Mukesh Ambani quotes: sayings from the Indian biz badass.
“Dance to your own music and take some risks in life, because it is often the risk-taker who changes the course of history… and contributes to the well-being of millions of lives.”
“Fill your years and minds with melodies of optimism.”
“Tune out the critics and cynics.”
“I don’t think that ambition should not be in the dictionary of entrepreneurs. But our ambition should be realistic. You have to realize that you can’t do everything.”
“All of us, in a sense, struggle continuously all the time, because we never get what we want. The important thing which I’ve really learned is how do you not give up, because you never succeed in the first attempt.”
“I am a big believer that whatever has gone lies in the past. You should only learn from it, and you should only look at the present and the future. That’s been my father’s philosophy and mine as well.”
“Really do a job and do it well.”
“It is important to achieve our goals, but not at any cost.”
“Essentially, whoever is successful, whoever is going to do things that make a difference, is going to be talked about.”
“Everybody has equal opportunity and I think that is true for everything.”
“Relationships and trust. This is the bedrock of life.”
“In the journey of an entrepreneur, the most important thing is self-belief and the ability to convert that belief into reality.”
“As long as you’ve got your courage of conviction, it works for you. I think that the same applies, too, even where you don’t, because in today’s world, financial resources are the least important. [The] world has moved to the power of ideas.”
“The first piece about entrepreneurship was taught to me by my father after I returned from the U.S. – 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.”
“And only the people who take some risks will reap rewards.”
“A brand is directly proportionate to the amount of value it creates for customers. Do everything you can to create customer value.”
“I think the good thing in the technology business is that it is the ideas that count; size does not count. It’s the quality of your ideas and how you execute that counts.”
“In business, it is always good to back a winning horse. But the challenge is to be the first to know which is the winning horse. We saw mobile internet as the winning horse before anybody else did. The mobile internet has won the world over. Companies that had bet on mobile internet have created the largest value in the last 10 years.”
“It’s not solving problems, but it is finding the problems. Once you find the problem, then you solve it.”
“I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.”
“At Reliance, we have always believed in investing in the businesses of the future and in investing in talent.”
“Today I see a billion people as a billion potential consumers, an opportunity to generate value for them and to make a return for myself.”
“You have to manage money. Particularly with market economies. You may have a great product, but if your bottom line busts then that’s it.”
“Profit or loss is not guaranteed. That depends on the consumer and depends on the product. That’s a risk that business people take.”
“If there are some losses that you take, then we’re all big boys – we shouldn’t be crying.”
“Any business that has the soul purpose of making money is not worth doing. I personally think that money can do very little. It is really about having a purpose. I have always believed that the purpose of business has to be something more than only making money. And this has been my experience all across.”
“Business must serve a larger societal purpose.”
“I generally think that I should only speak by action and not by words.”
“My view is to give everyone the space to grow in his own way. When you see restructuring or separations in a family [firm], value has almost always been destroyed. This is the first case where value has been enhanced. In that way it has been a win-win ending.”
“The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on a hundred legs and one or two don’t count. So, if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on, the organization will go on, the growth will go on.”
“I am a big believer that technology shapes mankind. It is the biggest driver of human development, and if you can use technology to benefit people, then that’s the best business you can have.”
“I have always believed that technology drives human civilization’s endeavor and progress.”
“Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of self-reliance can be attained by making use of internet and technology.”
“Why will I not give free service to my customers to get them used to mobile internet, and to get every small town and village to use it? Everybody does promotions. In the internet world, free is normal.”
“Our own childhood was totally different. I guess when you are left on your own, you find your true potential. I remember my father never came to our school even once. Nevertheless, he was hugely interested in our all round development for which he did some amazing things.”
“A third track running at that time, apart from academics and the fun stuff, was that my father shared with me his passion for business and entrepreneurship form very early on. Even when I was in high school, I used to spend long hours at the office on weekends.”
“So, these were the four components of my upbringing – the academic stuff where I was left to myself, Mahendrabhai, my father’s passion for creating Reliance and that last piece was his deep links with the family.”
“In my father’s language: to create something out of nothing – that possibility exists in India even in old-world sectors like agriculture.”
“I have turned into a big nature fan as well. I can afford it more today. These childhood influences have shaped me into what I am today.”
“For me, it is fulfillment that is important… which is the lasting satisfaction that you have… that you really tried your best and you have given it everything that you have. Sometimes, in spite of that, you might not achieve your outcome and you have to reconcile with that. That is my philosophy in life.”
“It is important to remember, there are no overnight successes. You will need to be dedicated, single-minded, and there is no substitute to hard work.”
“I wish I was 30 years old today. The opportunity in front of us today is huge.”
