Indian businesswoman and Entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the Chairman and

Managing Director of Biocon, Country’s leading biotech company. In 2004, Mazumdar Shaw
was named the richest woman in India with a net worth of more than Rs 2000 Crore. She was
on the Forbes 2005 list of India’s 40 richest people.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw was born on the 23rd of march, year 1953 in Bangalore, India. She
pursued BSc in Zoology from Bangalore University. After college she left for Australia for
Post Graduation. She studied brewing at Ballarat University in Melbourne and got the
qualification of a master brewer. In 1974 Mazumdar Shaw started working as a trainee
brewer with Carlton and United Beverages. Four years later, she joined Ireland’s Biocon
Biochemicals Limited, where she worked as a trainee manager. Soon after that she set up
Biocon India, in collaboration with the same Irish Company.
Mazumdar Shaw started Biocon in 1978 form a rented garage space in Bangalore and with an
intial investment of just Rs 10000. In the begining she had to face a variety of problems and
challenges. Banks were not keen to give her loan because biotechnology was a new field and
women entrepreneurship was quite rare. She had a difficult time finding a workplace and
convincing people to join her organization. Mazumdar Shaw was however determined to
overcome all entrepreneurial barriers and make her venture a huge success.
Biocon began as a industrial enzyme manufacturer and soon after that it started exporting to
Europe and the US. Within a few years the business started turning out to be a profitable
venture. Mazumdar Shaw always gave importance to reasearch and development activities
for taking the company operations to new dimensions. Today, biocon has become a
completely integrated, multi million dollar, biopharmaceutical enterprise. Biocon’s went for
IPO in 2004. The IPO was over subscribed 33 times. Biocon wants to now establish a global
presence and be one of the top ten biotechnology companies in the world.
Biography of Top Business Tycoon Mukesh Ambani
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries
Limited, India’s Largest Private Sector Company. He is the elder son of the legendry
businessman late Dhirubhai Ambani. Mukesh Ambani has the following business interests:
Petrochemicals, Petroleum Refining and Marketing, Oil and Gas exploration and production,
Textiles, Retail and SEZs. Forbes (2009) list of the world’s billionaires named him the richest
man in India and the 7th richest man in the world, having a net worth of $ 19.5 Billion.
Mukesh Ambani was born on April 19, Year 1957. He studied at Abaay Morischa School in
Mumbai. He completed his chemical engineering from University of Mumbai. He went to
Stanford University in the US for his Masters in Business Administration (MBA), but did not
complete the course as he had to come back to join the family business.
In the year 1981 Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance. He was the key man at the time of the
company’s backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres, and then into
petrochemicals. He established a number of world class manufacturing facilities to take the
company’s petrochemical manufacturing capabilities to a new level. Mukesh
Ambani conceptualized and created the largest grassroots petroleum refinery in the world at
Jamnagar, Gujrat, India. The refinery has a capacity of 33 million tonnes per year.
Mukesh Ambani helped to set up one of the world’s leading tele communications Companies,
Reliance Communications, earlier known as Reliance Infocom. Reliance Communications
went to younger brother Anil Ambani of ADAG, after the business empire got split in the
year 2005.
Mukesh Ambani entered into the organized retail sector with Reliance Retail, opening
hundreds of stores across several states. The stores serve diverse consumer needs and operate
under various names such as Reliance Fresh, Reliance Mart and Reliance Digital.
Mukesh Ambani owns the Indian Premier League (IPL) Cricket Team, Mumbai Indians. He
brought the team for $111.9 million.
Mukesh Ambani gifted his Wife Nita Ambani a $60 million Airbus Plane on her 44th
birthday. The customized jet had a master bedroom, fancy showers, game consoles, music
systems, satellite TV, and wireless communication.
Mukesh Ambani is building a 27 story house called Antilla, at Altamount Road, Mumbai. The
400000 square feet home will have 6 levels of car parking, 3 helipads, 4 levels of open
gardens, 2 levels of health club, home theatre, swimming pools, a ball room with the ceiling
covered with crystal chandeliers, 9 elevators, an ice room and much more. The cost of the
new home may touch $ 2 billion.
Mexican Telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu has left behind Bill Gates to become the richest
person in the world. Bill Gates is now at the 2nd position followed by Warren Buffett at the
3rd spot.
In 2009 there were only 793 billionaires in the world, this year the number has increased to
1011.
Here is the list of the top ten richest people in the world:
1. Carlos Slim Helu (Mexico) : $ 53.5 billion
2. Bill Gates (United States) : $ 53 billion
3. Warren Buffett (United States) : $ 47 billion
4. Mukesh Ambani (India) : $ 29 billion
5. Lakshmi Mittal (India) : $ 28.7 billion
6. Lawrence Ellison (United States) : $ 28 billion
7. Bernard Arnault (France) : $ 27.5 billion
8. Eike Batista (Brazil) : $ 27 billion
9. Amancio Ortega (Spain) : $ 25 billion
10. Karl Albrecht (Germany) : $ 23.5 billion
It is great to see two Indian business tycoons, Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal, among
the top 5 richest people.
Mukesh Ambani’s younger brother, Anil Ambani of ADAG is at the number 36 position with
a net worth of $ 13.7 billion. Software Tycoon Azim Premji is at the number 28 spot with a
net worth of $ 17 billion.
Indian billionaires in the Forbes’ list include:
Sunil Mittal, rank 87, networth: $ 7.8 billion
Ravi and Sashi Ruia, rank 40, networth: $ 13 billion
Real Estate Tycoon KP Singh, rank 74, networth: $ 9 billion
Kumar Birla, rank 86, networth: $ 7.9 billion
Gautam Adani of Adani Group, rank 167, networth: $ 4.8 billion
GM Rao of GMR Group, rank 297, networth: $ 3.2 billion
Media Tycoon Subhash Chandra of Zee TV, rank 354, networth: $ 2.8 billion
Vijay Mallya (regains billionaire status), rank 937, networth: $ 1 billion
Mr. Sunil Mittal as he is one of the greatest business leaders and management gurus of
contemporary India.Mr. Sunil Mittal is the Chairman & The Managing director of Bharti
Airtel Ltd.
Bharti Airtel Ltd. is India’s Leading Private integrated Telecom Company.Its services,to name
a few, include,Mobile communication services,Telephone services,Broadband
services,wireless internet services and services for business enterprises.
Mr. Sunil Mittal started his career at a very young age after graduation from Punjab
University.He started out by making Cycle parts in Ludhiana,India during the 1970s.Later he
moved out of Ludhiana and came to Delhi in 1981,where he was involved in the business of
importing and distribution of portable generators from Japan.
Later he introduced push button phones,cordless phones answering machines and fax
machines to India.Then he was among the first entrepreneurs to be a part of the moblie
telecom business in India.In 1995 he launched cellular services in the city of Delhi.
Today Bharti Airtel has the largest customer base in India with alliances with companies such
as Vodafone and SingTel.In the future his focus is going to be on providing international
mobile services , retail industry and agriculture.He recently struck a joint venture deal with
Wal-Mart ,the retail giant, for starting retail stores accross India.
Update: According to the Forbes’ 2009 list of the world’s billionaires, Mallya dropped off the
list with an estimated loss of $ 900 million.
Indian Billionaire and Liquor Tycoon , Vijay Mallya has always been known for his
charismatic personality,flamboyance and lavish lifestyle.The stylish business tycoon is
known for sporting diamond ear studs.Mallya does not think twice before flaunting his
wealth.Mallya owns yachts,private jets,a customized boeing 727,around 250 vintage cars and
a stud farm with 200 horses.Mallya’s Indian Empress is a Rs 450 crore, 311 feet yacht.
Kalizma is a 165 feet yacht, this was owned by actor Richard Burton at one time.
Vijay Mallya is the Chairman of the UB Group and according to Forbes 2008, his net worth is
US $ 1.2 billion.United Breweries is the second largest sprits group in the world.We can
recall that The UB Group acquired Whyte and Mackay for £ 595 million in 2007.The
UB group has a market capitalization of around US$ 12 billion.
Vijay Mallya was born on December 18 ,year 1955.He studied at La Martiniere School in
Kolkata.Mallya went to St Xavier’s college, University of Calcutta for his Bachelor’s
Degree.He started working while he was in college.He worked for his company for Rs 400
per month.Later,Mallya went to the US and worked for American Hoechst Corporation.
Vijay Mallya became the Chairman of the UB Group at age 28 in the year 1983, after his
father Vittal Mallya passed away. Since that time he has led the group and turned it into a
multi billion dollar business.Today the company has annual sales of more than US$ 4
billion.Vijay Mallya holds an honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Business
Administration,conferred by University of California,Irvine. Mr. Mallya likes to take on new
challenges and live life to the fullest.
Vijay Mallya entered into the aviation sector when he launched Kingfisher Airlines in 2005.
In Just about 3 years Kingfisher has become one of the leading Airlines in India.Mallya owns
46 per cent stake in low cost airline Air Deccan.His company appointed accenture to look at
the possibility of integrating the operations of Kingfisher and Air Deccan.Accenture
recommended the merger of the two Airlines.With this merger Kingfisher will be able to fly
on international routes since Air Deccan becomes eligible to fly abroad this year.Kingfisher
plans to start international operations by August 2008.
Kingfisher gives competition to Naresh Goyal’s Jet Airways. Naresh Goyal and Vijay Mallya
were in the Forbes’ battling billionaires list since both of them have ambitious plans for their
Airlines.Billionaire Naresh Goyal has a net worth of $1.4 Billion.
Vijay Mallya is the owner of The Bangalore Royal Challengers Team of the IPL. Mallya paid
Rs 464.3 crore for the team.The team is led by Rahul Dravid and has Players such as Zaheer
Khan,Anil Kumble,Praveen Kumar,Mark Boucher,Virat Kohli and Jacques Kallis.Mallya and
Dutch Businessman Michiel Mol are the owners of a Formula One Team , Force India.Force
India was earlier called spyker.They bought the team for 88 million euros.
Billionaire and real estate entrepreneur KP Singh is the key man behind DLF, India’s biggest
real estate company. KP Singh’s business interests include the following: housing,
commercial complexes, SEZs, shopping malls, hotels, and infrastructure development. In
2008 Forbes declared him richest real estate baron in the world, having a net worth of $30
billion. However, due the global meltdown his wealth saw a sharp decline and the Forbes
2009 list of the world’s billionaires estimated his net worth to be $ 5 billion.
KP Singh was born on August 15, Year 1931 at Bulandshahar, UP, India. After his graduation
in science from Meerut College, he moved to the United Kingdom for studying aeronautical
engineering. While KP Singh was in the UK, the British Officers Services Selection Board,
UK selected him for joining The Indian Army. After his training at the Indian Military
Academy at Dehradun, KP singh was commissioned into the ‘The Deccan Horse’ cavalry
regiment of The Indian Army. KP Singh joined American Universal Electric Company in
1960. This was a JV between his family and Universal Electric Company of Owosso,
Michigan, USA. In 1979 American Universal Electric Company merged with DLF Universal
limited. Shortly After that, KP Singh took the position of the MD of the new company.
KP Singh had big plans of buying land in Gurgaon. As an entrepreneur and a visionary KP
Singh could very well see tremendous scope for real estate development in Gurgaon. As time
went by the Gurgaon transformed into one of India’s leading real estate destinations and a
hub of business activity.
DLF built and developed DLF City, the 3000 acre integrated township in Gurgaon. DLF was
instrumental in bringing a number of MNCs to India, including GE and Nestle. The DLF
Cyber City in Gurgaon spans 125 acres and is one of the biggest integrated technology parks
in India. DLF Golf club in Gurgaon is one of the top golf clubs in Asia and the only night
Golf Club in India. DLF recently launched DLF Emporio Mall in New Delhi, India’s largest
Luxury Mall. Presently, DLF has projects in a number of cities accross several states. DLF
has a land bank of more than 10000 acres, 3000 acres of which is in prime locations. DLF is
the title sponsor for the Indian Premiere League (IPL).
Indian Entrepreneur and Self Made Billionaire Gautam Adani, 46, is the Chairman of the
Adani Group, one of the top diversified conglomerates of India. According to Forbes’ 2009
Gautam Adani has the net worth of $ 1.6 Billion.
Gautam Adani was born on the 24th of June, year 1962 in Ahmedabad. Adani a college
dropout, was only in his teens when he came to Mumbai where he got the job of a diamond
sorter. After some time, he started a diamond brokerage business.
In the early 80s he returned to Ahemedabad to enter the plastic business. After that Adani
began to import PVC. (a raw material required for manufacturing of plastics). This is when
he ventured into global trading. Economic liberalisation in India had a positive impact on his
business. In the late 90s Gautam Adani diversified into infrastructure.
Today Adani Group has transformed into a multi billion dollar businees empire. Gautam
Adani’s Business Interests include the following: Power, Infrastructure, Trading, Power,
Energy Logistics, SEZs, and Oil and Gas Exploration. Gautam Adani is the man
behind Mundra Port, the largest private sector port in India.
Adani Foundation, started in 1996, manages the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
activities of the Adani Group. The foundation is involved in various activities such as rural
developmemt, education, and health.
Here is a list of some famous quotations which motivate and inspire us to pursue our dreams
and acheive something big.
1. “Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one’s monopoly.”-Dhirubhai Ambani
2. “Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation.”-
Dhirubhai Ambani
3. “Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into
opportunities.”-Dhirubhai Ambani
4. “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.”-Henry Ford
5. “My son is now an “entrepreneur.” That’s what you’re called when you don’t have a job.”
-Ted Turner
6. “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”-Ted Turner
7. “I have had all of the disadvantages required for success.”-Larry Ellison
8. “When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for everyone telling you you’re nuts”-
Larry Ellison
9. “You do not require an invitation to make profits.”-Dhirubhai Ambani
10. ”A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship” -John
D Rockefeller
11. “Paths are made by walking and walking down beaten paths is for beaten men“-Subhash
Chandra of Zee TV
12. “Success breeds complacency, complacency breeds failure, Only the paranoid survive“-
By Andrew Grove
13.”I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.”-
Warren Buffett
14. “If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn
paths of accepted success.”-John D. Rockefeller
15. “If you can count your money, you don’t have a billion dollars.”-J. Paul Getty
16. “No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or “get rich” in business by
being a conformist.”-J. Paul Getty
17. “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible”-Walt Disney
18. “Your attitude, not your aptitude, determines your altitude.”-Zig Ziglar
19. “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.”-Bill Gates
20. “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an
opportunity.”-Peter Drucker
21. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”-Peter Drucker
22. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.”-Richard
Branson
23. “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”-Steve Jobs
24. “Plans are nothing, Planning is everything”-Dwight D. Eisenhower
25. “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in
every difficulty.”-Winston Churchill
26. “Never, never, never give up.”-Winston Churchill
27. “Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are
unconquerable.”-Theodore N. Vail
28. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.”-Japanese Proverb
29. “Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid that it will never begin.”-Grace Hansen
30. “If you are going through hell, keep going.”-Winston Churchill
31. “Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam.”-Winston Churchill
32. “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your
life.”-Winston Churchill
33. “Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.”-William A Ward
34. “I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.”-Jonathan Winters
35. “Always be a first rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of somebody
else.”-Judy Garland
36. “The journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step.”-Confucius
37. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”-Confucius
38. “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”-Confucius
39. “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”-Vince Lombardi
40. “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”-Vince Lombardi
41. “Anyone who thinks my story is anywhere near over is sadly mistaken.”-Donald Trump
42. “As long as your going to be thinking anyway, think big.”-Donald Trump
43. “Sometimes your best investments are the ones you don’t make.”-Donald Trump
44. “Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail.”-Charles F. Kettering
45. “Impossible only means that you haven’t found the solution yet.”-Anonymous
46. “Success is determined by those who prove the impossible, possible.”-James W. Pence
47. “Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.”-Napoleon Bonaparte
48. “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”-T S
Eliot
49. “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”-Albert Einstein
50. “The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”-Walter Bagehot
51. “If you can dream it, you can do it.”-Walt Disney
52. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”- Thomas Edison
53. “Entrepreneurship is the last refuge of the trouble making individual”-Natalie Clifford
Barney
54. “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning”-Bill Gates
55. “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete”-Jack Welch
56. “If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”-Vince Lombardi
57. “When you cease to dream, you cease to live”-Malcolm Forbes
58. “Formal education will make you a living, self education will make you a fortune”-Jim
Rohn
Ratan Tata is presently the Chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group.
Ratan Naval Tata is also the Chairman of the major Tata companies such as Tata Steel, Tata
Motors, Tata Power, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Tea, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels and
Tata Teleservices. He has taken Tata Group to new heights and under his leadership Group’s
revenues have grown manifold.
Ratan Tata was born on December 28, 1937, in Bombay. He received a Bachelor of Science
degree in architecture from Cornell University in 1962. Ratan Tata had a short stint with
Jones and Emmons in Los Angeles, California, before returning to India in late 1962. He
joined the Tata Group and was assigned to various companies before being appointed
director-in-charge of The National Radio & Electronics Company (NELCO) in 1971. Ratan
Tata was appointed Chairman of Tata Industries in 1981. He was assigned the task of
transforming the company into a Group strategy think-tank, and a promoter of new ventures
in high technology businesses.
In 1991, Ratan Tata took over the Chairmanship from JRD Tata. Under him Tata Consultancy
Services went public and Tata Motors was listed in the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998,
Tata Motors came up with Tata Indica, the first truly Indian car. The car was the brainchild of
Ratan Tata.
Ratan Tata was honored with Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in 2000. He
was also conferred an honorary doctorate in business administration by Ohio State
University, an honorary doctorate in technology by the Asian Institute of Technology,
Bangkok, and an honorary doctorate in science by the University of Warwick.

Entrepreneurs vs. Intrapreneurs

Let´s face it, when under pressure to grow, organizations of all kinds look to their roots and
their previous successes for answers. Rekindling business growth inside an organization often
represents the toughest challenge to a maturing organization. Can it regain its entrepreneurial
spirit and continue to thrive despite its mature culture? By turning to Intrapreneurs, the
company hopes it can have the best of both worlds. It can work if owners follow the above
steps.
Intrapreneurs, by definition, embody the same characteristics as the Entrepreneur, conviction,
passion, and drive. The more the Intrapreneur expresses himself, the more the company is
forced to confront its own effectiveness. If the company is supportive, the Intrapreneur
succeeds. When the organization is not, the Intrapreneur usually fails or leaves to start a new
company.
In closing, every effective worker has Intrapreneurial traits that may or may not culminate in
an Entrepreneurial life.
Intrapreneur or Entrepreneur?
I have always wondered as to why some people choose to start their own companies, while
several other equally smart and risk-loving individuals incubate their ideas within the realms
of their corporation. This dilemma is particularly important for me personally. So, I've
discussed this topic with several successful entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and academicians. A
few topics have consistently dominated our discussions. I'll share the top three factors that
dominate people's decision-making criteria.
The term "intrapreneur" was coined by Gifford Pinchot. According to Wikipedia, intrapreneur
is a person who focuses on innovation and creativity and who transforms a dream or an idea
into a profitable venture, by operating within the organizational environment. An
entrepreneur does the same by starting up his/her own venture independently.
Risk and reward: Individuals perceive that it is riskier to start a venture independently than it
is to start a new product group within their own company. It is valid to a certain extent.
Individuals will still retain their respective jobs (in most cases), even if the newly started
product group fails. In case of entrepreneurship, if the startup fails, the entrepreneur has
nothing else to resort to. I've seen individuals consider several other risk factors besides job
security while making their decision. The major factors include their ability to attract and
retain talent, their ability to develop new distribution channels and their ability to defend their
idea. But, on the other hand, the potential rewards in choosing the entrepreneurial route can
be exponentially higher as compared to the intrapreneurial route.
Impact: Several enterprising individuals (especially at Microsoft) are supremely passionate
about making a significant impact on the world. They realize that their idea will get a better
platform to make a larger impact on the market, if it is being implemented by their employer
(parent organization), than if it is rolled out as a startup. It largely depends on the business-
idea or the technology.
Intrapreneurship or nothing: Sometimes, the business-idea is so tied with their parent
organization (employer), that the idea can only take shape if it is being implemented as an
intrapreneurship project. So, when they have a choice of pursuing their idea or not, they
decide to take the intrapreneurial way. Most of the innovative product-launches from 3M, are
its living examples. Another example that can be closely applied here is the launch of XBOX.
When Robbie Bach, J Allard and team had an idea of creating a new console-based gaming
system, to compete against Sony's Playstation that had more than 50% of the market share,
this factor would have played a role. The amount of capital (in order of 100s of millions) and
the quality of talent, demanded by the business plan would have not been feasible without the
Microsoft umbrella. Another example is the plight of professionals who are working in the
US or any other country on some kind of work-permit. These individuals cannot start their
own business/startup, due to legal reasons. So, they decide to choose the intrapreneurial path.
Entrepreneurs - according to me are not the greatest risk-takers, but they are the best risk-
managers (read risk-minimizers). Personally, I don't believe that the first factor (risk and
reward) should be considered too much in making the decision, as it is the gist of
entrepreneurship. One of the most traditional form of intrapreneurship is demonstrated by the
hundreds of university-based ventures that are started by student-professor teams in the
universities. Unfortunately, the university's ability to easily file a patent plays a major role in
such decisions.
Entrepreneurs vs. Intrapreneurs
Let´s face it, when under pressure to grow, organizations of all kinds look to their roots and
their previous successes for answers. Rekindling business growth inside an organization often
represents the toughest challenge to a maturing organization. Can it regain its entrepreneurial
spirit and continue to thrive despite its mature culture? By turning to Intrapreneurs, the
company hopes it can have the best of both worlds. It can work if owners follow the above
steps.
Intrapreneurs, by definition, embody the same characteristics as the Entrepreneur, conviction,
passion, and drive. The more the Intrapreneur expresses himself, the more the company is
forced to confront its own effectiveness. If the company is supportive, the Intrapreneur
succeeds. When the organization is not, the Intrapreneur usually fails or leaves to start a new
company.
In closing, every effective worker has Intrapreneurial traits that may or may not culminate in
an Entrepreneurial life. Ask yourself how close are you to becoming an Entrepreneur? Your
answer will help you to decide whether you should stay or go!