Start-up City

Traditionally, big business in India was the domain of a handful families. There were few stories of educated middle-class professionals making it big. Then Bangalore burst onto the global business stage. With its fast growing software sector and young, ambitious men and women looking to break new ground, it has dramatically altered the scene as far afield as Silicon Valley. Start-up City is an ode to this new idea of enterprise and to a world where everyday people are making modern business history. There is Bharat Goenka, whose father pushed him to develop a user-friendly accounting software that has captured more than 80 per cent of the market; B.V. Venkatesh, who started his own venture at the ripe age of fifty-eight; Ravi Rangan, who made kiosks a medium of governance to empower the common man; and many more who started out on empty pockets but built companies that are worth crores today. These tales of struggle and success hold lessons too. Policymakers can spot and correct the factors that deter new ventures, while budding entrepreneurs will find ways, means and the inspiration to strike out on their own. Most of all, though, they are a testament to where grit, determination and single-minded focus can get you in life.