‘Find New Ideas, Focus On Market First, Make India Stronger’: Infosys Founder NR Narayana Murthy Offers Masterclass To Young Entrepreneurs

“Today, entrepreneurs are a lot more sophisticated than we were. They are trying to solve the needs of our country,” Murthy said at the ABP Network Ideas Of India summit.

“When we founded Infosys, the primary objective for us was to leverage the market opportunity in the developed world to create quality jobs," Murthy said.

NR Narayana Murthy, the founder of Infosys and generally considered to be the “father of India’s IT sector,” offered his take on what young entrepreneurs should do to truly cash in on India’s impetus to become a $10 trillion economy by 2035. Speaking at the ABP Network Ideas Of India summit on Saturday, Murthy said that Indian entrepreneurs today need to realise that performance and hard work is the only instrument that they have to convert their potential into success stories and attract global investors. 

Founding Infosys in 1981, Murthy served as a CEO for nearly two decades until 2002, and then as a chairman from 2002 to 2011. Even after stepping down in 2011, he was appointed as the executive chairman for five years, starting in 2013. He became Infosys’ chairman emeritus in 2011. 

“Back when we founded Infosys, the primary objective for us was to leverage the market opportunity in the developed world, particularly in the US, to create quality jobs. At that time, a lot of engineers, even those coming out of IITs, were out of jobs,” Murthy said. “Today, entrepreneurs are a lot more sophisticated than we were. They are trying to solve the needs of the country and bring better transportation, better communication, better access, and more.”

“My hope is that our entrepreneurs would start using ideas that have not been used anywhere in the world, particularly in the developed countries,” Murthy said. 

The Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri recipient added that entrepreneurs must need to find out ideas that have true value in India, and have a market in India, as well as help control costs to encourage a positive cashflow situation — as long as they do that, Murthy believes there are enough VCs around to fund them.

However, Murthy cautioned entrepreneurs by saying that they should focus on the market first, and test their ideas, rather than staking the government as the primary market. He added that while the government is a great contributor, things are often delayed when you go through those processes. So, to ensure you can keep your employees on board and your investors happy, Murthy suggested that entrepreneurs should test the feasibility of new ideas in the market before approaching the government. 

When asked about the recent working-from-home culture, Murthy said, “If you want to build a culture of organisation, it is impossible to do so until we come together in physical forms and work in close physical proximity. I am not enthusiastic about working from home.”

Murthy added, “Home is meant for spending time with family, and offices are meant for working with colleagues. That is how I have been brought up.”

Speaking of family, Murthy lightheartedly clarified that he never discusses politics with or offers advice to his son-in-law, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “I am a foreigner, it is not proper on my part to advise the prime minister of a foreign country,” Murthy joked. 

As a mantra to young entrepreneurs, Murthy said, “The only instrument a country has to enhance its prosperity is to work hard, to show discipline, to have high aspirations, to imbibe certain values, and perform — because performance leads to recognition, recognition leads to respect, respect leads to power. This could be mostly economic power, but economic power is at the foundation of all other powers. If you do well economically as a nation, automatically people will respect you more and more.”

“India’s potential doesn’t mean anything unless that potential is converted into success,” Murthy added.

ABP Network Ideas Of India summit is back for its second edition. The first day of the summit on Friday saw eminent personalities such as former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, author Devdutt Pattanaik, singer-songwriter Lucky Ali, actresses Asha Parekh and Zeenat Aman, actors Manoj Bajpayee and Ayushmann Khurrana, and more.

Day 2 of Ides Of India will see speakers such as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, author Amitav Ghosh, Ola Cabs co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal, filmmakers Nandita Das, Mira Nair, and Shekhar Kapur, actress Kriti Sanon, and more.

Speakers this year are sharing their thoughts on what constitutes ‘Naya India’ and how our country, which is now the fifth-largest economy, can position itself as a developed nation by 2047, marking 100 years of independence.

You can check out the live stream below: