Tracking the turning points in the Lives of Top Entrepreneurs

The modern Indian entrepreneurial renaissance is a fascinating phenomenon. For the past four years, it has been our privilege to track and report various facets of that journey. It is stunning to see the sheer number of people who are keen to take the plunge into entrepreneurship these days. For many of them, starting up a new enterprise has some kind of a fairy-tale, romantic charm. So what does it really take? As a hard-headed journalist, the one thing that I’ve heard most often from entrepreneurs is that there is no rule book for success. In fact, the thrill that comes from dealing with the unexpected twists and turns is an essential part of the learning experience.

The best entrepreneurs almost always have amazing stories to tell—if you have the patience to hang in there. I’ve known one such frontline entrepreneur in the retailing business. Nothing comes easy when you’re with him. For the first two hours of the meeting, all you would get are tiny morsels of meaningless drivel. He would invariably warm up to the conversation only after you had spent a minimum of three hours with him in his office. And then, some incredibly brilliant consumer insights would come pouring out.

In this edition, we’ve focussed on creating a veritable treasure chest of such insights. We asked a panel of high-performance entrepreneurs to share a truly defining moment in their journey.

The purpose was simple: At Forbes India, we’ve always been fascinated by the concept of inflexion point, or as Intel founder Andy Grove would say, “an event that changes the way we think and act”. Almost every entrepreneur has such “turning points”—and we believe that how they navigate such moments of intense, dramatic change provides deep insights about entrepreneurial success and failure.

To ensure enough diversity, my colleagues spoke to entrepreneurs from a wide range of industries—from design to automotive, from consumer packaged goods industry to the internet, and from publishing to biotech. In crafting each first-person account, we’ve consciously eschewed hype. In fact, we’ve tried, as far as possible, to also bring out the raw emotions and the gutsy decisions that lie at the core of entrepreneurship and innovation.

I’d urge you to read this package carefully because they bristle with insights about different situations: A hairy, audacious challenge of globalisation, managing a troubled legacy or simply letting go of operations. These are situations that every entrepreneur—even those who are aspiring—will be able to relate to. We do hope you like the package.

Our anniversary edition is a tribute to all those who’ve pursued the entrepreneurial dream—and emerged stronger, wiser and wealthier. If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, hopefully this special edition will nudge you to just do it.

Forbes India turned four earlier this month. To be sure, we have had our own share of inflexion points in our journey to become the country’s most influential multimedia business media brand. At the end of four years, Forbes India’s premium content is now available across all its engagement platforms: Print, television, live events and digital.

Allow me to thank you, dear readers, for all the support and appreciation that you’ve showered on us along the way. We promise to continue surprising you with fresh and engaging stories from the world of entrepreneurship and business.

As always, I’ll eagerly wait for your feedback on this special edition.

Best,
Indrajit Gupta
Editor, Forbes India
Email: indrajit.gupta@gmail.com
Twitter id: @indrajitgupta