This document summarizes profiles of entrepreneurs featured in the book "Stay Hungry Stay Foolish" by Rashmi Bansal. It includes profiles of 25 entrepreneurs who graduated from IIM Ahmedabad and chose unconventional career paths. The profiles provide details on their academic and professional backgrounds, and excerpt short quotes from their stories about entrepreneurship, risk-taking, perseverance and other lessons. The document is divided into sections on the different types of entrepreneurs featured - "The Believers", "The Opportunists", and "The Alternate Vision".

1. RASHMI BANSAL
STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH

2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rashmi Bansal is an
Economics graduate
from Sophia college
Mumbai and an MBA
from IIM-Ahmedabad .
She is a writer,
entrepreneur and
youth expert.
She is the co-founder
and editor of JAM(
Just Another
Magazine ).

3. STAY HUNGRY STAY FOOLISH
The book is all about the inspiring stories
of 25 IIM Ahmedabad graduates who
choose to tread a path of their own
making…..
“ This book would inspire the youngsters
to dream the forbidden and achieve the
impossible”

4. CONTENTS
THE BELIVERS
THE OPPORTUNISTS
THE ALTERNATE VISION

5. THE BELIVERS
“ People who knew entrepreneurship was the
chosen path.
They took the plunge straight after their MBA or
after working barely a couple of years. And they
persevered until made it big! ”

6. THE BOOK OF JOB
Academic
 MBA/PGDM, Indian Institute of
Management
Ahmedabad, India
1987- 1989.
 BA, St Stephens College
Delhi, India
1981- 1984.
Professional Experience
 Co Founder and CEO at Info Edge
Delhi, India -1990 - Present ( 21
years)
 Product Executive at HMM Ltd.
Delhi, India -1989 - 1990 ( 1 year )
 Junior Account Executive at Lintas
India Ltd.
Mumbai, India -1985 - 1987 ( 2
years)

7. THE BOOK OF JOB
“I could see my future , had I continued as a manager in the
corporate sector. If I was lucky, at the end of 5years I’ll be
a senior product manager, in 8 years I'll be marketing
manager… in 25 years I might be the CEO somewhere. All
this if I am really good. I used to ask myself: is this what I
want in life?”
“I didn’t want to sign complex agreements, have somebody
breathing down my neck and be under pressure for
growth. I was comfortable, leading an uncomplicated life.”
“Entrepreneurs are Seekers”
“Persistence is a quality that you have to have, to be
successful Entrepreneur”

8. ROCK WITH IT ROLL WITH IT
Academic
 MBA/PGDM, Indian
Institute of
Management
Ahmedabad, India
1986- 1988.

9. ROCK WITH IT ROLL WITH IT
“Entrepreneurs are smart people, they manage the
risk-reward equation very well. With an IIM
Ahmedabad degree, the risk is not much. You can
always go and start something. If it doesn’t work
out, somebody will give you a job…”
“Its all about being an eternal, insane optimist. I
never had the dilemma: Am I doing the right
thing? Should I just shut this down and go to take
up a job? Never !”
“Being an entrepreneur is the art and science of
creating value.”

10. THE CAT WITH NINE LIVES
Academic
 MBA/PGDM, Indian
Institute of Management
Ahmedabad, India
1979- 1981.
 Bachelor's Degree
St. Stephens College

11. THE CAT WITH NINE LIVES
“In looking back it seems, we were in step with the
turning in the economy… The truth is, it all just
happened. In hindsight, you can call it strategy.”
“What management education does is provide you
a perspective. But it doesn’t force you to work for
anybody else. It’s an education degree, that’s all.”

12. SOFTWARE COWBOYS
Academic
 MBA/PGDM, Indian Institute of
Management Ahmedabad, India
1977- 1979.
ASHANK DESAI
MASTEK

13. SOFTWARE COWBOYS
 “When Mastek has its IPO, software was not known to
brokers. Many of them asked, “Do you make floppy
disks’?!”
 “The other strategy was to divide the project into
many micro steps so that every delivery gets some
money. In time some banks started giving credit
against invoices.”
 “The IT industry is like sitting on a tiger. You have to
keep reinventing yourself.”
 “When you are sitting on a small market, you have to
be good at many things.”
 “Ultimately when you are running a company, you
have risk, you have responsibility to make it
successful. So the bucks stop at you. So to that
extent, there is a difference between executive and
owner.”

14. GIVER OF ALL GOOD THINGS
Academic
 MBA/PGDM, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1987- 1989.
R SUBRAMANIAN
SUBHIKSHA

15. GIVER OF ALL GOOD THINGS
 “If we would have known how difficult retailing is,
we would have never got into it. Operationally, it’s
a very challenging business, the pain factor is
very high. But the pain factor is what we love so
much. That’s what make to so difficult for
competition to come in very easily.”
 “I don’t think I look at myself as ‘owner’ of a
company. I look at myself as a manager for the
company. I am as amenable to rational logic as I
would be if I were an employee.”

16. SWEET SUCCESS
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India 1992 - 1994.
NARENDRA MURKUMBI
SHREE RENUKA SUGARS

17. SWEET SUCCESS
 You keep thinking about how to grow the business. Of
course, you have a lot of ideas, and not everything
succeeds. In fact, I think very few stories are written
about the failures…But as long as the successes are
big enough, I think things take care of themselves.”
 “In every business, the more you know about the
grassroots, the better.”
 “I am an entrepreneur because I want to create
something. It's not the money that motivates but the
size of what you build, the scale.”
 “It is always difficult to switch off. Mentally you are
always there and that's hard for the family. Partly
maybe personal style. Also because it's your own
business, you are that much more connected.”

18. AT YOUR SERVICE
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India 1970 - 1972.
CHENDER BALJEE
ROYAL ORCHID
HOTELS

19. AT YOUR SERVICE
 “When things are tight you monitor every expense.
Only when business is doing well inefficiencies creep
in.”
 “We compete with the big names - the Taj and Windsor
Manors of the world.”

20. SUCH A LONG JOURNEY
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India 1965 - 1967.
MADAN MOHANKA
TEGA INDUSTRIES

21. SUCH A LONG JOURNEY
 “When I went into this venture of Skega I didn't realize
that this may have a repercussion on the family.
Maybe, had I known that the family would break
because of this venture, I wouldn't have taken it up at
that time. So I don't know whether it was a good or a
bad decision. But once I took it up, I never gave it up.””
 “If you believe in a product, never give it up. You will
succeed. It may take time, it will cost money.”
 We are concerned about Chinese competitors, but we
have one advantage - our product requires software
and hardware, both. The Chinese can compete with
us on the hardware, they will take some time to
compete with us on the software. So we think we
have a lead on them.”

22. THE ALCHEMIST
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India 1977 - 1979.
SUNIL HANDA
EKLAVYA
EDUCATIONAL
FOUNDATION

23. THE ALCHEMIST
 “To take a 23 year old fresher from IIMA and throw
him into a sick unit, required a lot of guts and density
of learning is very high. If I had spent 19 months in
Hindustan Lever, as a management trainee, I would
not have learnt even one per cent of what I have
learnt in 19 months as an executive of a sick unit.”
 “I have always felt that the way to judge a manager is,
after thirty years, judge where his subordinates are. If
they are happy and successful and doing well in life,
part of the credit goes to that person.”

24. YEH HAI YOUNGISTAN MERI JAAN
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
2002- 2004.
VARADAN KABRA
FOUNTAINHEAD
SCHOOL

25. YEH HAI YOUNGISTAN MERI JAAN
 Education, as a business model is feasible, no doubt
about it. Except for the capital expenditure which
makes life very difficult. For a preschool there's no
problem.”

26. ADVICE TO YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS

27. THE OPPORTUNISTS
“ These entrepreneurs did not plan to take this path
but when opportunity knocked they seized it.
Their stories go to show that you don’t have to be
born with it, you can develop an entrepreneurial
bent of mind at any age! ”

28. TRIPPING ALONG
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1990- 1992.
 St. Stephens College,
Professional Experience
 Co Founder and CEO
at makemytrip.com, India -2000
 Charter Member of TiE (The Indus
Entrepreneurs) and on the Board
(since 2006)
 Head - IT Infrastructure(YES BANK)
DEEP KALRA

29. TRIPPING ALONG
 “The MBA is a wonderful degree. You can either use it
as a noose, or you can use it as insurance. I would
always tend to use it as insurance.”
 My motto for my team is borrowed from JEFF BEZOS
– “work hard, have fun, create history. But two out of
three is not an option!”
 “I have only taken in capital from guys who I think can
add value to us.
Investor philosophy of
Deep
 When it comes to investors, and even when it comes
to your own people, loyalty is important but
competence matters more.

30. BLOOM AND GROW
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1987- 1989.
 University Of Mumbai(Bachelor’s
Degree)
Professional Experience
 Founder, Chairman, CEO, MD of
EDELWEISS Capital (1995-
Present)
 Director and Member of Audit
Committee of Rediff.com India
RASHESH SHAH
EDELWEISS CAPITAL

31. BLOOM AND GROW
 “Very few people speak about it but there is a clear
change in the social status. Entrepreneurship is
messy compare to what things would be if you were
working for an MNC bank.”
 “When you are the CEO and shareholder, you want to
avoid raising money because your equity goes down.
When you wear only the CEO’s hat, all you want is to
grow as fast as possible.”
 “We always differentiate between a plan and an
aspiration. There is always a short term plan but there
are always long term aspirations.”

32. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HONEY
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1987- 1989.
Professional Experience
 Founder, Chairman, CEO, MD of
INDIA INFOLINE Ltd., (1995-
Present)
NIRMAL JAIN
INDIA INFOLINE Ltd.

33. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE HONEY
 “If you are an artist like M F HUSSAIN or a player like
TIGER WOODS your individual skill only matter, and
not how good a team player you are or how good
team you can build. The analogy applies to business
as well. Do you want to be TIGER WOODS, the golfer
or Captain of Team India?”
 “You always run a risk, it’s a game of probabilities.
You have to be sporting.. however good you are,
you may get out for a duck.”

34. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1968- 1970.
Professional Experience
 Co-Founder, Executive
Chairman, of EXL Service.
 Director of SPICE Enfotainment
Ltd.
VIKRAM TALWAR
EXL Service Ltd.

35. IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
 “It was fun of the whole thing, more than anything else
that drove me. It was creative aspect of my nature – I
love to cook, for example. I find that creativity.
Corporate life isn’t creative – it was more mundane,
routine…”
 “At the end of the day, I had given my personal word
to a lot of people who had come along with me.
People had left good jobs to come work with us. You
can’t just walk away.. And of course there was desire
to leave behind legacy.”
 “Working with a partner requires a huge amount of
sacrifice, understanding and tolerance. It’s like a
marriage at the end of the day. I mean worse than
marriage.”

36. DRUG BARON
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1977- 1979.
 University of Hyderabad(Bachelor’s
Degree)
Professional Experience
 Chairman and Managing Director of
ORCHID Chemicals &
Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
 Director of BEXEL
Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
K RAGVENDRA RAO
Orchid Pharma

37. DRUG BARON
 “We started as a public limited company right from the
day of the organization. Because I went and told
them, I committed to this, this is my plan and this is
what I have.”
 “Wherever I worked, even when I held with zero
shares, my attitude towards work and project has
been absolutely same.”
 “There is no point in merely saying we are all a family.
We have to believe it, we have to show it, we have to
behave, we have to walk the talk.

38. THE BANKER WHO BLINKED
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1971- 1973.
Professional
Experience
 Former Vice President,
General Manager of India
Operations and Non-
Executive Chairman of
MPHASIS BFL
JERRY RAO
MPHASIS

39. THE BANKER WHO BLINKED
 “I should have started 3-4 years earlier. If you think
about it, it could have been much bigger if we had
started in ’95. But that’s life. You start when you get
your break.”
 “You must not loose focus on cash… If you don’t have
cash, you are up against a wall. You end up raising
money at the wrong time or walking away from the
business.”
 “Plans are all okay, but if you don’t have the courage
to take mid-course changes and corrections,
particularly in highly changing environment like
technology space you’ll get into trouble.

40. ICH BIN EIN ENTREPRENUER
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management,
Ahmedabad, India
1974- 1976.
SHIVRAMAN
DUGAL
ICRI

41. ICH BIN EIN ENTREPRENUER
• “Professionals are better than entrepreneurs for
running the running business. Because an
entrepreneur is too much in love with his creation.
When you love something, you are blind to
everything which is wrong in it”
• “Working at other companies in my early career
helped me.. to understand how an employee thinks. It
also taught me the value of systems and how
important it is to employ people who are better than
yourself. Or your organization will never go
anywhere.”

42. FOR LOVE, NOT MONEY
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1994- 1996.
 Bachelor Degree, Indian Institute
Of Technology, Kharagpur.
Professional Experience
 Co-Founder, CEO, Director of
MARKETICS TECHNOLOGY
INDIA Pvt Ltd.
SHANKAR MARUWADA
MARKETICS

43. FOR LOVE, NOT MONEY
• “Culture is a set of daily behaviors exhibited by an
organization. The senior guys walk the talk, others
will follow. Because an organization, especially in the
beginning, is nothing but the reflection of the
founders.””
• “Marketics mission statement: “We will have globally
delighted clients who will benefit from us being the
world's best professionals in what we do. In doing so
we will have fun and get rich”.”
• ““It's a different kind of thrill when a client says, ‘Your
work has actually saved us. Your work has given us a
great idea.’The closest example I can think of is what
patients tell doctors.””
• ““Do you want to stay happy but small or do you want
to grow? These are two different paths and you have
to choose one. We made the choice to scale up.””

44. MILLION DOLLAR SEAM STRESS
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad,
India 1981-1983.
RUBY ASHRAF
PRECIOUS
FORMALS

45. MILLION DOLLAR SEAM STRESS
• ““As an entrepreneur you don't say that ‘I have to reach a
particular place in five years.’You just keep doing
whatever you are doing. You have plans, you have
goals, you know a strategy. But still one doesn't even
anticipate that so much work will be done…you just keep
doing it.””
• ““We are the only company that checks every garment
before shipping, in the US.””
• “The prom foray happened in 1996 and today Precious
Formals is one of the major players in that market. At
the upper end.”

46. Order Of The PHOENIX
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1987-1989.
DEEPTA
RANGARAJAN
IRIS

47. Order Of The PHOENIX
• “One has to have a creative streak if one needs to be
an entrepreneur. A strong desire to want to create
something and to make that happen.””
• ““While we are not starving, we are not tremendously
greedy, we don't constantly compare our net worth
with somebody else.”
• “If you have primary responsibility for caring for your
family and you want to be an entrepreneur, in terms
of balancing life, you could do something more
cottage, maybe from home. If I had kids I would
definitely re-size or re-scale the way I would be
involved with the company.””

48. HEALTH IS WEALTH
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1998-2000.
Professional Experience
 CFO, Director of MIRA
RESOURCES CORPORATION.
 CFO, Director & Chairman of Audit
Committee, NEVADA
EXPLORATION, INC.
CYRUS DRIVER
CALORIE CARE

49. HEALTH IS WEALTH

50. THE ALTERNATE VISION
“ These individuals are using entrepreneurship to
create social impact. Or as a platform which
allows them creative expression ”

51. A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1970-1972.
Professional Experience
 Managing Director of SINTEX India.
S B DANGAYACH
SINTEX

52. A SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
• “People know my integrity, people who are into
headhunting do not approach me ever. Possibly they
have some report about me, some reference about
me, so they are aware of what reaction they may
get.””
• ““I have a very simple mantra which is to combine four
I’s. The first I is Initiative. Second I is Intelligence,
correct choices. Third is Industry, which is obviously
hard work. Fourth I is Integrity. I work with total
integrity. If I take up something, either I will give my
whole of it, or I will not take it up.””

53. BASIC INSTINCT
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1979-1981.
Professional Experience
 Managing Director of SINTEX India.
VIJAY MAHAJAN
BASIX

54. BASIC INSTINCT
• “You go through several years of either nothing
significant happening or you actually have setbacks.
For me, there have been blockages in going forward
rather than going back. But I know of several
entrepreneurs who have had severe setbacks.
Basically they bounce back.””
• ““I realized that if we continued to remain dependent
on grants for our own functioning, and government
loans for the community, it's going to be a very slow
path. We won't be able to control anything.””
• ““The kind of things that one does in an organisation
every five years, we were doing every six months.
We thought ki yeh fit ho gaya. We have gone from a
concept note to a local area bank in two years flat.””

55. THE ART OF GIVING
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1991-1993.
VENKAT KRISHNAN
GIVEINDIA

56. THE ART OF GIVING
 “We also set up a ROTRACT club in the college,
which was very exciting. I would say my first
entrepreneurial experience in a sense.”
 “We actually used to go and meet people, get them
excited, get them to college and organize a career
guidance fair entirely on our own.”
 “… whenever you look into the things that make a
difference to quality of our lives, we somehow think
there’s no need to apply scientific thought.”
 “I think if there is passion in the environment, people
pick it up. I have seen it every place I have worked
in.”

57. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
ACADEMIC
 MBA/PGP, Indian Institute of
Management, Ahmedabad, India
1975-1977.
ANAND HALVE
CHLOROPHYLL

58. SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
 “The buffer that we talk about is having enough
money in the bank to pay fixed expenses for two
months you need to have it at any given point.”
 “The name chlorophyll embodies our core values:
creativity and efficiency. The molecule is
exceedingly efficiency because it uses every
photon and its creative because it combines two
unrelated things – carbon dioxide and water – to
create something new.”