Entreprenuership still survives

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">BANGALORE: Ask Azim Premji, chairman, Wipro, whether he thinks entrepreneurship still ignites that scorching fire in the belly, he reels of a Ghalib two liner: <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Yeh woh aatish hai Ghalib, do lagaaye na lage, aur bujhaye na bane</span> (This (entrepreneurship) is a fire, that you cannot start, much as though you may wish to and once started you cannot extinguish, much as though you may wish to.)<br /><br />Regardless of the dotcom burst and the falling stock market debris, despite the Silicon Valley looking like it has lost its shine, the fires of entrepreneurship stoked by the global economic changes in the late 80''s and early 90''s have never really turned into ashes.<br /><br />Says Prof John Bravman, vice-provost, Stanford University, California, the breeding ground for hundreds of start-ups, "entrepreneurship is still alive and kicking in the US.No doubt it took a lot of beating during the past three years and people mistakenly say unlimited opportunities and wanted to super compress time scales and retire rich. But now, there are still ideas but you have to do real work with them. That frenetic pace and that frenzy has left - but entrepreneurship is something that cannot be turned off."<br /><br />Interestingly, Stanford University has been instrumental in the success of Silicon Valley and back home its alumni (like Mukesh Ambani, Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar of Bicon, Chetan Maini of Rewa fame among the 150 graduates) have contributed significantly to the Indian industry.<br /><br />Entrepreneurs make their mark on the world by building a company that grows and prospers. All they do is take the intangible thread of an idea and spin it into something real and in the longer run, profitable.<br /><br />Says Narayana Murthy, chairman, Infosys, "God has not finished with us as far as entrepreneurs are concerned. There is a still a great scope for ideas, companies and the marketing skills to conquer new markets. And, more important is the fact that entrepreneurial startups create employment opportunities too. And to be successful to stay in business you need more than courage. You need a combination of hard work, skill, perseverance, and good old-fashioned luck." <br /><br />In India, entrepreneurship activity is still young and everyone feels that of entrepreneurs are still going to come up. <br /><br />"I feel that this is just a beginning of an exponential curve and all the short term blips during the past two-three years should not confuse with long term trends," adds Ashok Soota, chairman, MindTree Consulting.</div> </div>