‘I have zero tolerance for people who are arrogant’

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Entrepreneurship and innovation is not the way to go for India. It is the only way,” says Saurabh Srivastava. He is talking from experience. Srivastava started his own IT company, IIS Infotech, way back in 1989 after chucking a top job with Tata Unisys. One of the front-runners in the IT industry, IIS Infotech was acquired by UK-based FI group in a deal valued upwards £22 million. In the year 2001, FI group was renamed Xansa.

“At that time, TCS and Tata Unisys controlled 70% market share of the industry and spearheading Unisys, I controlled 30% share and everyone thought it was a stupid idea to give it all up,” he reminisces. Being an entrepreneur in those days was not easy. The IT industry was virtually non-existent in India and the country had no standing globally. “India had a very negative image, especially in terms of exports. We were known to deliver shoddy products,” says Srivastava.

The start was hardly promising. He recalls, “Those were our early days at IIS and I went on a trip to New York. After making a pitch to a prospective customer, he said, 'I am very confused, are you offering us IT consulting or do you want it from us. Come, we'll take you out for lunch.' I thought they owed me the lunch after making fun of me. So I went along and produced the CVs of my top 10 guys who had all done masters from reputed foreign universities. I asked them if their top 10 guys had such credentials to boast of?” The company became one of the first customers of IIS and Srivastava is not sure if it is still around.

But, to confine the 61-year-old entrepreneur to one title would be doing injustice to the man who dons many hats. Credited with being a co-founder of Nasscom, Srivastava is currently the chairman of Nasscom Foundation, which is the community arm of the Indian software industry association. “One need leads to other needs, but after a point of time you realise that it is enough. Sure, my company created wealth for me, but I got more satisfaction after co-founding Nasscom, which has been instrumental in building the country's IT industry, giving India companies that can compete globally,” he states.