A fireside chat at IIM Bangalore brought together two stalwarts of Indian institution-building—Mr. Narayana Murthy and Mr. Aditya Puri—for a wide-ranging conversation on leadership, values, and entrepreneurship. The session, ‘The Art of Building Legendary Companies’, was organised by Catamaran in partnership with IIM Bangalore and moderated by M. D. Ranganath, Chairman, Catamaran.
Entrepreneurs, business leaders, students, and faculty attended the event, which also saw the presence of Ms. Sudha Murty, Chairperson, Murty Trust, and Mr. U. Dinesh Kumar, Director (In-charge), IIM Bangalore.
Opening the discussion, Mr. Ranganath reflected on the business environment of the 1980s and early 1990s, when Infosys and HDFC Bank were founded. He pointed to regulatory hurdles, limited capital availability, and an underdeveloped startup ecosystem, noting that both institutions were built ground-up amid significant challenges.
The conversation centred on the founder’s decision to leave stable careers and build enterprises from scratch without established business models or strong investor support. Both speakers discussed the difficulty of convincing early employees to join such ventures, where belief in values and long-term opportunity mattered more than immediate rewards.
Recalling Infosys’ early philosophy, Mr. Murthy said, “I never wanted Infosys to just be the largest in terms of revenue, net profit or market cap. I wanted it to be the most respected company in the eyes of its stakeholders.” He emphasised the role of austerity and fairness, adding, “Trust is built over time through fairness and sacrifice. Leaders must be unequivocal about values and demonstrate them consistently through action.”
He highlighted that this approach enabled broad-based wealth creation, with Infosys stock delivering annualised returns of 47% during his time at the helm.
Addressing today’s startup ecosystem, Mr. Puri stressed the importance of foundational clarity. Drawing from HDFC Bank’s early journey, he said, “If you don’t set the culture right on day one, if you don’t set the systems and your purpose on day one, you will never build a sustainable organisation. If your only objective is top line or profit, you don’t see the full picture. That cannot be the purpose of your existence.”
He further stated, “The purpose of your existence is to be relevant, to be a valuable member of society, and to be respected. And respect can only be earned. The right product, the right fit, at the right price, delivered with integrity—and thereafter, whatever you earn must be fairly distributed. If you don’t want to share value with employees and want to keep it all, why should they commit themselves to the organisation?”
On long-term credibility, Mr. Puri said, “Banking, for me, was never about being elite. Our purpose was to take banking to every section of society, build trust with every stakeholder, and keep reinventing ourselves as the world moved.”
He added that while markets and technology evolve, core principles remain unchanged. “When you start your career, the fundamentals matter most—you define your market, your product, your margins, the technology and the people, and then you execute. But as the world evolves, you must evolve with it. Your values and your system of analysis must remain constant—you must simply learn to distinguish between hype and reality.”
Commenting on Mr. Puri’s journey, Mr. Murthy said, “In my opinion, Aditya is the finest entrepreneur produced by our country post-Independence. What is truly impressive is that he succeeded in the Indian environment—taking an institution from zero revenues to a market capitalisation of nearly USD 155 billion.”
The session concluded with takeaways for students and young founders, offering insights from an era of institution-building without venture capital playbooks—lessons that continue to hold relevance today.
