>Stay Hungry Stay foolish by Rashmi Bansal

Non-fiction

by admin | on March 7th, 2011 | 4 comments

We all look for stories that inspire don’t we? Rashmi Bansal has picked 25 such success stories of entrepreneurs from Indian Institute of Management Ahemdabad (or IIMA), India’s premier Business School, and written this book.

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

Some excerpts of what I loved

Naukri.com’s Sanjeev Bikhchandani :
Success came along the way, but even through the days he ran a tiny business out of the servant’s quarter, Sanjeev was happy. And that’s what makes it such a
fascinating story.

Fountainhead school’s Vardan Kabra
Vardan shifted to Surat, a city which lacks good schools but where there is growing demand for quality education. And paying capacity is not an issue. However the first six months were a major low period. “I had no clue as to what I was doing and where I was heading…”

My Review

Its a really smart of choice of name, inspired by the unforgettable speech by Steve Jobs in Stanford. However, if your expecting some sharp analysis and insights from what led to these success stories, you may be in for some disappointment. The insights do come from pearls shared by the interviewees based on their individual experiences. The stories themselves are both inspiring and easy to relate to. The author has interviewed them and cited to very interesting anecdotes in active voice – which makes the text really readable. My favorite story was of Renuka Sugar Mills, of how an age old industry was reformed by a new age entrepreneur. I also love the Makemytrip.com story, for the sheer audacity of the founders.

If your enthusiastic about entrepreneurship, then pick up this book and remember its just a wonderful story book.

admin (476 Posts)

Add a comment

Comments (4)

Abhinav Monday - 07 / 03 / 2011 Reply

>This is a wonderful book. Few lines from the famous Steve job speech "Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
sweety Monday - 07 / 03 / 2011 Reply

>I read this book and liked it a lot so picked up "Connect the dots" as well.

Very nicely put!
penandpaper Sunday - 10 / 04 / 2011 Reply

>Since the time the idea of 'why not start something of my own' has struck my mind, I have been hunting for inspirations. I bought this book simply because it has inspiring stories galore :-) Hope I will get inspired some day to take the plunge
Kevin Fernandes Sunday - 09 / 10 / 2011 Reply

>@Abhinav...I was going through your comment and reading this just two days after the death of Steve Jobs is really eye-opening to me showing how foresighted he was not just in the field of technology but also of his time on this earth..Truly inspiring