The Captainship – Anchored by Strong Women

First Gen Entrepreneurs

A few months ago I sat across a gentleman at one of the industry confernces and one of things we both passionaltely spoke about was the need to bring story telling from behind the scenes into entrepreneurial eco-system. He called them the Trail Blazers and what made them who they are – a project we both hoped by the end of the conversation, somebody took up.

One has often heard about the business successes, the bottom lines and the product play, but ever wondered who these people really are?

What was their childhood like? What kind of homes they came from? What would their teachers say about them? Their fears, motivations, dreams at various stages in life. What made them do what they did?

The Captainship is that project. A first person narrative of first generation entreprenuers beginning from their earliest memories, says the Editor, Anya Gupta, who has been wonderfully assisted in lending a quirky visual element by illustrator Anitha Balachandran.

What The Captainship it does in turn is bring alive stories of middle class children going on to become founders of India’s new economy.

Some really interesting themes emerge as once trasverses through the book; most common being the fact that most of these entrepreneurs come from very simple middle class homes with limited resources and great discipline.

Accent on personal values and integrity is a high up for all of them and those values have been their guiding principles as they chart out their course.

Moments of deep personal reflection are another common thread that is a significant  unseen chord binding the book.

Personalized variants of success and ability to define one’s own mould as opposed to fitting in easily sets the tone pretty much for everyone.

Unlike the Western versions of entrepreneurial successes, most of our entrepreneurs are academically advanced and all of them came from homes where academic excellence mattered.

I couldn’t help notice the role played by women in each of their lives.

Satya Naraynan’s grandmom who he describes as Bindaas and Progressive, plays a deep impacting role in his formative years;  Subroto Bagchi’s mom kept the home going at all times; Sanjeev Aggarwal’s sister who is his go to for many reasons or Ashish Dhawan’s finding shared values in his wife.

Most of these entrepreneurs had strong women backing them.

The book profiles 9 entrepreneurs including Sanjeev Agarwal, Subroto Bagchi, Girish Batra, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Ashish Dhawan, Ashish Gupta, Satya Narayanan and Vijay Shekhar Sharma.

Zia Mody is the only woman in the group and has an exceptional story to tell as well. One of bringing up 3 children and setting up a corporate practice and  long distance relationships.

Endearing picks in story telling by the Editor / Author Anya Gupta make the stories come alive.

Like one time when Subroto Bagchi got upset with his mum, because he found out she married his dad. Or another time when Vijay Shekhar Sharma shares that what everyone perceived to be his biggest disadvantage – Speed was infact his biggest strength.

Pick this up and gift yourself wonderful read and an insight into these lives. Especially if you are interested in India, entrepreneurship, human ingenuity or just what inspired lives are like.  Highly recommended!

Picture Credits