‘When you trust people, at the end of the day, it comes back’
Dilip Modi, chairman of Spice Telecom, says there are opportunities galore today for the next generation of mobile digital entrepreneurs
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| Dilip Modi Spice Telecom |
Can you begin by telling us about your journey at Spice?
I came to Kolkata in 1996 after completing my graduation at Imperial College, London, and acquired the mobile licence. Among the various portfolio businesses that we had then, this was the newest addition to the portfolio. My father encouraged me to get into this new industry and technology. That is where my journey with the group started – with mobile telephony. I worked very closely with them and built the whole business from scratch and effectively engineered the entry of the group into mobile telephony. After that, we acquired licences and growth followed. This sector has been my focus for the last 14 years.
How easy or difficult was your transition into the company?
The good part is that when I joined, the company was just being set up and we had got partners from the Telstra group in Australia. So, it was literally like being a part of the founding team of building the business. To that extent, it was fairly easy to step in as I got involved from day zero of building it and fulfilling my main role in launching the service.
What were the challenges you faced as a second generation entrepreneur and how did you overcome them?
When you enter a company, you have to hit the ground running because the business needs to be built and all of that. The challenge is more about getting to familiarize yourself with the nuances of the business and the need to understand what all needs to be done quickly. It’s all about learning the business and getting on with it very fast. Our business was new to the country and it was to our benefit that we had partnered with the biggest telecom business in Australia. I spent a lot of time with them and got an opportunity to learn from the experience. Another thing is that when you start a business, you start young and you work with people who are a lot more seasoned than you, so you have to mature very fast because, at the end of the day, you need to become as competent.
What is that one thing that today’s aspiring entrepreneur should avoid when starting up?
Negativity. At the end of the day, being an entrepreneur is challenging enough and starting a business is not easy and success will not immediately follow. So you have to be extremely positive and have passion and belief in what you are doing. It is infectious. That way, you attract people to yourself and your ideas. Passion, belief and hard work are the three factors that are critical to succeed as an entrepreneur.
We have noticed that many non-first-generation entrepreneurs work as management trainees at different organizations before joining their own company formally. What is your reason for doing this?
When you join your own business, you kind of walk in as a promoter of the business, so in that sense, you wouldn’t get a very objective environment to function in. Getting exposure in a different environment as a management trainee means you are getting a taste of the professional work culture. So, after that, when you join your own company, it helps you work better.
Do you believe in getting involved in the day to day operations or do you believe in choosing the right people to delegate work to? How do you ensure you get the right set of people and how do you decide on the leeway you will allow them?
Personally, I go for the latter. The way that I look at the businesses I’ve built, I have invested in people. My sense has always been about finding the right set of individuals who I can work with and who I can trust absolutely and completely. I am a strong believer in people. My philosophy is that if a person works with integrity, hard work and passion and doesn’t give me a reason to not trust him, I give enough leeway. I truly believe in the human ability to deliver beyond what you have. When you trust people, at the end of the day, it comes back. I always like to surround myself with such people.
In a company so huge, how do you stay on top of what is happening in the company?
There is a good MIS that works. On a daily basis, I know what is happening in terms of how things are moving and about strategic issues that have a significant impact on the running of the business. To me, it is a nice split between operations and strategy, where we’ve got very good professionals handling day to day operations on which I get briefed through daily MISes, and at the same time, I keep an eye out for developing whatever it takes to help grow the business.
How much personal time do you get among all this and how do you spend it?
I mostly get just Sundays at a personal level. Today, with the Blackberry, it becomes even more difficult as it has created an expectation where you have to respond irrespective of what time or day it is. That is something you just have to cater to. Irrespective of that, I generally try to avoid meetings on Sundays and spend time with my kids.
What values passed on by your predecessors do you bring to the table?
Basically what I’ve learnt from people like my father, who I have worked closely with, is that whatever you do, you should put your heart into it and make sure you do it with integrity, giving all that you have. The other thing is looking at it from the society point of view. It’s not just about making profit, it is about the impact you are creating on society. You have to look at it in a holistic way. Rather than just creating a product for the consumers, you have to see how it is making a difference to their lives. So, don’t just look at money making. Profit is important because you need resources to invest, but that should not be your mission. Ultimately, it should be about making a difference in people’s lives.
In your opinion, what are the things in this industry that should be happening, but haven’t happened yet? How can aspiring entrepreneurs tap into these opportunities?
In the sector where I work, the opportunities are manifold. Today, in India, I would say mobiles are replacing roads. There is no physical infrastructure, but there is mobile infrastructure. Today, people don’t have basic necessities, but they have mobile phones! So, to me, there is so much opportunity to build in this. You don’t have educational facilities, health-care facilities, or even enough bank branches. You can deliver facilities to all of these industries through mobiles. Already in the US, you will see lots of Internet entrepreneurs. To me, there is a great opportunity for a next generation of mobile digital entrepreneurs to emerge.
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written by vickeylim, March 15, 2011
Thanks
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