An IAS officer based in Maharashtra wrote this incredible email to Vijay Mahajan describing how his story in Stay Hungry has given him renewed hope…

Dear Vijay ji,
Hi. Knowing about you invokes a very good feeling for reasons more than one. Especially for this- there is hope for India…

My name is XXX. I am 32 years old, a medical doctor by education, a bureaucrat by profession but that’s
not significant. What is significant is that the Basic Instinct you speak of would be there in so many of us, and that is why I feel we must all connect. Reading about Basix and your earlier journey makes me feel very happy. It is very good to know that best brains in our country are doing meaningful work for social good.

I personally feel that precisely this is required to take us all ahead. In fact, when you mentioned you were to explore politics, but dropped the idea, I wanted to know more about it. Not that the reasons are difficult to guess, but then in a very ideal situation intelligent, ziddi people like you would make good leaders, I guess. Not many people outside the system would continue the struggle, fight out the ‘middle-class insecurity’ and be able to do something meaningful.

I have had experience of about 5 years in Government service, of which the three years spent in a district called ABC in Maharashtra as CEO of Zilla Parishad was a very good learning experience in participative development. My job profile was rural development, and we had a great time working with people especially for sanitation. [The experiences are penned as 'Beyond Sanitation' by me and published by Institute of Development Studies, U.K., and Water Aid –and available on internet].  We also did many innovations in education and health.

I feel that being in the ’system’, the opportunities are immense. However I feel it is more creditable for someone outside the system to carry the flame. Both must work together for the best results.

My best wishes for your good work,

P.S. Dear Rashmi ji, i am a very poor reader…however when i read about your book in The Hindu I knew I would love to read it. My wife could locate it fortunately in Delhi and got it for me. Reading one chapter, I knew I was not wrong. Congratulations.

I think the IAS provides an amazing platform for committed and intelligent young people. We need as many committed bureaucrats as we do entrepreneurs. From all of us, Mr XXX, please keep up the good work!

Glad to see Stay Hungry impacting smaller towns as well. This email from Utkarsh Bedmutha says it all:

I read your book & loved it! Its a sort of “(IIM Ahemdabadi flavoured) Chicken Soup for the budding Entrepreneurs!”  I thought of gifting Stay Hungry…, to my friends & clients as a Diwali gift.

I got a 100% feedback from everyone who started reading the book, that they loved it! Everyone thought it was a unique sort of collection of interviews which gave them good insight on how some of the best brains of the country do business.

As they say, Mogambo khush hua, aur author bhi!

As you all know IIM A and IIM C have been arch rivals for close to half a century. All in good spirit but neverrtheless it was nice to hear from Biswa of AB Global Consultancy. He wrote:

Really an inspiring book…  I am sure that people will be inspired with these live stories.

He signed off with ‘An Alumnus of IIM Kolkata’ so I thought let me acknowledge it here Jokes apart, as I have said before, these stories could have been from anywhere, including IIMC. And in future endeavours I will definitely be more inclusive!

That is a question many budding entrepreneurs have been asking.  Here is a sample (the ALL CAPS style is how it came in and I have left it untouched

HELLO,
AKSHAY KOTHARI HERE…..

READ ABOUT YOU AND YOUR LIFE IN THE BOOK  “STAY HUNGRY,STAY FOOLISH” AND GOT VERY MUCH INSPIRED WITH  THE PEOPLE ABOUT WHOM YOU HAVE DESCRIBED.

I RESPECT YOUR ACHEIVEMENT,VISION AND DREAM.  SOMETHING ABOUT ME,
I AM  20 YEAR OLD FRESHER RECENTLY PERSUING BBA (FINAL YEAR) FROM INDORE. (CITY OF OPPORTUNITIES).

WE HAVE A SOUND REAL ESTATE BUSSINESS IN INDORE, SATISFIED CUSTOMERS AND MOST IMPORTANT GOODWILL. ITS ALL DONE BY MY FATHER AND I M RUNNING IN THE PROCESS TO MAKE IT 100 TIMES AND THATS COMMITMENT.

THATS WHAT I WANT IN MY LIFE -:

I WANT TO PROVE LEADERSHIP IN MY OWN WAY.
I WANT TO CREATE MY OWN PATH AND FOOTPRINTS.
I WANT TO BE THE MASTER OF MY OWN DESTINY.
AND FINALLY…..
I WANT TO BE YOU BUT IN A DIFFERNT WAY.

AND I WANT TO MAKE THIS ALL TRUE IN  REALESTATE  BECAUSE THATS WHAT ONE DAY MY CITY WILL BE KNOWN FOR,AND I WANT TO BE A REASON FOR THAT !!  QUESTION I WANT TO ASK -:

TWO YEARS IN A BUSSINESS  OR TWO YEARS IN A BUSSINESS SCHOOL WHAT KEEPS MORE WORTH?????
JOB EXPERIANCE WITH ANY COMPANY OR DIRECTLY I SHOULD JOIN MY BUSSINESS???

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH AN EVERLASTING SUCCESS FOR YOUR MAGAZINE (JAM).
REALLY THIS BOOK WAS THE BEST ROADMAP FROM DREAM TO SUCCESS.

THANKS

AKSHAY KOTHARI (ON THE WAY TO BE A REAL ESTATE TYCOON)
INDORE (MP)

Well Akshay, there is no hard and fast rule. You can definitely become a tycoon without an MBA degree but if you feel you want that experience, then go for it now rather than regret many years later. Two years is a very short time in a long career. Just make sure you learn from the MBA what YOU want to make a success of your business and do not get caught up in the placement ratrace.

Anaggh Desai writes about Stay Hungry:

A nice easy read, catering to the youth, motivating them to take risks, not travel the trodden path… The take away at the end of each section are pretty good, sometimes bit of IIT/IIM coming through. Personally would have liked a common one at the end.

He has thoughtfully provided his own takeaways:

• An IIT/IIM provides a job security normally not available to others.
• Most of the featured entrepreneurs had spouse who were batch mates & even when not, held a job to keep home fires burning, removing the worry.
• The network that IIT/IIM offers (not that everybody is able to exploit it)provides a good parachute.
• Practically nobody has done an IIT & IIM with the express purpose of turning entrepreneur, it happens on the way.

V V K Chandra a ka Webgeek notes on his blog:

Every chapter ends with few paragraphs of advice for young entrepreneurs from the person profiled in that chapter. This is what I liked the most in the book – quick words of wisdom for budding entrepreneurs from these successful entrepreneurs.

And this, very touching email came from Vinay, an engineering student.

I read your book ‘stay hungry stay foolish’ .Its a great book and provides a lot of inspiration for students and also those students like me who are not that good in academics . I thought placement was end of the game in final year . I lost one year and am not eligible for placements . After reading your book i got a new ray of hope about life !

And this last one reminds me that in life we can all use a pick-me-up

Dear Rashmi,
First of all a big thanks to you for writing an interesting book like STAY HUNGRY, for two reasons:
a) Its inspiring and helped me a lot in regaining my self confidence, which i have lost in my first two ventures as entrepreneur.
b) Its a book which will help the readers, in having a clear & transparent vision for their own life. Apart from this, I shall be grateful to you if will continue this as a series and keep inspiring the youth of India.

Thanks & Regards
Monik Gupta
Managing Director, SNOWWHITE LABS. PVT. LTD.
NEW DELHI

Here are a couple of critics who have not liked Stay Hungry:

T R Vivek writes at vccircle.com : Within five exasperating minutes of reading the book, you wonder what Bansal was trying to achieve. Is this an alumni diary, or an end-of-college scrapbook where you write nostalgic non-sense about all your classmates?

Well, Vivek is entitled to his opinion but I would just like to clarify that there was a single-point objective: to inspire young people to consider the option of entrepreneurship. Also, to answer his question about ‘taxpayer money’ the book was funded by NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) – they provided the grant to IIMA’s CIIE.

Yes, there is use of Hindi but I am certainly not inspired by Chetan Bhagat. Anyone who has followed my writing career knows this is the way I write – since my first piece was published in The Indian Post in 1988

But like I said, people can have different points of view and I thank TRV for bestowing on me the Bulwer-Lytton prize for worst novel or somesuch. Bhai prize is a prize!

Vivek Kaul of DNA makes the same points, although in a much gentler and measured way. His review is titled Success stories, hurriedly told:

What clearly works for the book is Bansal’s racy writing style. Once you pick it up, chances are you will finish it. The book can easily be called the “One Night at a Call Centre” for business publishing in India. It has lots of interesting tit-bits of information, served in an uncomplicated style.

Having said that, the book has more than its fair share of weaknesses. There is no reason given as to why were only these 25 entrepreneurs chosen…Most profiles read like extended resumes. Bansal has spent too little time researching people.

Ah! The Chetan Bhagat comparison again. It means a book which people read instead of just buying and keeping on their shelves, I think

I do accept Vivek’s criticism that the book did not go very in-depth. There were constraints of time and resources. Besides, my objective was not to produced mini-biographies. As this reader noted in her blogpost:

I have read just one story out of the twenty five yet…but I actually had goose bumps while reading it…. Rashmi writes well..you actually feel you are sitting across the table and are in conversation with the man…

And as a commenter on the same blog noted when someone brought up the VCcircle.com review:

what the critique has to say has also got a point….but I would not like to read something very details a superficial narrative is good for me…it caters to my attention span.

And so it goes. I wish I could please everyone but if I had to choose, I would rather go for pleasing the readers.. Will of course try for the double whammy, next time

Sharing some of the many responses received from readers via email over the last one month. Excerpts will be added to the feedback section of this site as well.

Congrets!!! Very good book! Well written. The best thing about the book is you allowed good space for entrepreneur to tell their story. In one line the concluding part is “lage raho”. A good number company listed in the book gone through “near to close” phase before prosperous. Patience might be the difference between success and not a success. This finding is very aspiring gesture for entrepreneur.
- Devendra Patel

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I just completed your book “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” and I am feeling so inspired that i can’t express in words. I became a big fan of yours for writing such an exceptional book. Lots of thanks to you. “I would like to invite you for my interview one day”….This is the confidence you have developed in me.

Thanking You

Kushal Ingole
Final year undergraduate
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
IIT Bombay

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I dropped by at Crossword Kemps Corner to pick up bread from Moshe’s (which my daughter loves!) and was gobsmacked to see Stay Hungry at # 3 in the ‘Non fiction Best sellers’ list. Bahut acchha laga!

Long and arduous journeys
Shobhana Subramanian / Mumbai October 17, 2008, 0:36 IST

Get up and walk every time you fall.” That’s probably the best takeaway this book offers. But there’s loads of advice here for budding entrepreneurs. And since it’s from people who have been there and done that, more often the hard way, it’s worth listening to.

Rashmi Bansal’s profile of 25 successful business people, all from IIM Ahmedabad, who tell her how they reached where they have, couldn’t have been better-timed. A liberalised economy is allowing an increasing number of youngsters to give up jobs to be on their own, and they would gratefully appreciate a tip or
two.

Bansal, herself an IIM-A alumnus, has met up with an interesting mix of entrepreneurs, among them Sanjiv Bikhchandani of naukri.com, R Subramanian of Subhiksha, Rashesh Shah of Edelweiss, Shantanu Prakash of Educomp, Deepta Rangarajan of Iris and Vinayak Chatterjee of Feedback Ventures. Many of their stories may be well-documented, but it’s nonetheless fascinating to read about how they spent their childhoods, how their college years shaped their personalities, how they struggled to keep their businesses going, and how they brought themselves to make personal sacrifices.

Shantanu Prakash’s first office, for instance, didn’t even have a fan. Vijay Mahajan lived in villages, away from his family, for long stretches of time. As makemytrip.com’s Deep Kalra says, it’s hard when you’ve put in your life’s savings and you don’t draw a salary.

There are plenty of nuggets: try to be early, base your business on deep customer insights, start small and expand after you’ve got the processes right, don’t exaggerate the business plan when trying to raise money. Or suggestions that may seem obvious (Is the business inherently scalable? Is the market opportunity large enough?), but which a budding entrepreneur may nonetheless want to ponder.

There are basic insights on entrepreneurship. Bikhchandani believes that persistence is a must-have. For many, though, it’s passion that’s more important, the urge to do something different and on one’s own. Chatterjee says money is just a by-product; it’s the challenge that counts. He admits to making mistakes—Feedback Ventures was saved from extinction thrice.

Also, one should be able to give up control. “Control,” says Cyrus Driver whose Calorie Care serves 600 special meals a day, “is not as important as the brand becoming bigger.”

One of the more inspiring stories here is Vijay Mahajan’s, who pioneered micro-finance in India and whose BASIX has provided on-the-ground professional and technical assistance to NGOs. Mahajan had always wanted to address issues of inequality and social justice. It wasn’t easy but he persevered and ultimately found success. Thanks to his efforts, money earmarked for backward areas was well-utilised and made a difference to a large number of people in villages.

Venkat Krishnan’s tale of setting up GiveIndia, a philanthropy exchange where donors can hook up with NGOs, is heartwarming. A brilliant student who slept more than he studied at the IIM, and was nicknamed “Fraud”, Krishnan could have earned millions. Instead, he chose to help Sunil Handa start Eklavya, a school with small classrooms and financial assistance for low-income students. Later he set up GiveIndia. Krishnan makes an interesting point about how useful being an IIM graduate is. It allowed him tremendous access to people—they readily let him into their homes when he was trying to get students for the school. The other lesson he learnt is the power of a person-to-person sales pitch, which is unmatched by automation.

The founder of Eklavya, Sunil Handa’s story too is fascinating. Handa whose father started life as a mill mazdoor had a difficult childhood because he couldn’t speak English and was teased and bullied. He overcame this handicap to become a good speaker and student. It turned him into a fighter and he went on to help organise Madhubani painters, all women, into a society so that they could earn more through their work. Later he set up Core Parenterals which became a Rs 600 crore firm. Much later, he set up Eklavya.

The other inspiring tale is that of Vardan Kabra whose Fountainhead School in Surat is partly inspired by Eklavya. Initially plagued by dejection, Kabra finally realised he needed to start small, and cobbled together Rs 13 lakh for the project. Fountainhead has just started its first full-fledged school. Kabra believes you have to start with your head in the clouds; that’s what gives you the courage to take a foolish decision instead of the safe one.

It’s been a long and arduous journey for these entrepreneurs; many are still making losses. Determination matters, but ultimately, so does destiny.

Rashmi adds: Sometimes you wonder if the reviewer has actually read your book – well this one evidently did She’s captured the spirit of the book beautifully.

I would just like to add that ‘many are still making losses’ is a somewhat incorrect statement. None of the companies featured are technically ‘in the red’ today. Even the most recent start ups like Calorie Care and Fountainhead – they’re not making a LOT of money but they are breaking even.  Of course almost ALL the companies featured in ‘Stay Hungry’  were making a loss at one time or another !