I faced multiple business failures but never gave up: Ambani

Treating the investor money more carefully than one's own and having the right team as well as not looking for immediate returns are some of the key requirements to become a successful entrepreneur, noted industrialist Mukesh Ambani said today.
"Treat your investors' money even more carefully than your own money. And secondly, you cannot do anything without the right team - these are the two non-negotiable for me," said the owner of the world's largest startup, Reliance Jio.
Ambani was speaking at Nasscom Leadership Forum here.
Narrating his experience as an entrepreneur and listing out the formulae that helped him become a successful corporate leader, Ambani recalled he learnt the first important lesson in business from his father the late Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of Reliance Group.

"The first piece about entrepreneurship was taught to be my my father after I returned from the US. I asked him for my roles and responsibilities and my job, and he told me if I want to do a job, I have to be a manager.
"An entrepreneur will figure out what to do," Ambani said, recalling what his father told him.

The RIL chief noted that an entrepreneur must first identify problems that he is passionate about. "Its not solving problems, but it is finding the problems. Once you find the problem, then you solve it."
Besides, Ambani said it is imperative that solving a problem should benefit society in some way or other and that financial returns arising out of it should be secondary.

"The third thing that I learnt, and which we have now institutionalised at RIL, is that you have to create societal value.
"You have to solve a problem that actually does good in some way. That has to be the objective and financial return are actually a by-product. If you focus only on financial return, the chances are that you will not really become great and solve your own passion," he added.
The industrialist maintained business failures are normal and he had personally failed many times before succeeding. "Never get disheartened by failures. Learn from them, but never give up."

Talking about setting up the right team for business, he insisted, "It is very important to align the team passionately to your own vision. And finally, an entrepreneur is always positive. He is an optimist, there are lots of cynics and negative people around, but entrepreneurs spreads positive energy.