4 business stars who have forged their own legacy
Does it really matter if daddy and mummy are rich? Some of the richest kids do suffer from guilt because it is a burden to carry. However there are some that go on to live achieve heights and succeed, without resting on their family's laurels. They live in the moment and entrepreneurship for them is a symphony of music. Just like Kishore Biyani, who carved his own history by creating the Future Group, there are younger people today who are leaving legacy behind to become big entrepreneurs. They are proving to the world that it was not always about the “got it all” that motivated them to be better people. These guys are now flag-bearers of entrepreneurship. Here are a few lessons you can learn from the moorings of these men that are under 36 years.
Kavin B Mittal
Did you know that the founder of Hike Messenger, which has over 100 million downloads in India, was an automobile engineer? He worked at McLaren Racing on a Formula-1 car where he was responsible for the lighting system on the steering wheel. A decade ago he also worked in Google’s worldwide mobile app strategy and was an analyst at Goldman. “You focus on learning and executing. You ignore the rest,” says Kavin.
What makes Kavin different is his ability to listen to ideas of his peers and he also keenly observes consumer behaviour. He combines the learning to pursue experiments in his company. He believes that the technology, which his company is building, can have an impact on society in five years.
He is the son of Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises.
Pranav Pai
He was the second employee of social learning platform EdCast and is also an investor in close to 40 companies. But what is not known about Pranav is that he is a rare combination of brains and acumen in business & technology. Having studied engineering in R V College of Engineering and an MS in Electrical Engineering in Stanford, there is no startup engineer or founder who can bullshit him. Behind the engineer is a man who cares about sustainable development and environment. He is one of the proponents of using technology to allow people to understand climate change. He built visualisation projects that would show users maps that project carbon emissions and rise in sea levels. “My team is scouting for entrepreneurs that are disrupting legacy businesses,” says Pranav Pai, founder of 3One4 Capital.
What people could learn from Pranav is his ability to push others' technology ideas – into actionable businesses. Being a keen observer he can dish out what works with a particular technology or a service in a jiffy. What makes him stand out as an entrepreneur is his ability to figure out the hype cycles of technology and how they can influence society.
He is the son of Mohandas Pai, Founder of Aarin Capital and ex-CFO of Infosys.
Rohan Murty
You hear the surname and you would know how Bengaluru was ushered into the Digital Era. But this man spelss his name as Murty and not Murthy. A quiet and modest person, Rohan is a PhD in Computer Science who loves the classics. He has set up the Murty Classical Library to revive great literary books of India. The library translates classics from various Indian languages. He is a former Junior Fellow, Society of Fellows at Harvard University, and a former post-doctoral student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has also been part of Microsoft Research.
From Rohan you can learn academic excellence and importance of pursuing what you believe in.
He is the son of Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus and Co-founder of Infosys.
M A Rohit
Now here is a man who built CloudNine Hospitals in to a $300-million business. Rohit learnt business under his father's strict tutelage. He began to experiment with business at a very young age; he started a retail store to sell devices and invested in a restaurant. He realised from these two businesses that in order to be different he had to do something unique. Noticing the potential of building a child healthcare chain in India he joined hands with a senior doctor to start the company. In five years, the company has 12 centres and is now looking at incubating healthcare startups.
“You build a business by not cutting corners. That is how a brand is built,” Rohit says.
What people can learn from Rohit is his ability to notice and pick out cutting edge technology in healthcare. He understands how to manage people, which is the most challenging skill in being a leader.
These are but a few examples of individuals who did not stick to their legacy but went ahead and created their own. They are an inspiration to many and will don the leadership mantel in this country for many years to come. They are in the end self-made businessmen.