India needs ‘butterfly’ entrepreneurs: Vineet Nayar
“The journey of entrepreneurship doesn’t start from what you want to be but from what you don’t want to be,” said Vineet Nayar, Founder Chairman, Sampark Foundation.
The former CEO of HCL Technologies was delivering a keynote address titled ‘Behold the Crystal Ball’, at the 12th edition of TiECON Chennai 2019 entrepreneurship event here on Saturday.
Using an anecdote featuring ants to illustrate the need to think big, Nayar said that there were a couple of ants discussing their aspirations. While the first ant wanted to be the richest, the second the biggest, the third ant said it wanted to be the most innovative. Laughing, a fourth ant said, “I don’t want to be an ant anymore, I want to be a butterfly.”
Drawing an analogy between entrepreneurs and free-spirited butterflies, Nayar said, “The day you decide that you don’t want to be ants, that day you will find the butterflies within you.”
“We need more such butterflying entrepreneurs if India wishes to be a $5-trillion economy by 2030 in which incremental change thinking plays a critical role,” he added.
Five success mantras
He also shared five success mantras for entrepreneurs — Taking chances, having irrational expectations, having conviction about your ideas, chasing one’s dream and everything cannot be done alone.
Harish Bhat, Brand Custodian of Tata Sons, in his address titled ‘India opportunity’, said the country is a land of huge opportunities and entrepreneurs should always aim for the long-term and should not let short-term cyclical events like slow down impact their long-term plan.
In his welcome address, CK Ranganathan, President, TiE Chennai, said that Tamil Nadu has been intellectually strong but ‘entrepreneurially weak’, which has been changing in the last few years. “We may be late but we will be the latest,” he added. Cautioning that artificial intelligence (AI) may create fewer jobs than what it destroys, he said, “It is high time to reskill people because predictable jobs will disappear very soon.”
He also said businessmen should be ready and agile in embracing technology in order to protect their turf.
The two-day event organised by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Chennai also witnessed a couple of panel discussions, freewheeling conversations with eminent speakers, industry leaders besides successful as well as budding entrepreneurs. Themed as #FutureReady, this year’s event was attended by over 1,400 delegates.