10 quotes on entrepreneurship and more by serial entrepreneur Ashok Soota of Happiest Minds

Ashok Soota describes himself as a late-stage entrepreneur and a late-late-stage serial entrepreneur. A veteran of India's nearly $200 billion IT industry, he has rightly proved that age is just a number. At 68, Ashok started Happiest Minds, and on September 17, 2020 — at the age of 77 — he successfully took it public. 

Happiest Minds Technologies had a strong debut on the bourses, with its stock closing up more than 120 percent over its IPO price.

Before this, Ashok co-founded Mindtree Technologies in 1999, which also had a very successful IPO in March 2007, that was oversubscribed 103 times.

An engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee, Ashok pursued his MBA from the Asian Institute of Management, Manila, Philippines, in 1973. He started his career with the Shriram Group of Industries in India in the year 1965. 

In 1984, he was hired by Azim Premji to build Wipro's IT business. Under him, Wipro’s revenue scaled from $2 million to $500 million in 15 years. 

He was recognised by the Electronic Component Industries Association (ELCINA) as the Electronics Man of the year in 1992. Ashok is also the co-author of the national bestseller Entrepreneurship Simplified.

Here’s are 10 inspiring quotes by the serial entrepreneur on ways to successfully scale up a new business.

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“Create an organisation that is designed for scale, otherwise you will never get there.”

“Timing is really key.”

“Being in the right place/industry is also critical to scaling up. When you’re in the right space, the industry itself gives you the impetus to grow.”

“Entrepreneurship should be a happy and joyous journey and a journey filled with purpose to be called truly successful.”

“People often get macho about entrepreneurship; that 'I am a risk-taker'. Risk is inevitable in any business, but the entrepreneur is one who is working towards minimising risk.”

“Always choose learning over cash and other considerations.”

“Take decisions based on cash versus profitability.”

“Reduce entrepreneurship and leadership to their bare essence and you’ll find that everything becomes simple”

“It is a myth that entrepreneurs have to be young. But the early-stage entrepreneurs often don’t know what they don’t know so they go on to change the world.”

“A team is the most important part of a startup. The founder should demonstrate that the team members are part of a family by their behaviour and actions, especially during tough times.”