What Made South Indian Software Engineer Become A Successful Entrepreneur

The modern day world is filled with success stories of people who came from a mere middle-class background but rose to enormous heights and there was no stoppage for them thereafter. India, as we all know, is the modern age land for Engineers but not all of them can shine in this highly competitive world. Among those engineers, N. R. Narayana Murthy is the one who is the co-founder of Infosys, which is a giant multinational company. With his sheer passion and determination, he worked hard to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs and still has its firm hold in the present date.

To shed some light on his life’s achievements and career, here is the full coverage of his story.

N. R. Narayana Murthy’s View on Caste-System

"We have a caste system in India where the so-called lowest class… is a set of people who clean the toilets," he explains.

"My father believed that the caste system is a wrong one and therefore he made all of us clean our toilets… and that habit has continued, and I want my children to do that. And the best way to make them do it is if you did it yourself."

This approach was of course nonsense and everyone should be respected in divergent strata of the society. Caste discretion was one of the biggest factors which made NR Narayana burn with fire and aggression. With this burning fuel, he gained success in the global market and captured the high paying clients all over the world. Till now, Infosys is one of the largest software companies in the world and has served some great clients all over the globe.

He Believes Patience Is The Key

Mr. Murthy takes us back to the era of the 1980’s where India’s environment was extremely business unfriendly. The intervention of slower bureaucracy and long waited procedures made it just unacceptable for companies to start their business in India. With such stoppage, none of the companies in that era became huge success which was indeed not a great thing.

Further, he recalls the era when people had to wait for a year to get a new telephone connection while others were waiting for just a dial tone.

The Launch Of The Infosys

It was the year 1981 when NR Narayana launched Infosys with six of his colleagues. They didn’t have much money to launch their own company which introduced NR Narayana’s wife into the story. With a will to start his own company, he borrowed a mere amount of $250 dollars from his wife.

However, the sum was not much enough to sustain the company’s running for a longer period of time. But, Murthy had something else in his mind to remain in the state of profit right from the start.” You Spent less than what you have earned, that’s all.”

Further, he said, "We stayed in very inexpensive hotels… we didn't have any cars, sometimes we took buses, sometimes we walked," he says. "It was tough."

Mr. Murthy’s hustle paid off quite handsomely. If we talk about the present date, his company Infosys has erupted from a company of seven people to global corporation which had people more than 130,000 people. In addition, he said,” We Stuck with it, and God has been kind to us”.

History On The Launch Of Infosys

The year 1970’s and 1980’s was the year which demanded a need for customized software. This got clicked in the minds of the Infosys people which made them create an opportunity for supplies in India.

Up to this end, Mr. Murthy says, “I had History on My Side”. Right from the start of India’s independence, there were different government policies which encouraged the development of technology to a greater extent. Hence, with such growth in technologies, engineers made their way towards finding work at a greater pace.

Mr. Murthy’s View on recruiting people

"By and large we have recruited very smart people," he says. "And smart people, they learn pretty quickly, they adapt very quickly, and they think of new innovations."

Narayana Murthy’s View On Customer Relationships

For Mr. Murthy, building a strong customer relationship is everything he strives for. Customers are the one which either makes or breaks any start-up, he adds further.

At first, when the Infosys was launched, the company was working solely with one customer in which they were developing and installing a package for their client business which was in New York.

Adding to the growth of companies, he said, “We were selling on our competencies, on our commitment, on our value system and because this company knew us…we had no issue at all"

"And then, of course, we got other customers," he adds.

The Growth Of His Company-Infosys

Despite his success which the worlds see’s in the present date, Infosys took way greater time to develop. He gives credits to the changing financial regulations which had a big effect on their company’s success in the global market.

“We could travel abroad, we could travel easily, we could get consultants from outside, we could import - all of that," says Mr. Murthy.

Over the past 30 years, Infosys has grown enormously on the global scale beating some of the top class tech giants which were quite an achievement.

Narayana Murthy's View On Capitalism

Growing up, Mr. Murthy said that he opposed capitalism. Further, he added, "I was a strong leftist, almost a communist," he recalls. It wasn't until "a seminal experience" in Bulgaria where he was arrested by the authorities for 3 days which forced him to reexamine his beliefs.

"That's when I realized that the only way countries, like India, can solve the problem of poverty is by entrepreneurship," he says.

Indeed, the measures his company’s success in terms of the revenue generated, despite counting figures. He believes that the impact of his company is not only to his colleagues, employees but up to families and beyond that. At last, he added, "the children of those families have new opportunities… new hopes, new confidence. And that's what makes me sleep well."

What Can We Learn From Mr. Murthy?

Narayana Murthy, without doubt, is a global icon and a man who made his dreams come true with sheer determination and a never die attitude. We, as individuals must believe in ourselves, work relentlessly towards our dream and this Universe without any doubt will welcome you with a lot more pride and grace in the upcoming future. That’s how it goes!

James Grills is a technical writer with a passion for writing on emerging technologies in the areas of mobile application development and IoT technology. He is a marketing advisor - currently associated with Cumulations Technologies a mobile app development company in India.