NR Narayan Murthy - Biography by Ritu Singh
Synopsis
A biography of Mr. N. R. Narayana Murthy documenting his journey from childhood to the founding of Infosys. The book captures his defining traits based on publicly available data, detailing his transformation from a communist sympathiser to a pragmatic capitalist. It manages to convey the ideals and values that NRN firmly believes in and lives by.
My Review
This is a run-of-the-mill biography that reads more like a collection of newspaper cuttings than the coherent storyline you’d expect from a serious biography - the likes of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It appears the author was more focused on meeting a publishing deadline, and it shows in the lack of research, which is a shame given that NRN is such an influential figure in the Indian business scene and deserves a far better presentation.
Key Takeaways
1. Wealth Creation Before Distribution
NRN firmly believed that wealth creation must be prioritised before equitable wealth distribution can be achieved. He arrived at this conviction during his time in France — a sharp contrast to the socialist approach prevalent in India at the time.
2. The End of His Communist Sympathies
His soft feelings towards communism evaporated during a hitchhiking journey through Eastern Europe. He recounts an experience in Bulgaria that finally put the nail in the coffin of his affinity for communist ideas.
3. Mission-Focused and Ready to Sacrifice
A recurring pattern throughout the book is NRN’s unwavering focus on his mission and his willingness to sacrifice for it. Once he committed to becoming a wealth creator, he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in pre-liberalisation India, turning down lucrative job offers from Western companies in Europe and the USA. His first venture, Systems Research International, was not a great success, yet he gave it everything for two years - surviving on a meagre paycheck - all in service of his mission to build from India.
4. Transaction-Based Business Philosophy
He always believed in earning money by delivering value to the customer that exceeds their expectations. This principle became one of the foundational values of Infosys.
5. Integrity as a Core Value
NRN was a man of integrity and instilled this quality in Infosys from its earliest days. No one was permitted to misuse company resources for personal purposes, and everyone was encouraged to use those resources judiciously and minimise costs.
6. The Infosys Mission
NRN’s mission is aptly captured in the Infosys tagline: “Driven by intellect, powered by values.”
7. Human Capital as a Tangible Asset
Infosys was one of the first companies in the world to recognise the value of human resources as a tangible asset in its financial statements. This philosophy ensured investment in people development, visible in the careful design of their campuses and training centres across India - a long-term bet that paid dividends for decades.
8. Revenue Diversification
Infosys learned early never to base its revenues on one or a few major customers or verticals. It consistently hedged across multiple customers and sectors to ensure cash flow remained insulated from disruptions in any single vertical.
9. Core Tenets of Business
The book highlights key business principles that guided Infosys: predictability and profitability being central among them.
10. Riding the Wave of Liberalisation
Infosys’ rise coincided with the liberalisation of the Indian economy. The company spent much of its early years figuring out its strategy, even reaching a point of nearly being sold in the late 1980s. Thanks to NRN’s singular focus on his mission, he was willing to take the bold risk of buying out the stakes of other founders who had lost confidence in the company’s future. As the saying goes, “The night is darkest before the dawn” - they sailed through that difficult period and eventually became one of India’s most admired blue-chip companies.
11. Creating Wealth for All Stakeholders
NRN always believed in creating wealth not just for himself, but for all stakeholders. Infosys became one of the first Indian companies to offer ESOPs to all its employees, and it went public in 1993. Between 1993 and 2007, Infosys stock grew 3,000x, creating multi-millionaires across a large section of its employees and shareholders. This is a lesson every founder should aspire to replicate.