Mr. Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and vice-chairman, MindTree Ltd, one of the most admired IT consulting firms, was at the sprawling Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) campus on Friday morning, for an hour long interaction with the first year Business Management students. Successful entrepreneur and author of best sellers like ‘The Professional’, ‘Go Kiss the World’ and ‘The High Performance Entrepreneur’, Mr. Bagchi spoke at length about the do’s and dont’s of entrepreneurship, taking risks in life, and going down the path not travelled before.
Mr. Bagchi, who hails from Patnagarh in Orissa, cited the example of Mrs. Sangamitra Jena, who went from being a city tour guide in Bhubaneswar earning two hundred rupees a day, to establishing a tour company offering trips to Bhitarkanika National Park, whose turnover crossed the one crore mark last year. “You can have loads of competence”, he said, “but unless you take initiative, you’re not going anywhere.”
Several budding entrepreneurs lined up questions about their business ideas and the whereabouts of venture funding, running their ideas by him and effectively utilizing a wonderful opportunity of one-to-one interaction and individual attention from one of the most successful men in the business. “When you take initiative, the job of the world is not to roll out the red carpet, but to throw stones at you. It is your job to convert these stones into your foundation”, he said, whilst telling them about the hardships they would face as young entrepreneurs, and how to remain unfazed and use them to their advantage.
On being asked about the future of big organizations and power to the individual, he brought up the recent trend of microfinance providing capital to the poor, with big businesses not going bust, but coexisting and contributing to this growth.
Taking a leaf out of his latest book, ‘The Professional’, Mr. Bagchi said India’s current phase of development was defined by Indian professionals – doctors, lawyers, teachers and the like, but there was still a wide gap between Indian professionals and those abroad. Only complete self awareness of thoughts and actions and the capacity to work unsupervised would help bridge the awning.
Mr. Bagchi has also written extensively in leading newspapers and magazines, and spoken at industry platforms and educational institutions the world over. His Businessworld column ‘Arbor Mentis’ and Times of India column ‘Times of Mind’ have been widely read and discussed. Mr. Bagchi, in his current capacity as ‘Gardener’ at MindTree Ltd, shapes future leaders at the firm, and many such future leaders he hoped, would emerge from the crowd of eager students sitting before him.
The illuminating and enriching interactive session was thus brought to a close with the Director, Fr. P. T. Joseph presenting Mr. Bagchi with a memento.
Mr. Bagchi, who hails from Patnagarh in Orissa, cited the example of Mrs. Sangamitra Jena, who went from being a city tour guide in Bhubaneswar earning two hundred rupees a day, to establishing a tour company offering trips to Bhitarkanika National Park, whose turnover crossed the one crore mark last year. “You can have loads of competence”, he said, “but unless you take initiative, you’re not going anywhere.”
Several budding entrepreneurs lined up questions about their business ideas and the whereabouts of venture funding, running their ideas by him and effectively utilizing a wonderful opportunity of one-to-one interaction and individual attention from one of the most successful men in the business. “When you take initiative, the job of the world is not to roll out the red carpet, but to throw stones at you. It is your job to convert these stones into your foundation”, he said, whilst telling them about the hardships they would face as young entrepreneurs, and how to remain unfazed and use them to their advantage.
On being asked about the future of big organizations and power to the individual, he brought up the recent trend of microfinance providing capital to the poor, with big businesses not going bust, but coexisting and contributing to this growth.
Taking a leaf out of his latest book, ‘The Professional’, Mr. Bagchi said India’s current phase of development was defined by Indian professionals – doctors, lawyers, teachers and the like, but there was still a wide gap between Indian professionals and those abroad. Only complete self awareness of thoughts and actions and the capacity to work unsupervised would help bridge the awning.
Mr. Bagchi has also written extensively in leading newspapers and magazines, and spoken at industry platforms and educational institutions the world over. His Businessworld column ‘Arbor Mentis’ and Times of India column ‘Times of Mind’ have been widely read and discussed. Mr. Bagchi, in his current capacity as ‘Gardener’ at MindTree Ltd, shapes future leaders at the firm, and many such future leaders he hoped, would emerge from the crowd of eager students sitting before him.
The illuminating and enriching interactive session was thus brought to a close with the Director, Fr. P. T. Joseph presenting Mr. Bagchi with a memento.