The Backlog

Ah... the Managerial Accounting backlog is done. The exam was completed at the stroke of 1600 hours and was it a relief.

In the 36 subjects that I had in my first year in SCMHRD, Managerial Accounting was the one subject that I flunked in. Quite an insult, especially for a Commerce Grad from Loyola College, Chennai. But then, I've always had problems with cost accounting.

We got the smae Mid Term paper that we gave last year. That was a breather. And I had Sindhu sitting beside me, so we "verified" each other's answers. :)

Now since that is out of the way, I can move on to other things... oh no... There's this Knowledge Management Systems class tomorrow... my class has not progressed on its assignments.... Looks like out whole class is going to get a backlog in that if we do not shape up.

Interview with Narayan Murthy - The Video

Rahul - Clinton - Narayan Murthy Interview Part 1 http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1030612

Rahul - Clinton - Narayan Murthy Interview Part 2 http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=1030645

The transcript is below this blog entry.
Apologies for the low quality video and sound. That was recorded with a Nikon L5 Digicam.

Preface and Epilogue to Interview with Narayan Murthy

22 Aug 2007

Tomorrow I meet Mr Narayan Murthy for an interview on entrepreneurship.

So far, it has been quite an eventful journey from Pune to Bangalore. It started last night.

Rahul and I took the last bus to the city from college at 9.00 pm. The Coimbatore Express would arrive at 2:00 am. To kill the spare time we had, we left our bags in the custody of the Atur Center Security guards and headed off to E-Square (the multiplex). We were already late for the start of “28 weeks later”. About 20 minutes late, but we still would kill time.

The movie turned out to be quite a letdown. There were the usual scenes of the masses getting infected with a deadly virus and the infected running around biting other people.

We left the theatre at about 11:30, picked up our bags and headed to the station. At the station I pulled out the last book of Harry Potter (thanks to Amrita for the book) and read away. Rahul was reading an interview of Dr Prannoy Roy with Mr Murthy on my E50 Nokia phone. Then I got a call from The-One-Who-Should-Not-Be-Named and we spoke for about an hour. We spoke about new business plans and new beginnings in professional life.

At 1:45 the train rolled onto platform 3. We got our waiting-list tickets confirmed in coach S6. As Rahul and I walked…. S11, S10, S9… oh goodness, a huge crowd of Pune college girls in S8… and in S7!… none in S6. Rahul and I looked at each other… better luck next time.

We found our seats and hit the pillow immediately. The 6 other seats in our coupe were empty.

At around 3 in the morning I woke to sounds of arguments… ahh.. some girl is disagreeing with the TC. In the morning I woke to find all the berths around us occupied. Wait a minute… why do all the figures under all the blankets look so slender? Odd. Then a blanket came off a bit and a girl looked around and went back to sleep. Oh great! We have 6 Pune girls sitting around us! Weee.. this is the first time I’ve got so lucky.

When I had to brush my teeth, I found out that the number lock in by briefcase was stuck. Drat. No amount of prying made it open. Damn good lock.

Hours later, after a few games of Bluff (the card game, silly) and bits of snacks they had brought along (they had a full bag of it) I was bored. They were good fun, but no intellectually stimulating conversation. Dhara, Pooja, Gauri, Sneha, Pokie (that’s her nick name) and one more, who I do not remember. Rahul could tag along better than I. I pulled out the Potter book.

We arrived at Bangalore after the 20 hour journey at 10:15 pm. Hungry, we stopped to get some roties and dal, which took a good 40 minutes. At the restaurant, we bumped into a bunch of Belgian lady tourists who thought that Rahul was almost an exact replica of their friend in Belgium. He stood while they snapped his photo for to take home. How weird can life get?

There were no more city busses at 11:15. We opted for a prepaid auto. Worse, my cell phone was totally discharged. Maneesh had given me instructions to reach his place, that seemed to be enough. 30 minutes later, after dropping off Rahul I reached the vicinity of Maneesh’s place.There was no electricity. Pitch dark. No phone booth around. My cell phone was dead. Nuts, how bad can things get. After a few rounds around the place, we found a one-rupee-coin phone. Good.

Nuts, I did not have a rupee on me. I looked at the Auto-rickshaw driver who promptly handed me a rupee. When I put the rupee into the telephone and dialed the number, it said “45 seconds remaining”. Maneesh… quick tell me where to come…!

15 minutes later, Maneesh picked me up and an hour later (after breaking open my permanently locked briefcase) I was fast asleep promising myself I would get up early to prepare the questions for the interview. I realized next morning I woke late by three hours.

23 Aug 2007

Today has been yet another red-letter day. Today I met Mr. Narayan Murthy in person, in his office and interviewed him on “entrepreneurship”.

A little background: three weeks ago, Rahul Rajagopalan, a freshman, obtained a time slot to meet Mr Murthy. Every SCMHRD-ian has to interview one CXO and one entrepreneur before they join. Being in Infy before joining SCMHRD, Rahul naturally tried to get an appointment with his Chief Mentor. Circumstance had it that Mr Murthy was out of the country. But Rahul was smart and did not let go of the contact he had with Mr Pandu, Mr Murthy’s PA.

In the first week of August, Rahul got a time slot to meet Mr Murthy – 23^rd Aug, 2:00 pm, for 25 minutes. When he went to Subbu with his information, Subbu wanted him to interview Mr Murthy from the point of view of an entrepreneur. So, chance had it that Rahul decided to ask me to accompany him for the “entrepreneur” angle. I am so thankful to him for the offer.

With a late start to the day, I finished a quick breakfast with Maneesh before parting with the friend who has always been there when I needed help. Rushing over to Rahul’s place, I contemplated the questions to ask Mr Murthy. By mind was the same as it was three weeks ago – numb, blank, with no idea what questions to ask him.

After two hours of ruminating over the set of questions we had, and creating a 7 slide ppt on the eCell we headed off to Electronic City.

I had no idea of the size of the Infy campus in Bangalore. All I know is the security guard at the entrance both did his job well and was one of the most courteous people I’ve met. We waited for Mr Pandu to finish his meeting, since we needed to wait for him to ok our entry into Mr Murthy’s room. We walked into Mr Murthy’s room at 2:15 after greeting the jolly Mr Pandu.

Mr Murthy gave us a whole 20 minutes of time. We went through our lineup of questions and he diligently answered all of them. After the 20 minutes (it seemed much shorter than that) were over, he ended it with a clap and a smile, “Wonderful” he said. That brought a smile to my face, … one of those smiles which come out of pure joy, one that cannot be suppressed. After a couple of photos for the album (ours, that is) he commented on the innovation that is the digital camera. Man, what an observant individual.

We left his office, still on a high and headed for the food courts. After two kati rolls and a Kapi Nirvana at the stalls in the campus, I headed toward the bus station, almost on the other side of the city. Got to the KSRTC (Govt bus) on time.

Watched Chak De India in the bus.

Later called up Rathi and Vetri to find out what happened during the day. Then I found out about the developments related to the Innovation workshop.

And now, I’m faced with a cross-road. In order to attend this interview, I had to forego one day in a workshop on innovation. This workshop is conducted by someone connected with Marico, and according to Subbu’s decree, if anyone misses one day of the workshop, they do not sit for the Marico placements. Knowing this fully well, I made my choice. And what’s more, Amrita Sunder is filling in for me at the workshop. Now, what repercussions does this decision have on the rest of my life is left to be seen. Chance had it that Rahul asked me to accompany him. Chance had it that the innovation workshop was scheduled on the day I had to interview Mr Murthy. Chance had it that Amrita wanted to sit for the workshop. The co-incidences are too many. Is this one of those decisions that change the whole course of your life? I certainly believe so. Time will prove if I am right.

24 Aug 2007

The story was not complete. My innovation workshop started out at 9 am. The bus arrived at the other end of Pune at 9:00 am. Took an auto and rushed to college. Bangalore to Pune, bus fare: Rs. 813. One end of Pune to the other, auto fare: Rs. 600. It was then that I realized I had not paid Maneesh for the bus ticket. Had I taken a private bus, they would have dropped me at an area near by my college. But I was in a Govt bus, “No sir, you have to get down here. We will not drop you anywhere else”.

Rushed from the auto-rickshaw to class in the same white short and grey pants I wore for Mr Murthy’s interview. If it was not for Rathi seeing me and warning me not to come in, I would have barged an entry. So I waited for the break and then spoke to the trainer and then got in. He even used my interview video for a discussion on personal assumptions and biases that show up when we ask our questions. I was not part of the class. And Subbu does not know of it yet….

Interview with Mr Narayan Murthy

The following is an interview that Rahul and I had with Mr Narayan Murthy on 23rd Aug 2007 at Infosys Campus, Electronic City, Bangalore.
Pictures are available here

Rahul: Creating a small organization and then transforming it into a world class organization like Infosys could not have been a dream. Was it destiny?

NRN: No, it is not destiny because at the end of the day, God helps those who help themselves. Fortune favors the prepared mind. In that sense, it was clearly luck, there is no doubt at all. But at the same time, it was also the result of a set of policies. For example, right from day 1, we said we would seek respect, respect from customers, respect from employees, respect from investors, respect from venture partners, respect from government of the land and society. So because we had that very clear objective, we conducted ourselves in a manner that more and more customers were happy with us, more and investors were happy, good employees came to us etc. So in that sense, it was not so much destiny. There was a lot of hard work. We were ready. Again somebody said, when God is shy to announce his presence in person he comes in the form of chance.

Rahul: Sitting in a position of power, where you could stir a nation, you decided to retire. Was it the characteristic of a normal person or are you something special?

NRN: No. Right from the beginning, we have always believed that youngsters should get more and more opportunities, at a time, at an age when they are energetic and enthusiastic to take those responsibilities. I said I have to set an example to create an opportunity for a younger person. So now Mr Nandan Nilekani has done it. Mr Mohandas Pai has done it. When he was voted India’s number 1 CFO at the age of 45 or so, he gave it up in favor of someone who was 36. He said that ‘I have done this for 12 years, now let him do’. So I think it is a culture. That culture has to be nourished in India; because here we have 75 year old, 80 year old people, hanging onto their jobs, which is not good because youngsters should get opportunity.

Imagine… when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister, the fact that he was a young man, there was so much of confidence in the country. So I think it is very important to change over.

Rahul: God forbid, tomorrow if we hear Infosys is in losses, losing clients, how will react? Will you be coming back?

NRN: No, not really. Even today, I add value to the company, though I am the non-executive chairman now. I add value to the company in so far as they want me to add value. If they ask, I will certainly be there. Even today, all major decisions, they are discussed, they are debated, I give my point of view. I have been and will continue to add value wherever they ask me to. While I won’t impose my views on others, if they ask, then certainly I will.

Rahul: Do you think entrepreneurship is an attitude which can be developed or is it in born?

NRN: Entrepreneurship can be developed; there is no doubt about it. As long as you put in the required enthusiasm and hard work, as long as you put in good ideas whose value can be expressed in a simple sentence; as long as you are willing to make short term sacrifices, certainly it can is possible. It can be developed.

Rahul: How can B-Schools develop this? Now-a-days B-Schools have the best minds, how can they act to develop these entrepreneurship skills rather than acting like mere placement agencies?

NRN: Well, entrepreneurship as I said is about converting ideas into wealth, ideas into jobs. If you want to do that, you will need an idea whose value to the market can be expressed in a simple sentence; not a complex sentence, not a compound sentence. Either it reduces cost, increases productivity, reduces cycle time, improves customer base, enhances comfort, etc.

Second, you need a team which brings complementary strengths.

Third, you need an enduring value system.

Then of course you need finance.

So B-Schools will have to train their students in seeing opportunities for improving any one of these attributes like reducing costs or improving cycle time, in everything they see and to express that in a simple sentence. Second, they can teach people to work in teams; how to subordinate their ego, how to appreciate good things in others, how to become more open-minded, how to put the interests of the team ahead of their own personal interests, by case studies, by role models, by examples etc.

Then I think value systems are not easy to teach. But by bringing case studies and role models in flesh and blood to the schools, by these role models talking about their experiences, on how they stuck to the value system and eventually benefitted, I think the youngsters would be inspired and they too would use the value system. And then of course, B-Schools can bring venture capitalists, the VCs can talk about what kind of financing is available, how they evaluate ideas, etc. So certainly, B-Schools can add value to entrepreneurship

Rahul: Why do you think the Indian youth should think of entrepreneurship as a serious career option?

NRN: India is a very poor country. We have a billion-plus people. A large percentage of our people are unemployed. The only way we can solve poverty in this country is by creating jobs, jobs with good disposable income. That’s where entrepreneurship is extremely important.

Clinton: Sir, do you value entrepreneurship inside your own company? You did say that young people should get opportunities. So do you believe that if you encourage entrepreneurship culture inside an organization like Infosys, Infosys itself would grow?

NRN: Remember that I said entrepreneurship is all about ideas that bring value to the market. In our case, every one of us is encouraged to think in terms of improving speed, bringing in better ideas to the table, enhancing excellence in execution. So as long as our youngsters do this, they are indeed entrepreneurship in some sense. Entrepreneurship in some sense does not necessarily mean that you always have to form a new company. Entrepreneurship is all about bringing the power of ideas and converting them into a larger number of jobs, into wealth. So if all of us bring good ideas to the table, and the company becomes stronger, we are all better off. We will be able to recruit more and more people; we will have better salaries, better compensation for all of us. So there is a role of entrepreneurship inside a large corporation too. Some people call it intrapreneurship. It is a mindset.

Clinton: When you start off as an individual starting an organization all by itself and when you are working inside an organization doing intrapreneurship, there is still a difference. For example, an entrepreneurship has to take a huge amount of risk and should be able to see the future and recover from any failure that can happen in the future; whereas, the intrapreneur does not have to face such risks. So doesn’t entrepreneurship require much more capabilities and skills from the individual?

NRN: Not much more capabilities, because even in Infosys, a person takes up a fairly big project. If that project succeeds, his or her future may not be as rosy as somebody else’s. There is a certain risk taken. But it’s all about a mindset. Certainly I agree with you, if you are not sure whether you will be able to put food on the table for you and your family tomorrow, that’s certainly a much more daunting challenge than perhaps not getting a promotion. But still it is a question of mindset. A question that says what new ideas can I bring to the table so that it is a better world. Some say that is entrepreneurship; though the risk factors in a large organization are lower compared to a startup.

Clinton: Sir, besides these four main items that you mentioned, ideas, a good team, an enduring value system and finance, what other skills do you think an entrepreneur should be building?

NRN: Obviously, passion, hard work, optimism, ability to sacrifice short term interests for long term, ability to lead people, these are all major too.

Rahul: Sir, you have affected the life of lakhs of Indians in a very positive way. But India needs more Narayan Murthy’s like you. You have reached the pinnacle of success. Are you planning to do anything to create more Narayan Murthy’s?

NRN: No, not really, but certainly I think there are many suggestions that say that maybe I should look at becoming a venture capitalist, not so much to make more money but to encourage more youngsters. I think that is one thing that maybe I should look at. Second I think at I get probably 10 – 15 emails a week from youngsters who want to become entrepreneurs. I take time off and give my views. Third I go and speak to probably hundreds and thousands of youngsters every year in different towns and cities; I talk to them about how we are at a very historic time in this country; how never before in the last 300 years Indians received respect, Indians received attention like they are receiving today. So you are born at a wonderful time wherein you can take advantage of it, you can consolidate it. So I give a lot of pep talks.

Clinton: Besides the pharma , the retail and the telecom sector, which are the areas you think that entrepreneurship should be putting their money in the next 10 years?

NRN: In this country there is opportunity in almost everything because we are still not as well developed as the developed nations. We have lot of opportunities in infrastructure; power, airports, roads, ports, schools, hospitals, food, food preservation. For example, in this country so much of food grains are lost; 30-35% is lost, eaten by rodents, so if we can save that we are so much better. Similarly, we need micro-insurance, we need to take advantage of the latest technologies. Biotechnology is a great instrument, particularly in agriculture, in pharmaceuticals. Nano-technology is another field where there will be wonderful opportunities in the next 10 years. Then of course there is IT. It offers considerable opportunities. So I would say in India there are so many areas where there are opportunities. The only issue is that Government should become a catalyst rather than being an impeding force. Unfortunately, the tendency in India is that wherever there is an interface with Government, there is a lot of friction, there are a lot of problems. So as long as our political leaders and bureaucrats understand it, our youngsters will create so many jobs, so much of wealth, this country will become a better place. But otherwise it is going to become difficult.

Rahul: Humility and sensitivity to the society – is it a precursor to be a successful entrepreneur or is the result of being a successful entrepreneur?

NRN: I think humility is very important because if you are not humble, you are not open to new ideas, you will not learn many things. Humility means you can subordinate your ego. If you subordinate your ego it means you can work in a team better. Humility also helps you to accept setbacks and still keep up that optimism. Whereas if you think you are the smartest guy, you are the last word in the world, then you will not accept setbacks.

Sensitivity to society is very important for every human being whether he or she is an entrepreneurship or not. But at the end of the day when you have been successful, you have to have sensitivity to society. At the end of the day, how much food can you eat, how much cars can you have, how many houses can you buy? If you are amongst the people who are happy, who are healthy, then you feel so much better; because I often define success as, if your eyes light up when you meet other people, and their eyes light up when they meet you then you are a success. So if that is indeed the definition of success, then being sensitive to the problems of the society is what will make you a successful person. Because people will be happy to meet you and you will be happy to meet people. So ultimately that is the most important thing.