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Succeeding the hard way

The Indus Entrepreneurs’ (TiE) Entrepreneurial Summit 2006 was recently conducted in Mumbai. The event spoke of the entrepreneurial spirit that could make any initiative by either an employee within a company or even by an individual working in the voluntary or social sector, a success.

Pravin Gandhi, President TiE, Mumbai said, in his welcome address, “Entrepreneurship is not just about starting an enterprise. It is about the spirit of entrepreneurship within an individual that goes beyond domains; geographies scale and importantly gender. It is about the passion, persistence, perseverance, sacrifice, optimism and courage of individuals who pursue a dream and often end up changing the world.” 

Entrepreneurs like Narayana Murthy, Former Chairman, Infosys, Vijay Mallya, Chairman, United Breweries, Kishore Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group and many more addressed key sessions during the three days of the summit. Several case studies presented at the event stood testimony to the facts that Gandhi spoke of in his welcome address. These case studies highlighted several issues that contribute to the success of entrepreneurial ventures. They also discussed the different opportunities that are available in different sectors. One such case study presented was that of Kunwar Sachdev, CEO, Su-Kam who started his business, despite having no technical know-how. Sachdev said that it was his determination and courage that led him to success.

Supporting this view was Srini Rajam, Chairman, Ittiam. Rajam spoke about the bumps in the road to success. He also stated that one needed to take risks. “Entrepreneurship involves risk taking and the journey has its ups and downs but such a journey is important for one to grow in life,” he added. Numerous case studies and examples were presented to provide assistance to aspiring entrepreneurs who intend to start or scale up their own businesses.

Also present at the summit was Nandan Nilekani, CEO and MD, Infosys Technologies who emphasised the need for providing appropriate educational facilities to foster economic growth. He mentioned that infrastructure is a pressing issue which directly affects employee productivity. Only a serious effort by public-private partnership can solve this issue.

According to C. K. Prahalad, Professor at Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Michigan and member, TiE Global Board of Trustees, “Entrepreneurship on a massive scale is critical for India. Poverty alleviation is not about subsidies and aid but about creating self sustaining enterprises. The growth of self help groups and micro enterprises in India suggests an inherent capacity for entrepreneurship.”

TiE was started to introduce young men and women to the excitement of entrepreneurship and the importance of wealth creation in a transparent and inclusive manner. It has created the cycle of established entrepreneurs (charter members) helping wanna-be entrepreneurs with time and advice. The organisation has 12,000-members , 45 chapters and 1,600 charter members with roots sprawling across 10 countries.

According to Apurv Bagri, Chairman, TiE Global, “A summit of this kind fulfils our mission perfectly and is the result of significant efforts by our local chapters. Many of our Indian chapters have contributed to this event.”

K V Kamath, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, moderates a session at the TiE Summit