Why Tamil Nadu’s entrepreneurs are not visible, why there are fewer people from the State on the billionaires’ list and why there are no unicorns (start-ups valued at $ 1 billion or more) were the key points of discussion at the session on Success Mantras of Southern Business at The Hindu Lit for Life festival.
Session moderator Nazneen Karmali, India editor at Forbes Media, raised these questions to the panel which included M.M. Murugappan, Vice-Chairman, Murugappa Group, veteran journalist Sushila Ravindranath, who recently wrote the book ‘Surge: Tamil Nadu’s Growth story’ (focussing on entrepreneurs and businesses in the State) and Rajiv Lochan, CEO of Kasturi and Sons Ltd.
Ms. Ravindranath pointed out that Tamil Nadu businessmen did not want to be noticed, despite doing a good job, and rather preferred to maintain a low profile.
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Mr. Murugappan admitted that the entrepreneurs wanted to be low key. “We as a group always want to focus on what we are good at. Most of our discussions happen with our key stakeholders. While most of us have a conservative approach, we do not shy away from opportunities which come our way to expand business”.
To a query on fewer start-ups or billionaires from the State, Ms. Ravindranath said most of the people want to set up in Bengaluru, which is the start-up hub. She also pointed out that even if there are start-ups in Tamil Nadu, not all of them are noticed, and one had to watch the scenario closely to identify all of them. She also pointed out Tamil Nadu has a unique feature of businesses emerging at district level, pointing out the examples of Lion Dates and Sakthi Masala.
Drawing upon his work experience at McKinsey, Mr. Lochan said that the businesses here always stick to their values and are willing to listen and adapt to new ideas and they are not after billionaire or unicorn status.
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