Hello Folks,
We have always been dazzled with stories in life, from fictional to mythological to real and have dreamt to make a story about our life as well. Even, a cinematic experience, can leave a lasting impact on our sub conscience.
Often, we see ourselves, doing something being played in the story and involve our mind in it. We get happy with some situations, sad with some and also greatly inspired by many situations. I have always, much like many been inspired by the story of growth, achieving something out of nothing, envisaging to create something much bigger than our existence, our being and our world, when actually everything is just a dream with wide open eyes. Hence, all rags to riches stories are the best tonic of motivation in the world. We all like reading about Bill Gates to Dhirubhai Ambani, from Roger Fedrer to Sachin Tendulkar, from A R Rahman to Eminem. All these distinguished personalities are prime examples of motivating stories and people know about it.
Today, I am writing about a gentleman, I have got to know very recently through a lot of reading and research. Mr. Phaneesh Murthy. His story, till growth is somewhat very similar to any story of Rags to Riches, but the crucial part is after, what people might say is the ultimate peak. I am sure, many people keeping abreast with the latest ongoing dealings in the financial markets, might be knowing about Mr. Murthy but this story is for the youth, the people who will get Success and the trials with it.
Mr. Murthy belongs to a small place in Southern India. In his teens, he wanted to pursue medicine, but with some parental guidance ended up giving IIT JEE, secured a AIR 132 and got selected to pursue engineering from IIT Madras. After completing his course, he still was inclined towards Medicine but once again Parental Intervention made him give the CAT and Mr. Murthy secured admission in IIM Ahemdabad.
When he left IIM-A, FMCG was big. The Nirma versus Hindustan Lever battle was drawing to a close; most people from the top of the class headed for a Lever or a Britannia. Phaneesh made the first unconventional decision of his life. He chose Sonata Software, a start-up in a tiny industry. To put things in perspective, TCS, a $1-billion company today, had a turnover of $15 million in 1987. "I did not find soaps intellectually stimulating. I wanted to do product management. In soaps or industrial products, most of the product definition is rarely changed. In software, you can use the customer feedback to improve the product," says Phaneesh. In Sonata, he also started on his first Mission Impossible. Design and sell a software for the Indian market. All the heroics were in vain though. The Indian IT industry was undergoing a disruptive change.
TCS started the offshore business model in mainframes in 1989. Soon Indian firms figured that a dollar was 17 times better than a rupee. Phaneesh realised the domestic software industry would not go anywhere. Indians could not take advantage of great products as they were just not ready for automation.
And then, in 1991, India Today carried an advertisement.
It was a two-page recruitment advertisement for a company who is now a giant in IT industry but a small one then. There was a small line at the end of the ad: "We also need a marketing manager for the US. Should be willing to relocate and travel extensively." The position did not require major qualifications. "I said this is a company that needs some serious marketing help. For every other post advertised they had at least a paragraph of qualifications!"
The owner thought Phaneesh will not be able to do the job. Phaneesh did not smoke, did not drink, did not eat meat, a perfect misfit in the marketing industry. But he liked the fact that Phaneesh was a numbers-driven, facts-oriented marketing guy. The deal was done. But before that, a target had to be set. The promoter, domestic business head and Phaneesh sat down to set one for the first year. "I told $1 million," Phaneesh says. Why? "Because it was a nice number!" Promoter agreed. The turnover of the company was about $2 million then. Domestic business head was bewildered and asked the promoter: "Aren't you going to ask him how he will get $1 million?" And the promoter replied: "That's his problem. If he wants help, he will ask." Phaneesh was told that he had one year to show results.
And he did !!!! In a span of 10 years he converted a $2 million dollar enterprise into a $700 million dollar IT giant. Such victories made the man who was once a doubting Thomas, a believer. He was not allowed to decide his career and his path of liking did something unheard off ever in the industry. He became as powerful as the promoter in the Company rather more powerful because of the results he produced.
In the process, Phaneesh broke the inverted first law of robotics: "A human may not injure a machine, or, through inaction, allow a machine to come to harm." That machine was the company. Phaneesh had already met the person who would dastardly end his dream in the company that was where it was all by his blood, sweat and efforts. "He tried to hurt the company," says a person who knows the promoter really well.
I will continue the story in the subsequent blog, hope people await it and do not look up for the person mentioned.
Until the next part,
Cheers,
KS :)
We have always been dazzled with stories in life, from fictional to mythological to real and have dreamt to make a story about our life as well. Even, a cinematic experience, can leave a lasting impact on our sub conscience.
Often, we see ourselves, doing something being played in the story and involve our mind in it. We get happy with some situations, sad with some and also greatly inspired by many situations. I have always, much like many been inspired by the story of growth, achieving something out of nothing, envisaging to create something much bigger than our existence, our being and our world, when actually everything is just a dream with wide open eyes. Hence, all rags to riches stories are the best tonic of motivation in the world. We all like reading about Bill Gates to Dhirubhai Ambani, from Roger Fedrer to Sachin Tendulkar, from A R Rahman to Eminem. All these distinguished personalities are prime examples of motivating stories and people know about it.
Today, I am writing about a gentleman, I have got to know very recently through a lot of reading and research. Mr. Phaneesh Murthy. His story, till growth is somewhat very similar to any story of Rags to Riches, but the crucial part is after, what people might say is the ultimate peak. I am sure, many people keeping abreast with the latest ongoing dealings in the financial markets, might be knowing about Mr. Murthy but this story is for the youth, the people who will get Success and the trials with it.
Mr. Murthy belongs to a small place in Southern India. In his teens, he wanted to pursue medicine, but with some parental guidance ended up giving IIT JEE, secured a AIR 132 and got selected to pursue engineering from IIT Madras. After completing his course, he still was inclined towards Medicine but once again Parental Intervention made him give the CAT and Mr. Murthy secured admission in IIM Ahemdabad.
When he left IIM-A, FMCG was big. The Nirma versus Hindustan Lever battle was drawing to a close; most people from the top of the class headed for a Lever or a Britannia. Phaneesh made the first unconventional decision of his life. He chose Sonata Software, a start-up in a tiny industry. To put things in perspective, TCS, a $1-billion company today, had a turnover of $15 million in 1987. "I did not find soaps intellectually stimulating. I wanted to do product management. In soaps or industrial products, most of the product definition is rarely changed. In software, you can use the customer feedback to improve the product," says Phaneesh. In Sonata, he also started on his first Mission Impossible. Design and sell a software for the Indian market. All the heroics were in vain though. The Indian IT industry was undergoing a disruptive change.
TCS started the offshore business model in mainframes in 1989. Soon Indian firms figured that a dollar was 17 times better than a rupee. Phaneesh realised the domestic software industry would not go anywhere. Indians could not take advantage of great products as they were just not ready for automation.
And then, in 1991, India Today carried an advertisement.
It was a two-page recruitment advertisement for a company who is now a giant in IT industry but a small one then. There was a small line at the end of the ad: "We also need a marketing manager for the US. Should be willing to relocate and travel extensively." The position did not require major qualifications. "I said this is a company that needs some serious marketing help. For every other post advertised they had at least a paragraph of qualifications!"
The owner thought Phaneesh will not be able to do the job. Phaneesh did not smoke, did not drink, did not eat meat, a perfect misfit in the marketing industry. But he liked the fact that Phaneesh was a numbers-driven, facts-oriented marketing guy. The deal was done. But before that, a target had to be set. The promoter, domestic business head and Phaneesh sat down to set one for the first year. "I told $1 million," Phaneesh says. Why? "Because it was a nice number!" Promoter agreed. The turnover of the company was about $2 million then. Domestic business head was bewildered and asked the promoter: "Aren't you going to ask him how he will get $1 million?" And the promoter replied: "That's his problem. If he wants help, he will ask." Phaneesh was told that he had one year to show results.
And he did !!!! In a span of 10 years he converted a $2 million dollar enterprise into a $700 million dollar IT giant. Such victories made the man who was once a doubting Thomas, a believer. He was not allowed to decide his career and his path of liking did something unheard off ever in the industry. He became as powerful as the promoter in the Company rather more powerful because of the results he produced.
In the process, Phaneesh broke the inverted first law of robotics: "A human may not injure a machine, or, through inaction, allow a machine to come to harm." That machine was the company. Phaneesh had already met the person who would dastardly end his dream in the company that was where it was all by his blood, sweat and efforts. "He tried to hurt the company," says a person who knows the promoter really well.
I will continue the story in the subsequent blog, hope people await it and do not look up for the person mentioned.
Until the next part,
Cheers,
KS :)
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