"what it takes to be a young entrepreneur?" by mr. raju venkatraman
DESCRIPTION
Mr. Raju Venkatraman's career in technology outsourcing began with EDS. In EDS, Raju spearheaded the applications outsourcing business (now called BPO) in a variety of verticals including Healthcare, Manufacturing and Federal Government. He left a successful career at EDS in 1991 and became a pioneer in outsourcing by launching Vetri Systems, an off-shore outsourcing company. Scaling his original company to nearly 4,000 employees/ contractors, he sold it to Lason, Incorporated in 1998. He served as the President, Data Management Services at Lason and was responsible for more than 7,500 employees and $85 million in revenue. In early 2002, he resigned from Lason and launched Sherpa. In 2005, he joined Banking office firm firstsource Solutions as Joint Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer. He was named Indian Entrepreneur of the Year in 2000, and is a recognized expert and speaker in the field of business process outsourcing. He is a chemical engineering graduate from IIT, Chennai and holds an executive MBA from the IIM, Ahmedabad, India.TRANSCRIPT
…Passion, Competence & Commitment
Adventures of an entrepreneur
- Raju Venkatraman
September 19, 2009
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J.R.D Tata while receiving the news of Bharat Ratna
"Oh! God, why me?”
“I am deaf to the word ‘No’.”
- Dhirubhai Ambani
“I want to put a ding in the universe”
- Steve Jobs
“Microsoft is not about greed. It's about innovation and fairness”
- Bill Gates
“People can have the Model T in any colour, as long as it is black.”
- Henry Ford
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What do these people have in common?
Welcome to a session on understanding entrepreneurship!
Agenda
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Who is an entrepreneur? What defines an entrepreneur – Characteristics/Traits Entrepreneurial Life Cycle My entrepreneurial story Questions
Who is an Entrepreneur?
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By Definition Entrepreneur is someone who has the ability and willingness to
introduce new products or services, that sell, to a market where those products or services where previously either unavailable or not desired.
They become the champions of a new process, and they are engines of change.
“An entrepreneur is someone who is able to envision a future where there is none that can be seen by others and go after it, relentlessly and restlessly in a single minded pursuit until he is able to accomplish what he has set out to.” - Raju Venkatraman
Entrepreneurial Traits
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Quick Learner
Personal Excellence
Change Leader
Entrepreneur
Innovator
Risk-taking & Resilient
Doer & Efficient
UncompromisingVisionary &
Dreamer
Innovator
•An entrepreneur has to be an innovator.
•There is no choice; unless you offer new value to the customer, you can’t get too far.
Risk-taking & Resilient
•A real entrepreneur is somebody who has no safety net underneath them.
Doer &Efficient
•Plans are meaningless unless they convert into immediate action.
•Action - efficiency is the most vital ingredient.
Uncompromising
•Once you say you're going to settle for second, that's what happens to you in life.
Personal Excellence
•People associate entrepreneurship with wealth creation.
•The greatest reward in creating wealth is not the amount of money that you earn.
•It is the kind of person that you have to become to create wealth in the first place.
Change Leader
•An entrepreneur has to be flexible and willing to embrace change, at all times.
•When your plans fail you must be able to quickly think on your feet and start on a new course, new direction. And you must be able to do this again and again and again.
Visionary & Dreamer
•To be an entrepreneur you need to be a visionary.
•And when you have that vision that no one else does, you must have the courage to act.
•So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover
Quick Learner
•An entrepreneur tends to bite off a little more than he can chew hoping he'll quickly learn how to chew it.
Entrepreneurial Lifecycle
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Attitude Opportunity
Idea Planning
Start - up
Growth
Diversify
Time
As an entrepreneurial leader…
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As an entrepreneurial leader you need to build Engage people in the business of the business Enroll and do not ‘roll out’ Be a coach and not a referee Build the four pillars of the organizational base
Customer Information System People Information System Management Information System Market Place Information System
Look beyond the job title to uncover gems of capability Shine the light of hopes and dreams: speak the language of
aspiration
My entrepreneurial story….
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EDSEDS
Firstsource Solutions
Firstsource Solutions
RevIT / SherpaRevIT / Sherpa
Vetri Systems / Lason Inc
Vetri Systems / Lason Inc
Profile / Responsibilities Achievements / Highlights
Joined the board and leadership team of Firstsource post sale of RevIT to Firstsource
Pioneered End to end healthcare delivery Entry in the domestic service delivery Entry in tier II and tier III cities
Scaled Firstsource to 22,000 employees from 4,000 employees with revenues of US$ 400 mn
Responsible for P&L and Budget Integrated Acquisitions at Firstsource Founded by Raju in 2002
Focused on BPO services in the healthcare space
Funded by UTI Ventures & Templeton Capital Sold to Firstsource in 2004
Pioneered the health care outsourcing in India Built a business scaling to 1,500+ employees
in ~2 years by leveraging prior relationships Delivered 84% IRR to its investors
Vetri Systems - founded by Raju in 1991 Largely self funded with some Angel
Investment Sold to Lason Inc in 1998 Lason Inc – Post 1998 acquisition of RevIT by
Lason, Raju was the President of Data Management Services managing 9,000 employees in 7 countries
Pioneered the Outsourcing business as early as 1991
Vetri Systems provided electronic media conversion, systems integration and technical consulting services for commercial and healthcare markets
Scaled Vetri Systems, a start up, to a 2,500+ employee organization
Delivered 12x returns to Vetri Systems’ angel investors in 6 years
Was the platform for Lason’s entry & Global footprint in healthcare
6 years at EDS, Troy, Michigan from 1985-1991
Responsible for EDS’s foray into BPO focusing on mortgage, healthcare, automotive verticals
Responsible for growing revenues in excess of US$ 100 mn per year in 5 years
What are you adding to your skill basket?
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At the end of the day, the question you need to ask every single day is this
What am I adding to my skill basket?
“The only real security that a man can have in this world is a reserve of knowledge, experience and ability”
– Henry Ford
THANK YOU
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