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Great entrepreneurs see opportunity where others see chaos, said John A. Byrne, Founder, Chairman and CEO of C-Change Media.
He was speaking at an entrepreneurs workshop organised by EY in the national capital on Thursday.
He lauded the country’s entrepreneurs for what they have achieved and said: “In America, we are very lucky and we are spoilt because we have infrastructure, we have the Government’s support. We have some red tape but our red tape is nothing compared to red tape in India.”
As part of research for his book World Changers: 25 Entrepreneurs Who Changed Business As We Knew It , he wanted to understand what it takes for one to make meaningful change in society.
“We thought about this in DNA terms and identified three traits of a great entrepreneur — opportunistic mindset, acceptance of risk and potential failure, and the need for independence and control.”
He gave the example of N. R. Narayana Murthy and said, “In the 1980s, Murthy saw three trends in the industry and connected the dots. He saw the unbundling of hardware and software, emergence of a super mini computer. These two trends, he thought, would create the third trend which was a massive explosion of software development.”
Byrne added that there was a time when some partners in 1989 wanted to sell the company. “The company had grown, hadn’t achieved great success but was successful enough to find a buyer. Murthy said he believed things were going to change and that he was willing to buy out each partner if they were willing to sell the company.”
It was the crucial moment of truth for the company, Byrne said. The economic reforms happened in 1991 which made a huge difference in Murthy’s ability to build the company and make it a global powerhouse.
Byrne is the author/co-author of more than 10 books on business, leadership, and management.
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