Narayana Murthy Business Advice
On March 12, Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy share their thought and said that businesses and entrepreneurs should treat their employees with respect and work to reduce the gap between the lowest and highest salaries by following the idea of “compassionate capitalism.”
Everyone should respect and value every employee in a company. He added, “Praise people in public and give feedback in private. Also, whenever possible, share the company’s success fairly with all employees.”
He said that India’s future growth and poverty reduction will happen when businesses and entrepreneurs follow capitalism with compassion. In the past, Murthy was criticized for suggesting a 70-hour work week, saying that young people in India need to work hard to make the country a global leader.
Murthy, speaking with former TiE Mumbai president Harish Mehta at TiE Con Mumbai 2025, said that India cannot grow with its current socialist mindset.
He explained that capitalism means giving people the chance to come up with new ideas to create wealth for themselves and their investors, create jobs to reduce poverty, and pay taxes that can be used for public services.
Murthy explained more about “compassionate capitalism.”
He said that entrepreneurs should act as examples of capitalism, showing through their actions that it can work well in a country used to socialism.
“We need to behave in a way that even those who doubt capitalism will see its benefits and say, ‘Yes, there is something good about it.’ To do this, we must lead by example. Just talking about it is not enough—we have to show it through our actions,” he said.
Walk The Talk
He also shared some incidents that when they faced financial losses, he arranged training programs on IBM AS400 computers at Infosys campuses. Competitors’ top engineers were allowed to join these programs to improve their skills. The money earned from these hard working sessions was given to Nasscom to help cover its losses.
Harish Mehta, former TiE Mumbai president, shared this story to show Murthy’s commitment to helping the entire industry. During tough times, Murthy focused on keeping Nasscom strong and growing, knowing that working together, even with competitors, was important for the industry’s future.
Murthy said that entrepreneurs should promote ethical capitalism by setting a extreme good example. He urged business leaders to show through their actions, as well as skills that compassionate capitalism can have a positive impact. He believed this would help change the mindset of a society used to socialism and make people more open to the benefits of entrepreneurship.
