Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

I was curious about this book when I came across this somewhat unconvetional title "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish". So I decided to pick up a copy and flip through its pages. After going through the first few pages, I knew that this is the book I am going to keep with me for life. It's not because of any sentimental value but beacuse it is so insipiring to read about the young men who took risk in career and got ahead of others.

The book talks about 25 IIM-A graduates who, at different point of their life, decided to take a plunge into the challenging world of entreprenuership. They risked their career and turned down high paying job offers to start something of their own. The ups and downs faced by them in their endevours to do something different makes one think how big dreams are achieved.

The book is well written in short, simple and crisp English. It doesn't require one to be a Management guru to understand the context. There are a few jargons here and there. But overall, the book is quite interesting and inspiring to read. Highly recommended, especially to all those who are starting out on their career path.

I had first heard this quote "Stay Foolish and You Will Surely Stay Hungry" in Happionaire's Cash The Crash. Now when I read this book, I can realize what is means. This book has its pros and cons - while it is excellent to appreciate people who achieve - we need to realize that IIM - A is not the supreme authority. I find it sad that even today in India people rub behind things like IIM.

Mukesh Ambani - was he from IIM?
Dhirubhai Ambani - was he from IIM?
Bharti Mittal - IIM?
Kishore Biyani - IIM?

See my point. Knowledge is for everyone!

Raj,

I haven't read any of the above books yet, but I have watched/read the speech of Steve Jobs. I felt, yes, this man did commendable job in life, or as some say luck favored him all along (thats apart).

It is *very bad* habit among many Indians to ignore local heroes and praise someone thousands of miles away. Steve Jobs might be great(and now down sick too), but the people in book (hopefully you have read and completed) arent small either. To succeed in a country like India is very difficult. In the west, your talent is nurtured. But here, you are pushed down and condemned for failures. We are speaking of success, but in different environments altogether.

So we need to grow up. We may have something to learn from successful people in India rather than America (unless you are in America). If watching a youtube video is inspirational, keep that with you. Dont suggest it is the (only?) best way to get inspirational to others. Let others read and have a great time with above books. If one among readers gets inspired and achieves something, I feel the purpose of book is well served. Atleast I am happy about that countryman rather than Steve Jobs.

The book is divided into 3 sections

* The Believers: IIM-A graduates who took the plunge straight out of IIM-A
* The Opportunists: Who saw an opportunity and capitalized on it
* The Alternate Vision: Social Entrepreneurs who cared about things beyond money

The book is written in a conversational format with the author thinking aloud before having a conversation with an entrepreneur followed by the conversation and a page of advice from the entrepreneur.

The sheer breadth of advice from entrepreneurs proves one big point, there is no consistent formula for success. There are examples and counter-examples of every strategy in the same book.

* There is no other way but to learn from one's own mistakes
* It pays to ride a wave in an upturn but then belief in one's ideas is as important to see through the trying times
* Bootstrap is good but sometimes there is no other way to scale up without a high leverage investments backed by a VC/PE fund
* Jumping straight into the rough is good but so is gaining some experience and building a nice nest egg before taking the plunge
* Its good to have equal partnerships with your co-founders but sometimes there needs to be a first amongst equals for smooth functioning
* You can plan really well and execute it with mathematical precision but sometimes the best of plans can be bested on first contact with the market
* Maintaining independence of your venture ('my baby') for long through the rough road is good but knowing when to let go even when the going is good is needed many times
* Government can be a very conservative regulator and prone to knee-jerk policy actions based on emerging events which can kill entrepreneurial ventures but sometimes they are the only ones who are willing to try out something new providing the much needed lifeline to ventures thinking ahead of their times.
* Small is beautiful but without scale the actual vision cannot be realised
* In all cases IIM-A alumni network helped a lot

The book was more of a compilation of interviews with top entrepreneurs. It sort of became monotonous beyond a point.