Entrepreneurs
Co-founder of Infosys, built India's IT industry
N.R. Narayana Murthy built Infosys from a $250 loan into an IT giant, pioneering India's global tech revolution.
“The softest pillow is a clear conscience.”
8 Courses · 40 Lessons · 5 Hours
Biography
Born in 1946 in Karnataka, the seventh of eight children to a schoolteacher, he studied electrical engineering before attending IIT Kanpur. After an experience in France and a 72-hour arrest at the Bulgarian border, he transitioned from socialism to the concept of “compassionate capitalism.”
In 1981, in Pune, he founded Infosys with six other engineers and $250 borrowed from his wife, Sudha. For years, India's stringent regulations made it impossible to import a computer or obtain a telephone line; they waited a year for a single permit.
The liberalization of 1991 opened doors: Infosys pioneered the Global Delivery Model, listing in India in 1993 and on Nasdaq in 1999, becoming the first Indian company to do so. It grew into a behemoth with hundreds of thousands of employees, propelling India's entire IT sector.
Known for transparent governance even before it was mandated, and for offering stock options to employees—creating thousands of wealthy small shareholders—he lived by the principle, “In God we trust, all others bring data.”
He retired from operational leadership to dedicate himself to philanthropy and education. He is widely considered the father of modern Indian technology.
His library
8 Courses · 40 Lessons · 5 Hours. Select a course to see every lesson inside it.
New to Narayana? Start here
Grasp the foundational principles for scaling a tech startup globally.
Beginner
5 lessons
Bootstrap Beginnings: The Early Infosys Scraps
8 min readThe Seven Founders: Cultivating a Shared Dream
8 min readDefining Core Values: The Infosys Culture Playbook
8 min readNavigating Early Setbacks: Lessons from the 1980s
8 min readStrategic Niche Identification: The Offshore Advantage
8 min readTiptico courses are independent educational analyses based on publicly available information, writings, interviews, speeches and documented decisions. The individuals featured are not instructors, employees, partners, sponsors or endorsers of Tiptico unless explicitly stated.
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