Narayana Murthy's 5 success mantras for entrepreneurs

N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder and chief mentor of Infosys Technologies talks about the best business decision he ever made, the reason why the core Infosys team has been together for all these years, the Satyam fiasco, what money means to him and what aspiring entrepreneurs need to succeed.

The five things are:

1. You must have an idea whose value to the market should be expressible in a simple sentence, not a complex or a compound sentence.
2. You must have a team that brings mutually exclusive, but collectively exhaustive set of skills, expertise and experience
3. The market must be ready for your idea. If the market is not ready for your idea, doesn't matter how smart your idea is, you will not succeed.
4. You need a good value system, because entrepreneurship in the beginning is all about sacrifice, hard work, deferred gratification, disappointments. It is the value system that creates confidence in each member of the community that other members too are doing the same to make this company succeed.
5. You need funds. . . but that is easy, finance is not a problem.

I read this on Rediff as part of Murthy's discussion where he says, "We use facts to resolve differences. That is why we say, In God we trust, everyone else brings data to the table."

GE’s Immelt: We Actually Hire People

Here is an interview of GE CEO Immelt at a conference held by Wired.com in June 2009. He talks about the challenge of driving continuous growth and innovation in a company of GE's size as well as the impact of the financial crisis.

Bill Gates Unplugged

A passionate techie and a shrewd businessman, Bill Gates changed the world once, while leading Microsoft to dizzying success. He plans to do it again with his very own style of philanthropy.

10 ways to find joy

Read this article on the 10 Secrets to Finding Happiness During the Recession by Deborah Kotz.

1. Spend $20 on an experience rather than an item.
2. Pursue meaningful life goals
3. Be open and receptive to what's happening right now, in the moment.
4. Nurture meaningful relationships.
5. Recognize your strengths.
6. Count your blessings.
7. Keep an optimism journal.
8. Seek advice from your neighbor.
9. Get out and sweat.
10. Do unto others.

Got a great idea?

There's never been a better time to turn it into a great company. Here's a 16-step guide to help you do it right and build a bulletproof startup.

Phase One Establish a Company
Step 1. Stress-Test Your Big Idea
Step 2. Build Your Founding Team
Step 3. Draft a Business Plan
Step 4. Play the Name Game
Step 5. Incorporate Thyself

Phase Two Prototype the Product
Step 1. Stake Out Intellectual Property
Step 2. Create an Advisory Board
Step 3. Build Your Prototype

Phase Three Develop the Beta Product
Step 1. Start Staffing Up
Step 2. Assemble Your Back Office
Step 3. Launch Your Beta Test
Step 4. Revisit the Business Plan

Phase Four Launch the Product
Step 1. Build a New Board of Directors
Step 2. Develop the Sales and Marketing Plan
Step 3. Open an Office
Step 4. Hit the Market

Read the entire article by Michael V. Copeland and Om Malik on Cnn Money.

Billions of Entrepreneurs

Removing half a billion people from poverty and into the productive workforce will profoundly affect on the world economy. India and China are doing just that with insane growth rates and lots of what used to be American jobs: China is the factory floor and India the back-office, software shop. China is top-down party driven. India is a messy, vibrant democracy.

This may be the complementary duo that changes the world. Including your world.

Hear Professor Tarun Khanna in a discussion about his book, Billions of Entrepreneurs: How China and India are Reshaping Their Futures and Yours. Called well worth reading by The Economist and entertaining by the Financial Times, Khanna's book shows how Chinese and Indian entrepreneurs are creating change through new business models.

Why we think it's OK to cheat and steal

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely studies the bugs in our moral code: the hidden reasons we think it's OK to cheat or steal (sometimes). Clever studies help make his point that we're predictably irrational -- and can be influenced in ways we can't grasp.

In God we trust; all others pay cash

Warren Buffett's annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway share-holders is a highly anticipated, market-moving event. This time he offers his views on the current economy and the business climate. (with Berkshire performance of course)

Worth a read if you have the time.

An excerpt from his letter:

"Amid this bad news, however, never forget that our country has faced far worse travails in the past. In the 20th Century alone, we dealt with two great wars (one of which we initially appeared to be losing); a dozen or so panics and recessions; virulent inflation that led to a 21.5% prime rate in 1980; and the Great Depression of the 1930s, when unemployment ranged between 15% and 25% for many years. America has had no shortage of challenges.

Without fail, however, we’ve overcome them. In the face of those obstacles – and many others – the real standard of living for Americans improved nearly seven-fold during the 1900s, while the Dow Jones Industrials rose from 66 to 11,497. Compare the record of this period with the dozens of centuries during which humans secured only tiny gains, if any, in how they lived. Though the path has not been smooth, our economic system has worked extraordinarily well over time. It has unleashed human potential as no other system has, and it will continue to do so. America’s best days lie ahead."


Read the complete text of Buffett's letter to shareholders on the Berkshire Hathaway Website.

Business Ideas

Quote (fact) of the day:

"Ideas are a dime a dozen. The money is in the execution."

Obama's Inaugural Address

"That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met. "

Read the full text on TIME

Indian Innovators

"All Marketers are Liars"

Seth Godin speaks at Google

Leading Indian Companies

I was pleasantly shocked to see these numbers on Wikipedia today. Look at the net assets of SBI, the market value of RIL, the revenue of IOC, etc. Wow!

All the numbers are in billions of dollars.

	Company		Revenue	Profits	Assets	Market Value
	Reliance Industries		26.07	2.79	30.67	89.29
	ONGC		18.90	4.11	33.79	54.11
	State Bank of India		15.77	1.47	188.56	33.29
	Indian Oil Corporation		42.68	1.82	25.39	16.36
	ICICI Bank		9.84	0.64	91.07	29.85
	NTPC		7.84	1.60	20.34	41.57
	Steel Authority of India Limited		7.88	1.45	8.05	26.37
	Tata Steel		5.83	0.97	11.48	14.63
	Bharti Airtel		4.26	0.94	6.61	39.16
	Reliance Communications		3.13	0.65	13.08	29.63

Innovate

Recently came across 'Innocentive' covered in NYTimes.

InnoCentive is an online open innovation marketplace - a "problem solving" web site - that rewards smart people for good ideas. Companies and organizations (seekers) post problems (challenges) that they are unable to solve within their organization to people all over the world (solvers) who win cash prizes for resolving them. It is free to join and if your solution is chosen - you win. Awards range from $5,000 to $1,000,000.

You can use your knowledge and expertise to make a real difference and get paid for solving these problems too. Considering the vast pool of brilliant and creative people with varied expertise available to passionately solve real life problems in the world the success rate is bound to be good. I heard in the Business Week podcast that 40% of the problems are solved which is an exceptional number for the cost and resources.

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican nominee for president, has proposed that the government offer $300 million to whoever invents a battery compact enough, powerful enough and cheap enough to replace fossil fuels. (something similar to Innocentive)

To see the details of available Challenges and register with InnoCentive click here:
Join Innocentive

If you have the world's brightest minds solving your problem what more do you want?
Concepts like these will definitely help the world become a better place for all of us to live.

India then and now: Kalam's Mantra

Some views from the great man Abdul Kalam:

The Vision

"I climbed and climbed
Where is the peak, my Lord?
I ploughed and ploughed,
Where is the knowledge treasure, my Lord?
I sailed and sailed,
Where is the island of peace, my Lord?
Almighty, bless my nation
With vision and sweat resulting into happiness."

"In 1991, we were in a precarious foreign exchange reserve condition. We had to pledge our gold to maintain the minimum balance required for our imports. Inflation was high. Land lines were few and mobile phones were a luxury. The people had to wait for telephone connections for months after booking. We had to wait in long queues for the railway reservation. We had very few automobile companies and there was a large waiting list for getting the allotment for a car or scooter. The export performance from software, pharma and other industries were negligible. This was the scene in 1991.

"Today, India is in an ascending economic trajectory, with continuously rising foreign exchange reserves, moderate rate of inflation, global recognition of our technological competence, energy of 540 million youth, umbilical connectivities of 23 million people of Indian origin in various parts of the planet. India as the largest democracy in the world has the reputation for providing leadership to one billion people with multi-cultural, multi-language and multi-religious backgrounds. India has become a trillion dollar economy."


Societal needs

Kalam visualised the following distinctive profile of India to emerge by the year 2020:

1. A nation where the rural and urban divide has reduced to a thin line.
2. A nation where there is an equitable distribution and adequate access to energy and quality water.
3. A nation where agriculture, industry and service sector work together in symphony.
4. A nation where education with value system is not denied to any meritorious candidates because of societal or economic discrimination.
5. A nation which is the best destination for the most talented scholars, scientists, and investors.
6. A nation where the best of health care is available to all.
7. A nation where the governance is responsive and transparent.
8. A nation where poverty has been totally eradicated, illiteracy removed and crimes against women and children are absent and none in the society feels alienated.
9. A nation that is prosperous, healthy, secure, peaceful and happy and continues with a sustainable growth path.
10. A nation that is one of the best places to live in and is proud of its leadership.


Integrated Action for developed India

"To achieve the distinctive profile of India, we have the mission of transforming India into a developed nation. We have identified five areas where India has a core competence for integrated action:

1. Agriculture and food processing
2. Reliable electric power, transport and infrastructure for all parts of the country.
3. Education and healthcare
4. Information and communication technology
5. Self reliance in critical technologies.

"These five areas are closely inter-related and if progressed in a coordinated way, will lead to food, economic and national security."

"Our story is still unfolding. The global environment, however, needs protection and India's freedom won by suffering and sacrifice has to be alertly guarded, strengthened and expanded. Freedom and independence must be our continuing quest, and in such a manner as to accelerate our evolution as a free nation through a bold and swift development."

"The time has now arrived for India to emerge with a new vision and leadership to make our nation not only enlightened, rich and prosperous, but above all, a safe nation, invulnerable forever to invasion and infiltration across its borders and bring unity of minds."

"Economic prosperity is possible only if we adopt and practice the value system in a society, which is derived out of our civilizational heritage. For all these actions, righteousness in the heart is very essential.

"Knowledge society will emerge only by the enlightened citizens of the nation. Our challenge today, is to bring the societal transformation with value system leading to a prosperous, happy and peaceful nation. It is the responsibility of the developed and developing nations to create peaceful neighbors with inclusive growth devoid of societal imbalance."

"Make it a reality by your attitude of give, give and give of the knowledge and experience you have gained over the years. This will be the singular contribution for which our motherland will be proud of you."

Talk about Compound Interest

"During the 20th century, the Dow advanced from 66 to 11,497. This gain, though it appears huge, shrinks to 5.3% when compounded annually ... For investors to merely match that 5.3% market-value gain, the Dow--recently below 13,000--would need to close at about 2,000,000 on Dec. 31, 2099." - Warren Buffet

Law is strangling creativity

Is Alibaba Worth More Than Google?

Alibaba.com, China’s largest e-commerce company, on Monday launched what is set to be one of the world’s most expensive initial public offerings, seeking to raise up to 11.6 billion Hong Kong dollars ($1.49 billion) through a share sale priced at a much higher valuation than investors paid for Google when it came public.

Click here to read the entire Forbes story.

Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world

The son of a Mexico City shopkeeper has built a staggering $59 billion fortune. Fortune's Stephanie Mehta tells the inside story of how he made it to the top.

Click here to read the story

The craft of effective management

It is over 25 years since I graduated from B-school and many things may have changed since then. At the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, I learned how to use the tools, not how to be a craftsman.

However, like any other craft, management is best learnt at the feet of several master craftsmen. Over the years, I have distilled three basic abilities required to build a business or even lead any aspect of a business - the ability to envision, to strategise, and to execute.

The ability to envision: Vision is at the center of any creation. Being able to envision the end state of a business or initiative is the key to making it happen. When groups of people are involved, explaining and enrolling people to a common vision help in converting groups into teams.

The ability to strategise: If vision comes from the heart, strategy is a product of the mind. It involves finding alternative routes to make things happen and selecting the optimal route. It is about making the best use of available resources and coming up with a game plan to deploy these resources to achieve victory.

The ability to execute: Execution is at the physical level. It is about ensuring that teams understand the plans, the processes and their roles, and have the necessary training and equipment to perform their roles effectively. It is also about ensuring progress is tracked, mid-course corrections are made and there is good communication flow across the entire chain.

While at a craft level, the master painter or the music virtuoso are able to bring all these abilities to bear in his creation, I have found that in mid-sized and large organizations, no individual has all these three qualities to the required degree. To ensure that the organization grows over the long run, people with these different abilities must learn to collaborate and synergise.

For those aspiring to be super-managers, the journey is exciting and rewarding. The purpose of management is to lead and organize people to achieve results that they would not have been able to achieve as individuals, leading to prosperity for the whole team. What could be more fulfilling?

Sudhakar Ram graduated from IIM-Calcutta in 1982