The Hindu Business Line : ‘A little capital can go a long way even today’

In chilly weather that is quite uncommon for this time of the year in the rocky city, the sprawling green campus of the Indian School of Business (ISB) was abuzz with activity. The reason: N. R. Narayana Murthy, Founder and Chief Mentor of Infosys, had donned the role of mentor for 500-odd students, answering their queries for about 45 minutes last Saturday.

And this he did in his own style by provoking the audience in the packed Khemka Auditorium to think with a brief talk on contemporary India that is brimming with possibilities. Excerpts from the lively exchange:

You built Infosys with nominal capital. In the present day of cost escalation, is it possible to set up a firm without much capital?

In 1981, when we started operations with Rs 10,000, it was not a big deal indeed. We worked out a deal with a prospective customer to receive advance payments for our services. We convinced our customer that we would provide better value than others. We used to get monthly-advance payments and that’s how we began. I believe it can be done even today by leveraging your strengths and masking your weaknesses.

Today, can one start a business that conforms to ethics and honesty?

It is not easy, I agree. Ethics, honesty and value systems are not the luxury of the rich and powerful. The poor are much better at practising them. What I suggest is that you make it a habit to live by a value system. Adherence to values such as honesty and integrity translate to a certain cost. But once it becomes second nature, you will not realise that it becomes a cost.

In an organisation, how does one pass on value systems?

With practise and by creating a positive sphere of influence around you. I interact with about 200 top-level managers generally. If I can inspire them to adopt and practice my values, they will, in turn, inspire a bigger team. That way, it encompasses the whole organisation.

How should a failure be viewed?

I am a doer. I will be happy if a person puts his/her best in an enterprise. If you want to win, you first need to put in hard work. Then comes smart working. In an organisation which is a replica of an enlightened democracy, there is little scope for failure and everything can be thoroughly discussed. In Infosys, by and large, we have not had disasters so far. Of course, there were failures but we learnt our lessons. As long as we don’t make the same mistake three times, it should be okay.

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