primary sources of information and inspiration.

The consequences of compressed information

The prevalence of short-form content has made information easier to consume but harder to engage with seriously. Suri contends that as complex ideas are compressed to fit digital feeds, thinking accelerates to match that pace, often at the expense of depth. Building meaningful ventures, he insists, still requires a level of profound engagement that rapid-fire content cannot provide.

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Suri draws a sharp contrast with his own professional formation. Having received his first basic mobile phone at 14, his early understanding of business was rooted in real-world exposure: direct conversations, careful observation, and extended time dedicated to singular tasks. This grounding, he believes, fostered a superior quality of judgment compared to the fragmented attention spans of today.

Balancing speed with independent thought

The risk for Gen Z is not the technology itself; Suri acknowledges that the same platforms creating noise also enable founders to scale ideas faster than any previous generation. Instead, the danger lies in confusing trending topics with substance. He maintains that not everything that trends is meaningful, and conversely, much that is meaningful may never trend.

To navigate this landscape, Suri advocates for a deliberate balance: the ability to move quickly without losing the capacity for deep, independent thought. He suggests that in an environment of continuous information, the ability to disconnect and pause has become a significant competitive advantage. Clarity, he notes, often only arrives when one steps away from the screen.

Fundamentals of sustained success

Ultimately, Suri’s argument is not a rejection of change but a call for deliberate navigation. He asserts that the core fundamentals of building a lasting enterprise—patience, focus, and sustained attention—remain unchanged regardless of the tools employed. The digital revolution has not rendered these traditional virtues obsolete.

For established leaders and the next generation of talent alike, Suri’s position serves as both a caution and a challenge. In his view, the ultimate edge in business will not belong to those who move the fastest, but to those who possess the discipline to think beyond the immediate distractions of the digital world.