Persevere to succeed, Narayana Murthy tells aspiring entrepreneurs

“The only way to eliminate poverty is through the creation of jobs. And this can be best achieved through entrepreneurship,” said NR Narayana Murthy, Infosys founder and chairman emeritus, addressing a gathering at a meet organised by Jagriti Yatra, as part of its 7,500-km national train event.

Conceptualised in 2008, the Yatra seeks to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship in youth, particularly in tier-2 and tier-3 regions.

For the 450 yatris, aged between 20 years and 25 years, handpicked from more than 3,000 applications, the journey began in Mumbai, leading to Bangalore, where they had an interaction with Murthy on Tuesday. Through the course of the journey, these youngsters will have the opportunity of meeting and learning from model social and economic entrepreneurs of the country.
Raj Krishnamurthy, board member of Jagriti Yatra, said one need not have fancy academic qualifications to become a part of the yatra.

“We look for passion. Applicants with a spark to become entrepreneurs are the preferred choice,” he said. To maintain a healthy mix of participants, 60% of this year’s yatris are from non-urban areas, with a 40% female representation.
Murthy acknowledged this balance of all sections of society, saying it was an important step to include rural India and women as part of India’s progress into being a
‘Ramarajya’.

“It gives us confidence that the future of rural India will be secure. When a country can leverage all their women, only then can true progress be made. In developed countries, 100% of the female population is already gainfully employed,” said Murthy.

Responding to a yatri’s question on how important are rural frontiers in the entrepreneurship race, Murthy said there is tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs in these areas. Offering advice on how to make the most of it, he added, “However, one has to ensure affordable pricing, keeping in mind the low incomes of rural people. As an entrepreneur, you will have to learn to scale up your applications quickly and serve as many villages as possible to make a substantial profit.”

Urging the students not to lose hope when faced with hard times, the IT veteran cited examples of hardships Infosys dealt with before 1991, when trade was not opened up in the country and corruption levels were high. “If you put in your best efforts and have been honest to yourself and still don’t get the result you wanted, do not consider it a failure. Make note of your mistakes and better your next attempt,” he said. “Never give up. The most important attitude for a leader is courage.” 

When Yavya Mishra, a student from Raipur, asked Murthy how aspiring entrepreneurs like him could seek investments from his venture capital firm Catamaran, NRN’s answer was greeted with resounding applause, “You drop me a mail after this. I will personally connect you with Arjun Narayan, who is the MD of Catamaran,” he said.

Having already invested in education, healthcare, e-commerce and microfinance, he added, “The vision of Catamaran is to provide funding opportunities for ideas we believe have a high probability of success in the market place. Ideally, I’d like them to make a big difference to society.”