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Mon, Apr 04, 2011 | Updated 09.05AM IST

3 APR, 2011, 06.32AM IST,ET BUREAU

How Phaneesh Murthey, Nitish Kumar, Priyanka Chopra, Sourav Gan

rich & famous after failing
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Henry Ford , Bill Gates , Walt Disney , Soichiro Honda, Akio Morita...they have all been there, done that. No, we are not talking
successes. Rather, this feature is about what hit them before they became rich and famous, the sledgehammer called failure. Gate
and Ford stumbled into bankruptcy, Honda failed a job interview at Toyota and Sony founder Morita's first product, an electric rice

That said, the timeworn truis

stone to success is not alway
willing to learn from failure. A
misadventures from the past
effective than blasts of previo

Past achievement is no guar

in future. One entrepreneur
Sabeer Bhatia, co-founder of
Bhatia, who sold the email s
$400 million in 1997, has
ventures subsequently but no
in popularity and success.

Previous victories may encou

path. The value of learning fr
other hand, lies in not repe
ways of making things work.
ahead being littered with mor
to another time-tested adage
succeed.

Says Deccan Aviation founder Captain GR Gopinath: "You are not a failure as long as you keep trying." Indeed, success cann
dollops of wealth and cheers from the gallery. As corporate head honcho-turned-ad man Sandeep Goyal puts it: "Success is no
together a winning joint venture with Dentsu after leaving broadcaster Zee TV and spending many months in the corporate, and

Not all who fail become case studies of grit and triumph in management books. For every entrepreneur who bounces back, there
out or faded away. Failure cannot always be romanticised and transformed into heroic tales of turnarounds. But it does serve a pu
up artistes that botch-ups are par for the course; and that one must learn to deal with them to move ahead.

It is therefore vital to chronicle the tales of those who embraced risk wholeheartedly and, in the process, flopped spectacu
companion on the path to success. And whilst you may eventually succeed in leaving that friend behind, make sure you don't forge
The entrepreneurs, politicians and one sportsperson we have profiled have not. Read on.

Captain GR Gopinath, Founder, Deccan 360

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"You are not a failure as long as you are

When I failed:

It was 2008. Air Deccan had become a R

3,500 employees and a market capitalisa
Deccan big and stable, I began incubating
door-to-door multimodal air and ground log
bring in a strategic investor and raise
bankers lined up. I was on cloud nine.

Two of my earlier investors gave me a few

money, partly out of arrogance, partly out o
thought they were not recognising my contribution and being unfair to me. Then global markets crashed. The radiant cloud I wa
realised I had no parachute. Investors, credit lines dried up. With 150 staff and advance payments made for aircraft, cash was bein
kept chasing more private equity players.

What I learnt:

When you are successful you become arrogant and complacency sets in. When you are knocked down you realise that humility
you are not a failure until you quit. I learnt to be optimistic through difficult times. You have to push yourself to act and not despair.
but indecision is worse. You need to listen to people and hear their views but there is a time when you go with your intuition and tak

How it helped me succeed:

I realised if I did not act with speed, we would come to grief. I took drastic decisions. I re-jigged the entire business plan, switch
franchise model and cut pay. Things started falling into place. The economy started looking up. Doors started opening banks like
credit. The response from franchisees was overwhelming, 2,800 joined up. What would have taken us 20 years with our own
months. We launched in November 2009 from Nagpur.

(As told to Malini Goyal)

Next is: Phaneesh Murthy, President and CEO iGate, and former director, Infosys

Phaneesh Murthy, President and CEO

Infosys

"Glory is in rising every time we fall"

When I failed:

It [a lawsuit filed against him and Infosys,

and sexual harassment of a female emp
setback, nothing short of being to the he
judging you before knowing, pronouncing
happen to you? For about two months I
slipped into a deep whining syndrome. L
should retire. One moment that shook me out of this state was the visit of a close friend who told me: "Phaneesh, what are you d
there and prove it to the world."

What I learnt:

His words taught me: It's only when we fall that we come to know who we really are and if we are strong enough to rise again. I
recover and rise. I wouldn't have been able to pull this through but for my wife's support. In her, my anchor was always there. She

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was no wavering in her support.

How it helped me succeed:

I had done no wrong. I was confident of setting up a business and found immediate support for it. People had seen me build Infosy
capabilities, but the fund-raising got stuck on one point, my reluctance for an out-of-court settlement. People willing to fund my ve
at the earliest. I understood their demand. When you are starting something, even 100% attention does not guarantee succes
thought I wouldn't be able to give my 100% attention. So I accepted their advice. After the incident, every year I do one extreme t
confidence level is higher now. What you go through changes your conduct. For instance, my HR department is very protective of
my cabin and all our office cabins are made of see-through glass.

Next is: Ramesh Chauhan, Founder and chairman, Bisleri International

Ramesh Chauhan, Founder and chairma

"More than qualification, it's attitude that

When I failed:

After selling my brands such as Thums Up,

-Cola in 1993, I made the mistake of reta
part of the company. I ought to have offered
employees who were associated with the
should have recruited another set of people
had launched Bisleri bottled water.

These employees were used to dealing with the earlier fast-moving brands and were clueless on how to move Bisleri. Those were
lost a lot of money during that time because I had employees who did not know how to market Bisleri. During those days we also
based on a board member's suggestion. Apparently he had the cup noodles when he travelled abroad and sold us the plan to laun
product ahead of its time for India, the distribution system required for noodles was completely different from what we were used
just no domain knowledge of the product made it a complete disaster.

What I learnt:

I learnt that it is very difficult to change people's mindsets. Our earlier set of employees were habituated to listening to the distrib
said as the gospel truth. There was no attempt to listen to the consumer. And all attempts to get them to be open to new ideas and
also learnt, with the Bisca fiasco, that one should not meddle with plans in areas where one has no core competence or understand

How it helped me succeed:

Since then every time we launched a new idea or product we made sure that the people handling the product had the right mind
Bisleri experience also helped me while hiring new recruits: more than qualifications it is the attitude and mindset that make a winne

(As told to Kala Vijayraghavan)

Next is: Sandeep Goyal, Founder chairman, Dentsu India, and former CEO, Zee

Sandeep Goyal, Founder chairman, Dentsu India, and former CEO, Zee

"Success never comes, you have to seek it"

When I failed:

At 35, I became president of Rediffusion DY&R , one of India's largest advertising agencies. At 38, I was Group CEO of Z

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broadcaster. A few weeks before I turned

day, I was one of India's highest-paid profe
day, it was all gone, my Merc, member
Belvedere, Bombay Gym and Willingdon, se
on and myriad 'friends'. Reality took a while
ringing. 'Friends' started avoiding me. I st
hurting. More importantly, I was alone. M
support. It took her a while to coax me to
reality check. Think ahead, rather than thin
wallowed in self-pity. I got angry at myself,
being in the limelight. I hated myself.

What I learnt:

It took me three months to piece myself together again. Looking back, my Zee debacle was the best thing to happen to me. I matu
learnt self-restraint. I became discerning about 'friends'. I learnt to keep my head down and my mind focused. Success is not a one
itself. I understood that success never comes to you: you have to seek it.

How it helped me succeed:

The first thing I told myself: the less a life depends on another, the better it is. At the peak of my high-flying career, I couldn't s
secretaries and assistants did it. So I quickly taught myself the basics. The hiatus had shown me who my real friends were. I
showered favours indiscriminately. Going forward, I shed a lot of 'friends'. One morning, I walked into the hallowed portals of D
advertising agency to seek a joint venture (JV) with them. I did not have a company of my own: no office, employees, clients or c
had self-belief. No one gave me half-a-chance. Except, God and Tanya. Nine months after I left Zee, I saw success again: Dents
coup. A month ago, after seven years of building Dentsu India into a Rs 1,200-crore entity, I exited the JV. I exited on top. I exited y

(As told to Chaitali Chakravarty)

Next is: Nitish Kumar , Chief minister, Bihar

Nitish Kumar, Chief minister, Bihar

"Be close to ground realities"

When I failed:

One of my biggest failures was my inabili

people of Bihar correctly when we conteste
under the impression that the good w
Democratic Alliance would bring us back to
was different.

What I learnt:

Be close to ground realities; ground-level issues and social issues are far more important. For the next one year I worked at the gro

How it helped me succeed:

The results were there to see in the Bihar assembly elections in 2005. I worked with the people of Bihar and attacked Lalu Prasa
votes by misery mongering. I worked with only one goal of development and nothing has distracted me from that goal in the past
where we managed to beat Lalu's strategy, shows how I have used my learnings.

(As told to PR Ramesh)

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Next is: Priyanka Chopra , Bollywood actor

Priyanka Chopra, Bollywood actor

"Failure makes place for something bette

When I failed:

I was a 17-year-old girl, put out of her sc

Miss India pageant. Unlike all the mo
experience. I did not even know how to s
single of the six or seven sub-events, not
really good at and which all the rest were s
me.

I cried that whole night and felt stupid that I was even there. That's when my mom sat me down and told me not to take the winnin
so that there were no regrets later. I did that and had a great time. I was also very focused but all through I knew it was not a do
failed, or I would never have been Miss India or an actress today...

What I learnt:

That nothing is a do or die situation. In whatever you do, be it beauty pageants or films. That nothing is worth compromising my v
balance as well as a very important thing, failure is not an option or God is making place to give you something better. What is m
task from tying shoelaces to acting, everything should be done with perfection. There must be a pride to do it better than anyone el
then I have no regrets because I have given my best to whatever task is on hand, small or big.

How it helped me succeed:

By giving me this drive. In fact, it's always happened with me that failures have made place for something better or taken me to a
having the right attitude, to start looking at the failure as positives, for example, I never dissect a film. I stand by all my films. I kno
in it. So if there are mistakes they are fine and I always have the courage of conviction of what I do and move on. In fact, never ta
have the courage of conviction.

(As told to Nandini Raghavendra)

Next is: Deep Kalra , Founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip

Deep Kalra, Founder & CEO, MakeMyTrip

"I learnt to read the market right"

When I failed:

Academically, opting out of engineering in f

mistake. Computer science would have
MakeMyTrip. Career-wise, I think I laboured
or two, at AMF Bowling in the hope that
should have read the writing on the wall. W
period, development of malls and the like w
big way. That was a limiting factor for large
These failures were courtesy of an inherent trait of stubbornness to prove to myself and to others, that a business/venture underta
then there's a fine line between stubbornness and perseverance.

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What I learnt:

The failure at AMF Bowling helped me a great deal at MakeMyTrip in reading the market right in 2000. The Indian market was s
which is why we focused on the market for non-resident Indians. This, frankly, kept MakeMyTrip alive at a time when other online tr
the domestic market perished.

How it helped me succeed:

Whenever confronted with a new market scenario, it's become first nature to deep-dive into the market potential and customer
me a great deal when getting into new business lines, ventures and markets as well as when evaluating new businesses.

(As told to Malini Goyal)

Next is: Glenn Saldanha , MD & CEO, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals

Glenn Saldanha, MD & CEO, Glenmark P

"Plan for the bad when the going is good

When I failed:

Between 2000 and 2008, our revenue gr

million. We also concluded several out
molecules. But 2008 was different. We w
anticipate. The recession impacted sales
globe.

Alongside, our out-licensed molecules did

point in human trials. Moreover, our fixed costs remained high because we had invested in infrastructure across countries. Our
roadblock.

What I learnt:

Uncertainty is a given. So one needs to factor it in while charting growth plans. It is important to prioritise keeping in mind the visi
the recession, we had to conserve cash and manage debt. So we put fresh capital expenditure and acquisitions on hold bu
discovery. This was contrary to the worldwide trend of slashing R&D spends. The decision paid off. Not only did more molecules
also concluded one more outlicensing deal in 2010. In these tough years, we also got a sense of the commitment of our employees

How it helped me succeed:

When I took over as the CEO, we had only witnessed phenomenal growth year after year. At the age of 38, for the first time
magnitude. It was a learning of a lifetime. Glenmark is definitely a stronger organisation than before. I realised that for every few
come a bad year. So plan for that year when the going is good. The bad years are the ones that mould an organisation and make it

(As told to Gauri Kamath)

Next is: Sourav Ganguly , Former captain, Indian cricket team

Sourav Ganguly, Former captain, Indian cricket team

"I used a setback as a stepping stone"

When I failed:

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"The most glaring failure would be during

was dropped from the Indian team. That w
been playing for 11 years and had always b
For me that period of six months when I wa
most challenging.

What I learnt:

Failure or an apparent setback is not imp

how we handle the situation. I tried to see
improve.

How it helped me succeed:

I did come back into the team and into the game after six months but it was not something I did to prove to the world. I have nev
anything. I have never played the game that way. Each time I scored, I only knew I was good enough to play the sport at that le
seen the game and that's how I saw it then. In hindsight, I think I used that phase as a stepping stone to come back into the game.

(As told to Rakhi Mazumdar)

Next is: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson & managing director, Biocon Ltd

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson &

Ltd

"I was told I was taking too many risks"

When I failed:

I have faced many failures but I have dealt

in India as a young graduate from the Unive
found that there was no job for a woman in
industry. I was perceived as a failure whe
family garage to make industrial enzymes.

Bankers were reluctant to lend and asked me to drop ambitious plans to build in-house technology. Nobody would lend money t
promoted India's first venture capital company, invested in it. In 2003, bankers were sceptical about my plans to develop novel drug
out their stake to AIG. I was told I was taking too many risks. Why couldn't I be like other pharma companies?

What I learnt:

There is no slam-dunk in business; in developing oral insulin we might have failed in the initial clinical trials but we will take the
trials... Investors look for commoditisation; they don't appreciate measured risk taking. It is always about managing risk.

How it helped me succeed:

I have never betted the bank on anything. I take positions that mitigate risk; that is my strength. I convert my failures into success
went after development of insulin molecule. Investors want to see deal flows and regular returns while I wanted to always challen
could do.

(As told to Archana Rai)

Next is: Jaithirth 'Jerry' Rao, Chairman, Value and Budget Housing Corporation

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Jaithirth 'Jerry' Rao, Chairman, Val

Corporation

"Invest in advanced systems and proces

When I failed:

It was 2003. Our company [MphasiS] was

seemed to have all our engines firing at t
was doing well another was failing. And w
bad news when it was too late to do an
directors, Jose de la Torre, told us that
growth companies. We were so keen to
invested in our internal systems. Our systems were always good enough for the previous year. They invariably lagged our requirem

What I learnt:

If we have plans to scale up, we have to invest in advance in our internal capabilities, not try piecemeal investments after the delug
we grow, we can somehow "wing it" is a fallacy.

How it helped me succeed:

In my new venture, I have made it a point to invest in systems and processes upfront even when our business levels may not justif
good enterprise resource planning (ERP) application and are making changes to it to ensure that it is a world-class support system
though we are a small one. We have chosen to appoint a senior person as our HR head rather than managing this function
systems across all aspects of our company on the assumption that we will have 50 times as many customers as we do right no
terms of customer delight, early detection of problems and company-wide optimisation.

Next is: Manish Sabharwal, Chairman, TeamLease

Manish Sabharwal, Chairman, TeamLeas

"Everything takes more time and money

When I failed:

It happened in 1998 when I took venture

venture, India Life, which was a piece of pa
meter down and that kind of money alwa
happened because there was a mismatch
opportunity needed and how much time the

What I learnt:

I now understand the investing business and that funds have finite lives and fiduciary responsibilities. This does not make them a
for some ventures; or at particular stages of some ventures. I learnt that you have to take your venture as far as you can without
whose money has an expiry date. Everything takes more time and money than you think and your investors need to understand tha
them. Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement.

How it helped me succeed:

We did not raise any external equity in TeamLease for the first five years. TeamLease has been able to scale faster and engage
aggressively than we could have if we had taken external money from Day 1.

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(As told to Malini Goyal)

Next is: Arun Shourie, Former minister and journalist

Arun Shourie, Former minister and journ

"Put your difficulties to work"

When I failed:

I am the only editor to be dismissed not on

Express. The first time, Mrs Gandhi put suc
owner] Ramnath Goenka that even a tig
gesture out of me.

But he did call me back and I was delighted

a series of strokes. Those who were try
thought that S Gurumurthy and I would be the obstacles. And therefore, they first removed me, and then Gurumurthy.

What I learnt:

My first learning is never look back. Or else you will suffer the fate of Lot's wife [in the Book of Genesis, Lot's wife ignores the ad
back when fleeing the city of Sodom, and turns into a pillar of salt]. My second learning: put your difficulties to work. There are very
put to work. This is easier if our goal is inner growth. Third: always have three careers going at the same time. And carry each one

How it helped me succeed:

I have never looked back in my life. On the personal front, I have had to face several challenges: my 35-year-old son has multipl
had Parkinson's for the last 22 years. I have worked towards putting these things to work. I have followed at least three careers at
books, I have written columns and I have been a minister. I have carried each one of them lightly so that if I am thrown out I do
prime minister] Vajpayeeji asked me a few years back: "Where are you living these days?" I said: "In my parents' house that they
me why I had not taken government accommodation. I said: "[If I do not take it] there is one less thing to give up."

(As told to Soma Banerjee)

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