Narayan Murthy’s Speech at NYU (Part 2)

The next event that left an indelible mark on me occurred in 1974. The location: Nis , a border town between former Yugoslavia, now Serbia, and Bulgaria. I was hitchhiking from Paris back to Mysore , India , my home town.

By the time a kind driver dropped me at Nis railway station at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, the restaurant was closed. So was the bank the next morning, and I could not eat because I had no local money. I slept on the railway platform until 8.30 pm in the night when the Sofia Express pulled in.

The only passengers in my compartment were a girl and a boy. I struck a conversation in French with the young girl. She talked about the travails of living in an iron curtain country, until we were roughly interrupted by some policemen who, I later gathered, were summoned by the young man who thought we were criticizing the communist government of Bulgaria .

The girl was led away; my backpack and sleeping bag were confiscated. I was dragged along the platform into a small 8×8 foot room with a cold stone floor and a hole in one corner by way of toilet facilities. I was held in that bitterly cold room without food or water for over 72 hours. >>>

Narayan Murthy’s Speech at NYU (Part 1)

[N R Narayan Murthy, chief mentor and chairman of the board, Infosys Technologies, delivered a pre-commencement lecture at the New York University ( Stern School of Business) on May 9. It is a scintillating speech, Murthy speaks about the lessons he learnt from his life and career.]

Dean Cooley, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, and, most importantly, the graduating class of 2007, it is a great privilege to speak at your commencement ceremonies.

I thank Dean Cooley and Prof Marti Subrahmanyam for their kind invitation. I am exhilarated to be part of such a joyous occasion. Congratulations to you, the class of 2007, on completing an important milestone in your life journey.

After some thought, I have decided to share with you some of my life lessons. I learned these lessons in the context of my early career struggles, a life lived under the influence of sometimes unplanned events which were the crucibles that tempered my character and reshaped my future.

I would like first to share some of these key life events with you, in the hope that these may help you understand my struggles and how chance events and unplanned encounters with influential persons shaped my life and career. >>>

Retrevo’s Vertical Search: Before and After

According to Vipin Jain, CEO, Retrevo “is a web service that helps consumers with shopping and support of tech products. Retrevo is your trusted advisor throughout the lifecycle ownership of tech products, from education, research, deals, price comparison, getting the best out of the products you bought, accessorizing, using, fixing issues to servicing your products. Retrevo is the only company that helps consumers before and after“. [You can read Vipin’s interview here to get the business story of this company.]

The Before is obvious, and similar to what we have seen in Wize and TheFind. You look for a product, research features, shop for the best prices, and make a final buying decision. It is the After that I find interesting in the case of Retrevo, which is also their key differentiator. >>>

Web 3.0 & Photo Sharing: Synthesis

Photo sharing is one of the top segments online and the top 10 photo sharing sites in the US draws as many as 50 million users every month. According to Hitwise, 4.9% of all Internet traffic went to the top 20 social networking sites like YouTube, MySpace, Photobucket, Flickr and Facebook, making photo sharing one of the top social media killer applications.

We have been reviewing the online photo sharing industry and have covered Flickr, Photobucket, Kodak Gallery and Shutterfly from a Web 3.0 perspective. The online photo sharing industry is booming and many new players like BubbleShare, Riya, Ditto (image search engine), etc. have entered the fray. >>>

A-Players, A-Team: Napoleon Failed

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author

In 1815, Napoleon began building up his army in preparation for an invasion of Belgium.

His goal was to capture Brussels. He wanted to divide the British, Prussian, Belgian and Dutch armies before defeating them separately, forcing Wellington’s army to retreat back to the Belgian coast in the west and the Prussians, headed by Blücher, to retreat to the east. He was ready to attack on June 15, 1815.

Three days later, against all odds, Napoleon lost the battle of Waterloo. >>>

Top Ten

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author

Why do strategies fail? How do CEOs ensure that things they want done get done?

Most of the time, strategies fail because they are not executed well. It is because there is a gap between what the CEO wants to achieve and the ability and priorities of his or her organization to execute.

I have seen organizations that seem incredibly busy and, yet, when you compare what the organization is busy with, it sometimes has very little to do with corporate strategy execution. Sometimes this is due to the fact that the strategy calls for a different DNA in the organization. Sometimes, it can be due to the wrong people in the wrong jobs. Sometimes, it is the result of unclear communication. Sometimes, organizations second guess the CEO and the strategy, and focus on what is, in their mind, the “right” stuff.

Whatever the cause, this is a symptom of cancer in a company.

How, to quote Scott McNealy, does a CEO “align the arrowheads”? >>>

iPhone and What’s Coming: Synthesis

Over the last few weeks, we discussed a number of iPhone related issues that are key blocks challenging the rest of the eco-system today. Here is a quick synthesis of the key nuggets:

(1) It’s positioning as a laptop replacement device, which I believe will force most of the other laptop and cellular handset vendors to consider introducing one, causing ripples through the entire eco-system (RIM, Nokia, Dell, Motorola, Palm). >>>

Design Can Carry A Brand

By Dominique Trempont, Guest Author

A brand is the emotional vibration between a company and its customers. That vibration is about establishing trust that customers should expect a consistent experience with the products and services of a company.

An example of that emotional vibration is Jaguar, at least in the 1950s and 1960s. >>>