"Success did not come in a day. It took me 20 years" - Manohar Reddy shares his story of rags to riches at TechSparks Hyderabad
“We shouldn’t be looking for heroes, we should be looking for ideas.” – Avram Noam Chomsky
Every industry has heroes – they are well known, top notch people at the top of their games. We look up to them because they have achieved. We derive inspiration, learn from their mistakes and enjoy listening to their stories. At the same time, there exist people who have achieved great heights working steadily and silently but have not been known by their own fraternity. When Manohar Reddy of Gallop solutions took stage of TechSparks Hyderabad edition, most of the audience needed an introduction.
The composed, witty and a successful entrepreneur from Hyderabad, Manohar, was quick to say, “I have not been to many such events because I was working hard.” He was very right in his statement. Manohar is an unsung hero in the Hyderabad entrepreneurial space and his life has been a rags to riches story of which each chapter has been written by his continual hard work.
One of the three sons of a government employee who was struggling to make ends meet could manage to send Manohar to government schools. He shared that his mother’s greatest desires at some time were to have a ceiling fan, a pressure cooker and a cooking stove – that meant the world to her. Seeing the lack of money in his childhood, Manohar was determined to change things in his life. There were many incidents that struck hard as a child but “there were three incidents in the childhood that drove me to be an entrepreneur,” shared Manohar :
1 ) We didn’t have a home. We were renting houses and were moving place to place. There was a time when we could not pay the rent and were made to move out immediately.
2) The first time I sat in a car, on the front seat, was when my father was driving an ambassador back to the mango farms of a Zameendar. I enjoyed the ride so much that I never wanted it to end.
3) One day I went to a neighbor’s house and they gave me Horlicks milk. I enjoyed it very much. I came back home and asked my mother to get it at our home too and she told me that we cannot afford it.
He was saddened by these experiences as any child would be but Manohar was determined to change this, to earn a lot of money, have control over it and to be free in all walks of his life. After taking the entrepreneurial plunge, success did not come to Manohar in the first go. He failed miserably 3 times before he even started Gallop. Manohar said, “Before starting Gallop I have even grown mushrooms. Success did not come in a day. It took me 20 years.”
The ambitious and hard working Manohar always believed that his efforts will pay off someday. He used to tell his wife that he will make a lot of money one day and his mother said, “Ignore him, he is hallucinating.” Time has proved that he was not. He started up Gallop Solutions in - a leading global technology and services firm with a focus on automation technology – and saw an exit with Cigniti Technologies this year.
Pillars of Manohar’s success:
- Appreciating and respecting colleagues for their hard work and support
- Building products that clients cared for
- Never compromising on integrity. If they were unable to deliver or made mistakes, they were always open with their clients about it.
- Having fun with the team in good times made them stick together in the tough times
- Having written goals and staying on course
- Staying ethical and paying taxes on time to stay stress free
- Sharing success – Manohar shared 50% of his stake with his employees after the Cigniti deal.
Manohar might have been a man of few words but his actions spoke of his high entrepreneurial values in his success. After Gallop’s exit, Manohar wants to help other entrepreneurs in the country. Concluding on entrepreneurship, Manohar said, “Entrepreneurs make this nation and they are the reason that this country will succeed.”
After some amazing lessons and stories from Hyderabad, we are waiting to meet all the Delhi entrepreneurs! For some fun and fact filled sessions giving deep insights in the startup eco-system, book your tickets now for TechSparks Delhi edition on 13th July.
