Entrepreneurs' Voice - Mahesh Murthy

Mr Mahesh Murthy spoke to the students at the Indian School of Business. There was an article carried out in the magazine "The ISB Mentor".

We replicate the article below. Way to go Mahesh.
KV Picket is proud of you !

Mahesh Murthy is the founder and CEO of Pinstorm, a company that helps clients optimise their ad spends on search engine marketing sites. An award winning advertising professional, Mahesh created and launched the first commercial version of Yahoo in 1995 and the “Earth’s biggest bookstore” campaign of Amazon while working with CKS Partners, a Silicon Valley firm that went public in NASDAQ. Mahesh returned to India in 1999 and in 2000 set up Passion Fund to invest in and guide start-ups. Some of his investments include Geodesic, which went public on the Indian stock market, Compass Box that merged with Career Launcher, India Properties, and Web Dunia. He was a member of the jury of the reality show – Business Baazigar, where aspiring entrepreneurs competed for an eventual funding of their dream.


Mahesh spoke to the Class of 2007 on the how and why of entrepreneurship. Answers to some of the fundamental questions of entrepreneurship were found after a breezy interaction between Mahesh and the students.


Who becomes an entrepreneur?

A large number of people working in organisations are mismatched to what they are doing. A majority of them make the adjustments needed and serve the organisations well as employees. Those who are intolerant and unwilling to make the required adjustments, end up as entrepreneurs.

Where does entrepreneurship flourish?
Entrepreneurship flourishes just about anywhere. Estonia is home to such hot technology companies as Skype. When it comes to entrepreneurship, location does not matter.

What kind of business should one start?

An entrepreneur must aspire to be where nobody else is. Every single trend about a sector mentioned in the media is a signal that that sector is dead as far as entrepreneurship is concerned. Trend, he said, signals the end. Entrepreneurs must pursue those kinds of ideas that lead to the creation of a product or service which uniquely delights customers. This would lead to the customers evangelising the product or service and enables the start-up to outsmart competition.

How should one start an entrepreneurial venture?

Most successful start-ups are able to bootstrap their ventures with funds raised from friends and family. They develop the ability to survive the hardiest of circumstances. They also hire multi-faceted talent who are comfortable with ambiguity


What motivates an entrepreneur?

As a successful entrepreneur himself, Mahesh said it wasn’t the wealth created that he found appealing but the excitement that the path of entrepreneurship provides. To entrepreneurs, the pot of gold is the rainbow.

As an investor, what does he look for in start-ups?
As an investor in start-ups, Mahesh seeks answers to the following questions:

Can I exit the company? Will I be able to find somebody else or the public at large to buy a stake in the company?

Can I help? Am I in a position to support the company with more than just money?

Can I fund it? Are the fund requirements within my means?

What kind of commitment does the entrepreneur show to the venture? Is he/she committed to it full time?

Is there chemistry between the entrepreneur(s) and me?

Concluding the discussion, Mahesh said that it was never too early to start an entrepreneurial venture. It is important that the entrepreneur get as many people on board as possible for the venture to succeed. The best funding a start-up can aspire to is customer funding, with customers paying for the product or service of the company.