Know why Infosys chief, Narayana Murthy loves entrepreneurs

Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy is a big fan of young start-up entrepreneurs. He admires them because entrepreneurs walk an untrodden path and bring in new ideas in the market. He is happy that Indian entrepreneurs are coming up with innovative ideas every day.

“Every time new entrepreneurs emerge, the frontiers are extended. We extended the frontiers with our innovations, today's young entrepreneurs are extending it further," he told ET.

Starting as a tech entrepreneur, Murthy has built a global organisation and emerged a leader not just of his own company but of India Inc. But what does he want? Respect! He only seeks respect at this stage. "I said, right from the beginning, that we will seek respect from all our stakeholders. That was the foundation of everything."

Talking about management ideas, he said: "More than management ideas, I've set store in values: fairness, accountability, transparency. The rest then falls into pace. Take the issue of diversity, which is an important organisation issue today. I have practiced it since the 90s, when four of my direct reports were women - the head of quality, marketing, human resources and information systems. Fairness says you have to provide equal opportunity. Diversity flourishes in such an environment.

Let’s briefly peek into his life:

Leftist thinking: He is a leftist. This mind-set has everything to do with Murthy's upbringing in Mysore in the 50s and 60s. Mysore is a middle class town, where education and culture are of the essence. "My father was a staunch Nehruvian and I was strongly leftist," says Murthy. "At the dining table, he would talk about the progress the country was making under Nehru. The quality of politicians and bureaucrats was very high. The IITs and Institute of Medical Science were being built. We were all anti-US and pro-USSR because Russia had built a steel plant in India, while America had refused to help."

Murthy held on to his leftist ideology till fairly late in life. After graduating in 1967 with a degree in electrical engineering from National Institute of Engineering, Mysore, Murthy had briefly joined the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore to do his masters but quit in a month ("the professors would just come in and dictate notes") to join IIT-Kanpur, where did finish his masters, in 1969.

Failed Entrepreneur: Murthy once joined a former colleague from IIMA who was in charge of a think tank in Pune. The job paid Rs 900 a month and involved using operations research techniques to solve problems for public sector enterprises. He was not satisfied with the job and wanted to be an entrepreneur, with a company that would work with private sector companies as his clients. "I came to realise the only way to solve the country's problems was by creating jobs. What was required is equality of opportunity which is part of the capitalist model, not equality of outcomes, which was the communist ideal," he says.

Murthy’s love life: Murthy met his to-be wife Sudha, then an engineer at Tata Motors in Pune, who was introduced to him by a friend from his IIM-A days. "The relationship developed over a three year period," says Murthy." Every evening we would meet and go for long walks in Deccan Gymkhana. We had a favourite Chinese restaurant called Chun Fong and there was this place called Dakshin which served great fruit juices.

Winding Down: Murthy is cultivating a more relaxed lifestyle these days. The Catamaran Ventures office is very close to his home, and he's there from 9 a.m. till noon, after which he returns home for an afternoon siesta. Most of his time now is spent on work related to the various institutions he's on the Boards of (including the Ford Foundation, UN Foundation and the Public Health Foundation of India). He reads more, as is evident from the book-lined walls of his office and Catamaran's reception area.

(Image: Reuters)