What, drives, Infosys?, Gopalakrishnan,, CEO, Infosys, speaks, Wharton

S Gopalakrishnan (Kris), CEO of Infosys and one of the 7 co-founders has spoken at Wharton about Infosys’s strategy and success. He has talked about qualities of a successful entrepreneur. Vision, courage, imagination, speed, execution and strong values system are the qualities for an entrepreneur. Kris also mentions that it is important to be young entrepreneur. Then only does he or she has the risk taking abilities. Once you grow older and your responsibilities increase, entrepreneurship takes a back seat.
I don’t quite agree with that. If you have the will and conviction for an idea then age is not a criteria. Historical data will prove me wrong. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Larry Page and every other entrepreneur you can think of has started early. But there are few who has started late and made it big. Jerry Rao of MPhasis is one example. Jerry started MPhasis when he was 41. Mphasis was recently sold to EDS which is a Oracle HP company now. Another good example is Vikram Talwar of EXL Service. Vikram started a BPO when he could have retired. EXL now figures in the top 10 BPO’s.
Those might be just 2 examples which I can think of. Kris might be narrating his story where he has started young and it worked. It does not mean that  it would work for anyone. It also does not mean that entrepreneurship is only for young people. Entrepreneurship is a state of mind and has no relation to age. For more about it, you can read Stay Hungry Stay Foolish of Rashmi Bansal. I know there have been a lot of criticism about the book, but what were you expecting for 125 rupees. I think bringing in the stories of 25 entrepreneurs itself is an achievement. I have digressed enough.
Back to Kris’s interview, there is one important element which I think everybody should know. What happened after 8 long years of struggle? The year was 1989 and there is nothing to show for Kris and 6 others (including Narayana Murthy) when their colleagues and friends are prospering. That is a gap. The thinking that went after 8 long years of struggle is very important lesson for all wannabe entrepreneurs. They stuck with their idea and dream. Then came the golden summer of 1991 and everything else is history. The question is how long should an entrepreneur wait? What would have happened if the summer of 1991 wasn’t golden?
I think Infosys got lucky on two accounts. One is the economic reforms of 1991. The other is seven people sticking together for so long without a hitch. To me more than the reforms, 7 people sticking together is remarkable. That I think is the unique distinction of Infosys. Most of the other companies started as a one-man show. But Infosys is different. It gave a true meaning to teamwork and I admire it. It also took care of succession planning for 30+ years.
Watch the 21 minute video below. Don’t blame me if you have a slow connection.

Image Credit  : msn.in