MACONZA “The Z to A of Entrepreneurship” Holiday Special
Dear Readers, Itâ€&#x; s new year and the time of the year for reunions and resolutions, some fulfilled Investor for Life: Charlie Munger
and some forgotten as the year 2
pro-
gresses. New year resolutions are not about keeping promises, but about pleas-
N.R. Narayan Murthy: A Salute to the Icon of the year What If ?
ing yourself instead– a trait shared by en6 9
A Queen in her Own Terms
12
Ultimate Us
15
trepreneurship too. As we usher in a new year, look for the good times and overlook the bad, make new friends and forget not those of the past, dream with our eyes wide open and yet not get carried away and most importantly, please ourselves and spread the happiness and joy with the smile that radiates. We at Maconza, wish you a HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR and hope that this year be a wonderful one and all your dreams and aspirations come true. Happy Reading Team Maconza
Maconza
Macon
The Entrepreneurship Cell
“Macon” means “To Create or to Build”. The objective of launching the cell is to provide the common platform to those who aspire to be an entrepreneur and want to bring change in the society in a differ-ent way. These people can come together, express their views, show their passion, share their ideas, and nurture their dreams to see them turning into reality with the help of Macon. Through Macon’s initiative, we try to bring out the entrepreneurial skills and provide with the vital support system that a budding entrepreneur demands. The Vision “MACON is a conglomerate of individuals with a vision, a dream which surely can come true. It is a place for all those who want to create their own path and leave behind the trails of success. The Cell aims at nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit and tremendous energy among individual to a level where they can bring about a positive change in the society…a change that we all aspire for. MACON believes an entrepreneurial mind is a mind of original ideas and aspires to extend all possible support to it’ student and alumni members, in association with it’s strategic partner, NEN, and enable them to realize their dreams.” The Mission “To ignite the spark of entrepreneurship amongst students from IBS and other institutes and provide a common platform for individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit to develop, nurture, share and grow their ideas.” Establishing a new enterprise requires skills that have to be nurtured from a very early stage. The huge potential and skills of management graduate of India needs to be tapped and each and every college has to take up initiatives of creating not just job seekers but also job providers. However motivation and information at the right stage could lead to birth and nurturing of future entrepreneurs at the graduate level. Even for those who do not aim to start an enterprise immediately, the cell will help in providing them the platform to demonstrate their entrepreneurial skills.
Holiday Special
Faces of Success
Investor for Life: Charlie Munger intelligent investors and most im-
The story of Berkshire Hatha-
portantly, a man with an un-
way’s Vice President.
quenchable thirst for knowledge.
By Reetoditee Mazumdar
So, what can we learn from so great a man ?
Berkshire Hathaway – The name
Mr. Munger repeatedly exhorts
rings quite a few bells in a lot of
people to stop limiting themselves
minds. Investors or otherwise, not
by the boundaries of their academic
many people are not aware of
disciplines. One of his favourite
BRK‟s CEO and Chairman Warren
sayings is “To a man with a ham-
Buffet. Except for die-hard fans,
mer, every problem resembles a
few are aware of Vice-Chairman
nail.” He thus advises everyone to
Charles Thomas Munger. Less well
build an interdisciplinary toolkit,
known, but definitely more forth-
taking nuggets from any branch of
right, Charlie Munger, as he is oth-
studies that seems to be useful.
erwise known, is quite the force to
Well, he certainly didn‟t limit him-
reckon with. For example, at the
self.
last Wesco Financial Corp. share-
Beginning with a study of mathe-
holder‟s meeting, he told the share-
matics in the University of Michi-
holders :"Most of you know exactly what
gan, Munger went on to work as a
I think about every subject, but you still
meteorologist in the U.S. Army Air
come anyway. It's a damn cult." And he
Corps. He then trained briefly at
is right. Because Charlie Munger
Caltech before moving to Harvard
has been nothing but consistent,
Law School. He got through to
brutally honest and one of the most
Harvard without a bachelor‟s Page|2
Maconza degree which was quite a feat in itself.
some events were correlated in the past
After graduating, he practised law for
does not make that past circumstance a
awhile before shifting to the world of
reliable basis for judging the future. The
investments. His own company Wesco
example he cites is one well known to
Financial Corporation deals in insur-
all of us. If a commodity is expensive, it
ance, furniture rental, and steel service
signals to us that it is more valuable.
centre businesses in the USA and is
This according to him is a pure Pav-
now a wholly owned subsidiary of
lovian correlation because society has
Berkshire Hathaway.
so conditioned us that we regard price
The best thing about Mr. Munger is
and value to be always correlated. It may
that he never stops learning. At the ripe
be that a clever businesswoman, in or-
old age of 88, he has started studying
der to boost sales, raised the price of her
Astrophysics and enjoys it. He has observed that people who get ahead in life are not necessarily the most intelligent but they are those who go to bed, a little wiser than they were when they woke up. Life long learning is the best way to make sure that one isnâ€&#x;t caught unawares when circumstances are not favourable. He has made a list of twenty-four „mental misjudgementsâ€&#x; that the human mind is prone to make. An example of this would be the bias from Pavlovian association. He says that just because Page|3
Holiday Special
Face of Success
her product relative to her com-
deprived of winnings, they would
petitors‟ and there are no actual
gamble again and again. And casi-
differences between the products
nos and lotteries work, by exploit-
to warrant such a rise. But we tend
ing this tendency. Other tendencies
to fall for it anyway.
that he talks about include biaser
Another favourite of his is the
ise from incapability of the human
„deprival super reaction‟ and its ef-
mind to do mathematics in general,
fects on the tendency to gamble.
or from mis-influence of informa-
The best example for deprival su-
tion which really has no bearing on
per reaction is the New Coke ef-
the matter at hand and those biases
fect, where loyalists went near-
which cause permanent stress in-
hysterical at Coke‟s announcement
duced changes in our ways of
that it would replace the old fa-
thinking.
vourite. This reflects how human
Then there is the combination of
minds weigh the thought of losing
two or more of such causes which
something as against gaining some-
he terms the „Lollapalooza effect‟. A
thing of greater or equal value. But
circumstance which does not seem
an interesting side effect of this is
obviously s that explainable from
gambling. He cites examples of lot-
one cause alone or another, can be
tery slot machines. Suppose on
explained because usually there is
pulling the lever once, you get two
no one good explanation. The com-
like symbols (strawberry, straw-
bined effect that we observe can be
berry) and one unlike symbol
good or bad. A good example
(apple). What most people would
would be the 50% success rate of
do is play again because they were
Alcoholics Anonymous in helping
one symbol away from jackpot and
alcoholics recover, which seems to Page|4
Maconza But what Mr. Munger is famous for, is
ness as well as life. To distil the most
his unique style of thinking – or rather
important points of any subject, he ad-
inverting. For example, we could think
vises that we study the failures, and
about the wrong way to go about de-
the reasons we failed. It is a point
ciding on a career path. Firstly, we
worth repeating since most of us
could take the opinion of the people
would not revise or revisit our failures
around us without regard to their
for a variety of reasons. Mr. Munger is one of those people, for whom work is apparently play. He reads as many as six newspapers a day because to him, ignorance of what happens in the world around us is not a valid excuse. Besides, he only invests in businesses he understands inside out. Like Warren Buffet, he advises every investor, whether of stocks or in
qualifications, background, interest or
life, to stick to what we know and un-
biases. Maybe we could just throw
derstand, and to know the edge of our
darts on a dartboard full of possible ca-
competencies. For what we do not
reer choices blindfold. There are so
know, he has a cure-all as well. Keep
many options. It is out of these options
learning.
Mr. Munger makes a checklist of
At the 2011 Wesco meeting at Pasa-
things to avoid. Once we have a road-
dena, he had one more piece of advice
map of things we should not do, it is
worth repeating.
certainly easier for us to avoid the pot-
“Lose graciously.”
holes. Mr. Munger applies it to busiPage|5
Holiday Special
Successful Entrepreneur N.R Narayan Murthy: A Salute to the Icon of the Year and awards, Nagavara Ramarao
The man who revolutionized
Narayan Murthy, better known as
the IT industry in India
N.R. Narayan Murthy, still remains
By Sujitha
a man who believes in the principle of “Simple living, high thinking”.
He is a Padma Shri (2001) and
It‟s his down-to-Earth personality
Padma Vibhushan (2008) recipient.
and strong principles that make
He was declared „Asia‟s Business-
him one of the most loved and ad-
man of the Year‟ (2002) by Fortune
mired entrepreneurs in the world.
Magazine, „World Entrepreneur of
Mr. Murthy was born into a Kan-
the Year‟ (2003) by Ernst & Young,
nada Madhwa Brahmin family in
„Commander of the Order of the
Mysore, Karnataka on August 20,
British Empire‟ (2007) by the Government of
1946. He graduated with a B.E. de-
United Kingdom,
gree in electrical engineering from
„Officer of the Legion of Hon-
the National Institute of Engineer-
our‟ (2008) by the Government of
ing, University of Mysore (1967)
France, „Man of the Year‟ (2010) by
and completed his M.Tech from IIT
GQ Magazine, NDTV Indian of the
Kanpur (1969). It was during his
Year‟s „Icon of the Year‟ (2011) and
days in IIT Kanpur when he had a
is the recipient of „Forbes Lifetime
chance encounter with a famous
Achievement Award‟ (2011). Above
computer scientist from a well-
all, the name „Infosys‟ has become
known US university who was pas-
synonymous with his name. Even
sionately discussing about the new
after winning so many accolades Page|6
Maconza Pune, Mr. Murthy founded Infosys with six other software professionals. Mr. Murthy was determined to start Infosys after an incident in Bulgaria where he was mistaken to have been criticizing the communist government of Bulgaria. He was held in a bitterly cold room without food or water for 72 hours. In the words of the guard, he developments that were taking place
was released because “he was from a
in the field of computer science which
friendly country called India”. Mr.
interested Mr. Murthy who immedi-
Murthy, who was until then „a con-
ately went through the suggested read-
fused Leftist‟, transformed into a deter-
ing papers by the scientist. It was after
mined, compassionate capitalist who
this chance meeting that Mr. Murthy
had finally realized that entrepreneur-
decided to venture into the field of
ship, resulting in large scale job crea-
computer science.
tion, was the only viable mechanism
Mr. Murthy‟s first job was at IIM Ah-
for eradicating poverty in the society.
medabad where he worked as the chief
It was this incident that led to the
systems programmer. In 1976, he left
birth of Infosys in 1981.
IIM-A and started a company called
Infosys was started with an initial
Softronics which eventually failed.
capital injection of Rs.10, 000 invested
Shortly after this, he joined Patni Com-
by Mrs. Sudha Murthy who strongly
puter Sysytems in Pune and it was in
believed in her husband‟s dream of cre-
this city that he met his wife Mrs.
ating a great and iconic company.
Sudha Murthy. After settling down in
However, sometime around the winter Page|7
Holiday Special
Sucessful Entrepreneur
of 1990, four of the six other foun-
opment centers across India and it
ders of Infosys met up with Mr.
set up its first office in Europe in
Murthy to discuss about selling off
Milton Keynes, UK in the year
the company for a sum of $1 mil-
1996. In 1999, Infosys achieved a
lion. Mr. Murthy, unwilling to sell
milestone by becoming the first In-
the company at any cost, declared
dian company to be listed on
that he would buy out all his col-
NASDAQ.
leagues even though he did not
Mr. Murthy who turned 60 on Au-
have a cent in his pocket. It was his
gust 20, 2011 officially left the
determination and passion for
boardroom responsibilities as the
making Infosys one of the greatest
Chairman and Chief Mentor of
companies in the world that helped
Infosys. He now serves as the chair-
him change his colleagues opinion
man emeritus of the company, a
after an hour of arguments.
newly created position, leaving the
Twenty one years later, Infosys to-
board room to KV Kamath and co-
day has created more than 70,000
chairman
well-paying jobs, 2000-plus dollar
The simple middle class ordinary
millionaires and 20,000-plus rupee
man who became an inspiration for
millionaires. It was his sheer deter-
the millions of aspirers in the coun-
mination; optimism and confidence
try bid his adieu saying, “My life
that helped Infosys reach where it
story should be a confidence-
stands now. With the liberaliza-
booster to every average person,
tion of Indian economy in the
that he or she can make at least
1990s, Infosys grew rapidly. The
asma smallsmall difference in this
company came up with its IPO in
world.�
1993. In 1995, Infosys set up develPage|8
Kris
Gopalakrishnan.
Maconza
Wishful Thinking What If ? Dear Santa
Christmas time, Santa is hearing
- What if, Santa takes charge of
you!
passing any new bill or resolution?
By Dhruti Badami We all have dreams for the future-
- What if, Santa makes opposition
big visions of where we want to be in
and congress allies agree to FDI pol-
life and business. As we approach the
icy implementation in retail, stat-
start of a brand new year, itâ€&#x;s fun to
ing a compulsive clause of partner-
think about our dreams and the
ship between domestic and foreign
Christmas wishes. To survive in In-
retail stores?
dia, I sometimes think, one needs to be a wishful thinker. There is much
- What if, Santa reveals the names
about India that is beautiful and in-
of those who have deposited black
spiring, but thereâ€&#x;s quite as much that is terribly frustrating. It is true
money in the swiss banks on na-
that for India that year is not ending
tional media?
on positive note, but, why should we
- What if, Santa opens a helpline on
restrict our imagination? Letâ€&#x;s just
Twitter and advises investors on
imagine beyond current picture and
where to invest and where not to and
dream of several what-ifs!
signals when stock market is just
Indian economy is glooming, interest
about to crash!
rates are high and business confidence is fluctuating. Policy paralysis Page|9
Holiday Special
Wishful Thinking
, corruption scandals and backlash of
ety.” As a means of wealth creation
government under political pressures
for the individual and the country,
combined with slow global economic
entrepreneurship spans the socio-
cycles and worsening domestic fi-
economic and sectoral spectrum of
nances have derailed India. As of
India, from villager to venture capi-
now, Rupee is the worst performing
talist, from handicrafts to hardware.
currency in Asia and our government doesn‟t have any gift to boost business confidence of Indian people. Indians have always been enterprising under difficult political and economic conditions. No matter how pessimistic the scenario seems, Indians have always been optimistic. India has built a formidable army of knowledge workers and which is why we see a wide range of entrepreneurs emerging in different sectors, today. Entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the Indian economy. They create new industries and ventures, increase productivity through competition, identify viable new technologies, and work efficiently and intensively, thereby fuelling the “tiny economic engines of a rejected portion of sociPage|10
Maconza For years, Indian entrepreneurs have
the current scenarios. After all, it‟s
boasted they can do business despite
our own India, and it gives us the
the government, adeptly working
power to raise our voice as our basic
around potholed roads, clogged ports
right when something wrong hap-
and reams of regulatory hurdles. But
pens. Let‟s just use that right and
the government inertia, what many
usher the New Year with a spark and
politicians see as “playing safe” is
optimism in our eyes!
taking its toll on the corporate confidence. Even at a time of alarm over the economy, all political parties are thinking myopic and concentrating on saving their voting banks. We all know that the above stated „what ifs‟ are not going to happen in reality and they will remain wishes only, because even Santa feels helpless when he thinks of the Indian government and politics. So, why waste time by bothering Santa every now and then? Let‟s strengthen our own innovative skills and try to move forward by collective efforts and retain our confidence in our economic engines. Even if we can‟t put trust in our policymakers‟ decisions, let‟s just try and work on how we can correct Page|11
Holiday Special
Everyday Emperors A Queen in Her Own Terms 1987, she started working as an LIC
It’s all about believing in oneself
Agent and by 1996 she was a member By Gayatri Bose
of the Chairman‟s Club of LIC, one of
Women play many roles in the society. Their power and determination is often a wonder. With the world maturing and coming out of its cubby hole, women too are increasingly embracing the world. Gone are the days in the 1980‟s or 70‟s when women were employed on a fulltime basis to perform the household chores and manage the whole family and its wellbeing.
As the society moved,
from having challenging beginnings to now being masters of their own world, women today have inspiring stories to share. Dr Kamini Singh, was married soon after she passed class tenth. Her grit and determination sprinkled and garnished with family support led her to further pursue her studies and is an M.A and PhD in Political Sciences. In Page|12
Maconza the elite clubs in the organization.
candle making, poultry and handi-
With her perseverance, she is today
crafts which the NGO sells at vari-
the Chief Advisor for LIC in the
ous fairs and festivities across the
Hazaribaug district, and the only
state.
women to have reached the position
It is truly said that the wings of
in the district.
greatness seldom stop flying. When
In 2006, she started the Gayatri Seva
one dream with eyes wide open and
Sansthan fro the upliftment of
fly with these wings, they become an
women in the rural and backward
unstoppable force. Dr Kamini‟s con-
regions, especially the tribal areas.
tribution to the society doesn‟t pull
The NGO has had active participa-
the breaks with establishment of
tion in improving the living as well
GSS. In 2009, she started a dairy
the working conditions for the
farming project which won the first
women in the Hazaribaug and Jam-
prize at the state level for the Best
shedpur regions. With an employee
Managed and Developed Dairy.
strength of fifteen and from provision
What started off as a dairy and milk
of loans at low rates of interest to en-
production facility with 50 cows and
suring education and managing the
no knowledge of the distribution
expenses for the students at the local
channel, the project is now planning
schools, Dr Kamini‟ s dream has
to start its own packaging and stan-
transformed the lives of several
dardizing facility. Entrepreneurs see
women in the interiors and one of
opportunities where most others
the most backward parts of India.
don‟t. Where the world saw fluctu-
She has also ensured that these
ating profit margins, seasonality of
women get a steady flow of income
productions and lack of knowledge
through various activities such as
among villagers, Dr. Kamini saw a Page|13
Holiday Special
Everyday Emperors
dairy project. With a revolutionary
women and after persistent persua-
profit per cow model, the project
sion and negotiations, we were able
generates margins of approximately
to solve the problem.” A determined,
Rs 1,50,000 per annum independent
independent and leader in the true
of government funding.
sense, she is the only women member
Dr Kamini has been in the forefront
in the ZIlla Paryavarn Samiti, Zilla
of many more rural development and
Vidyut Samiti and The Zilla vanadhi-
upliftment programs.” There was this
kar Samiti.
one particular incident involving CIL
Dr Kamini Singh‟s success has proven
and its subsidiary CCL. Due to a dis-
that nothing is impossible with a lit-
agreement between the ruling politi-
tle faith and belief in one‟s dreams. In
cal party and the management of the
words of Marcel Proust” If a little
electricity board, there was no elec-
dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it
tricity in the region for almost two
is not to dream less but to dream
months. We formed a committee of
more, to dream all the time”
Page|14
Maconza
Mind Matters Ultimate Us
ness? Some say yes. It pours out
Stand up, and face it, because,
whatever we have inside us. We
ultimately, it is us.
sometimes blame people for our mis-
By Swapnil Tewari
fortunes and get back to life, or perhaps o something we love and divert
What all we do when we feel sad?
our mind from the facts. I am not
The day goes by staring at a point no-
considering those who try to run
where, tears roll down our eyes make
away from the problems and create a
a path downwards and dry after
fight or flight situation.
sometime, the marks fade away soon,
Fighting
back from whatever we faced and
but what about those marks which
coming back to enjoy the innings
they create on our heart?
again is the best thing we can do but
Talking about the heart, I never be-
it requires a lot of determination and
lieved the very concept, but there is
also the support of our loved ones.
something which hurts within when
Life never ends at failures, heart-
things go wrong, something that
breaks or even by the death of our
bounces up when we see opportuni-
baby ventures, it is dynamic and we
ties approaching us, which smiles
need to be too. Problems on a posi-
without reason. That its little pump-
tive note bring us an opportunity to
ing organ which normally purifies
see the darker side of life, learn from
blood but is also used to express our
it and apply the lessons we learnt in
feelings and to be blamed for when
our
we donâ€&#x;t act with our hypothalamus. Does crying help tackling with sadPage|15
journey
of
life.
Editorial Team Aveena Ghosh Gayatri Bose Manohar s Subhashree Srinivasan Aditi Ghosh Dhruti Badami Reetoditee Mazumdar Sujitha Swapnil Tewari
Disclaimer The writers’ views in the articles have been influenced by various writers and sources. Thus, readers are expected to cross check the facts before relying upon them. Much care has been taken to present the facts without any error. Still, if errors creep in, appropriate feedback will always be welcome. The magazine is NOT MEANT FOR SALE and hence, no part of this magazine should be used without the prior permission of
Macon The Entrepreneurship Cell, IBS Hyderabad
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