Quote of the Day by Narayana Murthy: Entrepreneurship is all about courage, it's...

In a YaleGlobal Online interview, Narayana Murthy said entrepreneurship demands courage and a powerful idea. The remark draws on Infosys's 1981 founding and his broader view that enterprise creates jobs and value.In a YaleGlobal Online interview, Narayana Murthy said entrepreneurship demands courage and a powerful idea. New Delhi,Oct 14, 2026 07:00 IST“Entrepreneurship is all about courage, it’s all about thinking about a powerful idea and then converting it into wealth.”These words by N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of Infosys, capture his view of entrepreneurship as a combination of ideas, courage and execution. He shared this perspective in an interview with YaleGlobal Online while discussing the challenges he faced when he and six colleagues founded Infosys in 1981.At the time, India was not an easy place to start a business. Murthy recalled the difficulties of setting up a company and obtaining basic resources. Yet, he and his colleagues saw an opportunity in the growing demand for software and the expansion of global markets. Their decision to pursue that opportunity became the starting point of Infosys.FROM A SMALL START-UP TO INFOSYSBorn on August 20, 1946, in Sidlaghatta, Karnataka, Murthy studied electrical engineering at the University of Mysore before completing his master's degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur. He began his career at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad and later worked at Patni Computer Systems. In 1981, he joined six other software professionals to establish Infosys, which grew into a global information technology services company.According to Infosys, Murthy played a key role in developing its Global Delivery Model, which enabled software services to be delivered to customers across different countries. He served as the company's chief executive from 1981 to 2002.WHAT DOES THE QUOTE MEAN? Murthy's statement places courage at the centre of entrepreneurship. A powerful idea may offer an opportunity, but turning it into a business requires decisions, investment, hard work and the willingness to face uncertainty.The reference to converting an idea into wealth also goes beyond earning money for the founder. In a 2012 lecture at Cornell University, Murthy described entrepreneurship as a way to create jobs, develop new products and services, and help people improve their lives.He also emphasised that an idea needs the right market conditions and a team capable of executing it. A business concept alone is not enough; it must answer a real need and deliver value.FOUR MORE QUOTES BY NARAYANA MURTHY“Societies do not solve the problem of poverty by slogans.” “Entrepreneurship is about creating jobs and wealth with ideas.”“I think entrepreneurship is about daring. It's about courage. It's about sacrifice. It's about deferred gratification.” “Live in harmony with society ... have the good will of society.” For Murthy, entrepreneurship is not simply about having an idea. It is about having the courage to pursue it, the discipline to build it and the determination to create something of lasting value.- Ends