A toast to IIT Kharagpur

In many parts, The Game Changers comes across as a fanboy account of the accomplishments of IIT Kharagpur alumni turned entrepreneurs. That's not surprising, considering that two of the authors Yuvnesh Modi and Rahul Kumar are fourth year students of the institute while the third, Alok Kothari, is a recent alumnus.

Six decades

The book, which marks six decades of IIT Kharagpur, provides, through short write-ups, a glowing though sometimes academic narrative of the entrepreneurial journeys of 20 alumni. Nevertheless, it demonstrates that IIT Kharagpur has much to feel proud about, having been the breeding ground of many a worthy entrepreneur. That too in diverse fields such as IT, shipbuilding, sales and marketing solutions, consulting, architecture, alternative energy, biotechnology and farming.

The institute's alumni have also made their mark in unconventional areas such as supply of products for magicians, classical arts awareness and anti-corruption movements.

Along with their experiences in IIT Kharagpur, the challenges faced by these entrepreneurs in their various endeavours, and their personal and professional attributes have been laid out in quite some detail, often in a hagiographic tone. Some irreverence and a mention of warts and idiosyncrasies of the entrepreneurs would not have hurt, though. Role models become all the more believable, when they exhibit flaws and failings.

But while The Game Changers may seem one-sided in its praise-laden approach, it scores on many fronts. One, it breaks away from the notion of an entrepreneur as merely an efficient businessman to one who stood for what he or she believed in and was able to transform the lives of others through his or her action.

This broad selection criterion enables the book to chronicle the significant achievements of someone such as Kiran Seth, the founder of SPIC-MACAY, a non-profit movement promoting awareness of classical arts among youth. It also narrates the story of Arvind Kejriwal, who was in the forefront of many anti-corruption drives and the recent Jan Lokpal movement.

The inspiring account of Harish Hande, who has been providing sustainable solar energy-based solutions in rural India, is another instance of the book adopting a holistic approach in entrepreneur selection. Choosing from over a wide time-period (the early 1960s to the late 2000s) was a deft touch, enabling the inclusion of veterans such as Suhas Patil (founder of Cirrus Logic) and also new-age entrepreneurs such as Krishna Mehra (Co-founder of Capillary Technologies). This approach provides perspective about how management and financing challenges for new ventures has changed over the years.

What surprised, though, was the inclusion of only one lady entrepreneur, Anuradha Acharya, Founder and CEO, Ocimum Biosolutions, in the book. Guess, that's a result of the low representation of women in IIT campuses, with Anuradha's IIT Kharagpur batch in 1995 having only 10 girls in a batch of 500.

Key takeaways

The key takeaways from the book, however, lie in the various useful tips provided by the entrepreneurs for aspiring ones. The crystallised mantras for success of the 20 entrepreneurs draw on their experiences and provide a good reference point for those planning to take the leap of faith and go independent. Expectedly, the common theme that runs across most of the narratives is passion – the ability and the willingness to do what you love. Self-confidence and the ability not to be weighed down by odds are also quintessential qualities of successful entrepreneurs.

As Sam Dalal, Founder and Head, Funtime Innovations puts it “According to the laws of aerodynamics, a bumblebee cannot fly, as its weight is too large and wingspan too narrow. However, the bumblebee doesn't know the laws of aerodynamics! It just picks up and flies away. That's the way an entrepreneur should think. There are no rules, you just do it!”

Overall, a good inspirational read even for non-IIT folks. The good could have been better, if the tone was not so deferential.

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