Start-ups fail but entrepreneurs never do: Vishal Sikka's key comments after Infosys earnings

Once battered Infosys is finally back in the reckoning and the credit, for sure, goes to CEO and MD Vishal Sikka who took charge in June 2014. Here are the key comments Sikka made after the better-than-expected earnings on Thursday: On Infosys “The overall climate looks good, we are comfortable with what our Q4 looks like and it will set us up with a nice ability to execute the year ahead of us. We have earlier said we are confident of industry-leading growth in next financial year… We are on track for that.” He added the momentum at which the business is growing is sustainable. [caption id=“attachment_2585176” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Infosys CEO Vishal Sikka. Reuters[/caption] On startups “The start-up movement in India is absolutely a very healthy sign. It is a very positive sign of a growing economy, of innovation, of an innovative youth culture and that’s a very good thing.” “Overall the emphasis that is being placed in India on start-ups and on entrepreneur is a good thing. Of course, it is true that vast majority of the start-ups fail. However, entrepreneurs never fail. I think it is a good thing, although frankly I wish that the bigger start-ups have more respect for profit margins, that would be a good thing.” Pointing out that Infosys is investing in start-ups and mentoring them, Sikka said: “One of the things that I am excited about is to help rethink the idea of incubation in a very interesting way… you will hear about that in Make in India week.” Make in India Week will be held in Mumbai from 13th to 18th February. In an interview to The Times of India, he says there is an attempt to delayer or flatten Infosys structure to create a startup culture. “Across the organization, idea is to have several thousand startups; each team feels it is a part of a startup. To do that, we have to radically simplify our processes. For last ten years, our internal processes have not been renewed and we are working on it,” he has said. On Aikido “Alongside grassroots innovation, we continue to see growing adoption of our Aikido services, bringing the power of intelligent systems, automation and software to amplify the skills and imaginations of our people. This combination helped us deliver encouraging results despite the traditional seasonality of the quarter and the additional headwinds, and will strengthen the execution of our strategy towards consistent profitable growth.” “We are seeing Infosions becoming innovators, bringing innovation and client value to each individual project. This confidence can only come from a culture of learning and empowerment, and this is the kind of company we are endeavouring to create.” Aikido is an initiative launched by Sikka in August 2015 focussing on design thinking, platforms and knowledge-based IT as part of its efforts to return to industry-leading growth numbers.