N. R. Narayana Murthy was straightforward as always during a candid chat session with his son Rohan Murthy during Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2023. Murthy talked about building business, entrepreneurship and how Karna from Mahabharata impressed him the most. Murthy started Infosys with a group of highly motivated, hard-working and passionate people. His wife Sudha Murthy has talked about challenges she faced as his wife while caring for the family as he was too busy building Infosys into one of the best IT companies in the world.

During Moneycontrol Startup Conclave 2023, Naryana Murthy told Rohan Murthy, “The character who has impressed me the most in Mahabharata is Karna. Nobody else. Because of his generosity. That’s the way I grew up.”

Murthy explained why he didn’t keep majority share in Infosys Technologies. He was happy to be with the people who considered Infosys as their own company. He was impressed when people in his core team or higher management were more enthusiastic than he himself was. And, he felt that he had to give more to the people who were putting efforts in making Infosys successful. Murthy had failed in his first entrepreneurial attempt as he feels that the market was not ready for the product they were offering.

Murthy has few valuable lessons for entrepreneurs on hiring the right talent for the team. The core team is extremely important for the success of any venture. Murthy added, “First focus on competence, because otherwise not much work will progress. Second is value system -- in the beginning, everybody has to trust implicitly everybody else. Third, the only thing the employees of the company are your words. There is no guarantee if this idea will take off or not.”

Elon Musk is admired by people across the world as successful CEO, entrepreneur and he is open to new ideas. Musk still keeps a close watch on anyone hired by Tesla Motors or other companies run by him. As per recent reports, Musk was clearing every new hire for the company, personally. This is enough proof for any entrepreneur how important it is to hire the right talent for your venture.

For Indians, Murthy is the best example of entrepreneurship and success for hard working individuals. Infosys Technologies was founded in 1981 by seven engineers in Pune. Murthy remained CEO of the company for 21 years and investors knew him as very serious and reliable leader for the technology company that has turned many long-term investors into millionaires. The startup segment in India has heated up in the recent years, especially after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pushed forward with Startup India mission to promote entrepreneurship in India.

Narayana Murthy and Sudha Murthy are billionaires but both of them come from a humble background. Sudha Murthy has been popular on internet as she has shared her wisdom and how she saw Infosys grow into a multinational. Mrs. Murthy has written numerous books in Kannada and English and some of them have been translated in other languages. She was awarded Padma Shri in year 2006 by Indian government for her social work in different sectors. Their daughter Akshata Murthy is married to current British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.