Here is the speech for the BSMED Alumni meet celebrating entrepreneurs on 14 September 2012.
Hello students, alumni and respected faculty
It is a privilege to be sharing my views on the same podium as many of these dynamic entrepreneurs from BSMED. What I am going to say in the next 10 minutes may not make sense to many of you now. In time when some of you have worked in a job or ventured to be an entrepreneur, it might all piece together again.
Like millions of people in the world, I work in a salary paying job and have been at it for the last 15 years. I have had my share of good experiences, wonderful bosses, horrible managers, high performing teams, loser combinations, shining examples of good work and some hilarious instances of stupidity. Despite all this, I have not embarked on the glitz and glamorous journey of an entrepreneur. Many times I have wondered why? Chief amongst the reasons is that I don’t have a good business idea that stirs my soul. Seeing my friends here, each of them had a business idea and the all consuming passion to translate it to reality. They lived and breathed every minute of their lives into the idea and translating it to a viable business model. They were eating, sleeping and thinking one thought through the formative years of their company. They did not wait for the right time to arrive before they started work on their ideas. Every minute was the right minute. It did not matter whether they were in high school, a college graduate, illiterate person or a housewife. Every minute spent wondering whether to work on the business idea and having doubts, there were 20 other people across the globe who were already progressing towards launching the same product or service in the market. So, when any of you have a business idea anytime in your life, if it evokes all your energies, it’s the right one, why wait - Embark on the journey! A journey that will, no doubt, be a joyful and meaningful one.
Most of us from outside think that the journey is all of glitz and glamour. Being a CEO or MD must be giving them immense power and money as they are at the top, right? While these are the thoughts of the ignorant and un-initiated, anyone who has even had a small brush with the entrepreneurial world will know that the job of an entrepreneur is more than being the captain of the ship. They are also the office boys, delivery team, receptionist, operations guys, marketing staff, brand ambassadors and cleaning staff – all rolled into oneJ So the glitz and glamour has relentless hard work, complete ownership and great responsibility riding on their shoulders. So never take an entrepreneur lightly or their job as one where they can work when ever they please. This is one job that has no hours or job descriptions. It’s a job where the buck starts and stops with one person, the entrepreneur!!
Another myth that all of us carry is one where we believe that paying jobs always have people or bosses to whom we have to report. In contrast, the entrepreneur can set his own timelines and work at his pace and is not answerable to anyone. So untrue. An entrepreneur will be driven by the success he chases and by the responsibility he carries towards his business, towards is stakeholders and towards his employees. Hence there is never a boundary to his / her working time. Every opportunity will be seized to promote and brand the business no matter how late or how early. I would like to recall the words from the English movie –Spiderman. With great power comes great responsibility!
So now we know that having a business idea is key, working on it without wasting any time gives you the shortest time to market and owning the business is a hard and responsible job. Though I have shattered all the pleasant and glamorous thoughts about entrepreneurs and given a realistic view, we must also mull over the key qualities or attributes of an entrepreneur. Look around you, remember your interactions with the entrepreneurs seated here today you will all agree that
- they feel deeply passionate about the business they are in,
- they have enormous appetites for risk
- they are continous innovators, ideators
- they are enterprising and energetic
- they have the grace and elegance during successful ventures
- they have the drive to sustain thro failed ideas
- they are extremely self motivated and driven and
most of all they feel an abiding responsibility towards anything that they have started.
So I would like to end my speech with a salute to all these wonderful entrepreneurs! Kudos to each and every entrepreneur here and best of luck to everyone who chooses to walk down the same path of entrepreneurial adventures!! To close, I would recall the words of George Bernard Shaw – Life is not about finding yourself. Its about creating yourself!!
Good luck and God bless!!
Thank you!
Hello students, alumni and respected faculty
It is a privilege to be sharing my views on the same podium as many of these dynamic entrepreneurs from BSMED. What I am going to say in the next 10 minutes may not make sense to many of you now. In time when some of you have worked in a job or ventured to be an entrepreneur, it might all piece together again.
Like millions of people in the world, I work in a salary paying job and have been at it for the last 15 years. I have had my share of good experiences, wonderful bosses, horrible managers, high performing teams, loser combinations, shining examples of good work and some hilarious instances of stupidity. Despite all this, I have not embarked on the glitz and glamorous journey of an entrepreneur. Many times I have wondered why? Chief amongst the reasons is that I don’t have a good business idea that stirs my soul. Seeing my friends here, each of them had a business idea and the all consuming passion to translate it to reality. They lived and breathed every minute of their lives into the idea and translating it to a viable business model. They were eating, sleeping and thinking one thought through the formative years of their company. They did not wait for the right time to arrive before they started work on their ideas. Every minute was the right minute. It did not matter whether they were in high school, a college graduate, illiterate person or a housewife. Every minute spent wondering whether to work on the business idea and having doubts, there were 20 other people across the globe who were already progressing towards launching the same product or service in the market. So, when any of you have a business idea anytime in your life, if it evokes all your energies, it’s the right one, why wait - Embark on the journey! A journey that will, no doubt, be a joyful and meaningful one.
Most of us from outside think that the journey is all of glitz and glamour. Being a CEO or MD must be giving them immense power and money as they are at the top, right? While these are the thoughts of the ignorant and un-initiated, anyone who has even had a small brush with the entrepreneurial world will know that the job of an entrepreneur is more than being the captain of the ship. They are also the office boys, delivery team, receptionist, operations guys, marketing staff, brand ambassadors and cleaning staff – all rolled into oneJ So the glitz and glamour has relentless hard work, complete ownership and great responsibility riding on their shoulders. So never take an entrepreneur lightly or their job as one where they can work when ever they please. This is one job that has no hours or job descriptions. It’s a job where the buck starts and stops with one person, the entrepreneur!!
Another myth that all of us carry is one where we believe that paying jobs always have people or bosses to whom we have to report. In contrast, the entrepreneur can set his own timelines and work at his pace and is not answerable to anyone. So untrue. An entrepreneur will be driven by the success he chases and by the responsibility he carries towards his business, towards is stakeholders and towards his employees. Hence there is never a boundary to his / her working time. Every opportunity will be seized to promote and brand the business no matter how late or how early. I would like to recall the words from the English movie –Spiderman. With great power comes great responsibility!
So now we know that having a business idea is key, working on it without wasting any time gives you the shortest time to market and owning the business is a hard and responsible job. Though I have shattered all the pleasant and glamorous thoughts about entrepreneurs and given a realistic view, we must also mull over the key qualities or attributes of an entrepreneur. Look around you, remember your interactions with the entrepreneurs seated here today you will all agree that
- they feel deeply passionate about the business they are in,
- they have enormous appetites for risk
- they are continous innovators, ideators
- they are enterprising and energetic
- they have the grace and elegance during successful ventures
- they have the drive to sustain thro failed ideas
- they are extremely self motivated and driven and
most of all they feel an abiding responsibility towards anything that they have started.
So I would like to end my speech with a salute to all these wonderful entrepreneurs! Kudos to each and every entrepreneur here and best of luck to everyone who chooses to walk down the same path of entrepreneurial adventures!! To close, I would recall the words of George Bernard Shaw – Life is not about finding yourself. Its about creating yourself!!
Good luck and God bless!!
Thank you!
