Kumar Mangalam Birla with Nikhil Kamath

Interviewee: Kumar Mangalam Birla

Interviewer: Nikhil Kamath

Subject: About business and life

Date: 20 December 2024

  • The most creative thing you can do is build or run a business.
  • As the business grows, you’ve got to be more creative to create value. When your business becomes one of the top two, you’ve got to really think out of the box to build value, and more creativity is required.
  • I always wanted to do well. It wasn’t thrust on me, but I wanted it for myself.
  • Self-assuredness comes from a sense of security (from family).
  • The businesses that you run also shape you as a person.
  • My father was a tough boss at business. He expected his employees to be on top of things all the time. He was very driven and demanding (of his employees and himself).
  • I was encouraged by everyone to be my own person whilst I was growing up.
  • Emotional availability should be restricted to very few people; it can damage you otherwise.
  • Corporates should give back to society. Corporates profit from society, and hence, it’s a must to give back.
  • At a personal level, I believe in silent philanthropy. 
  • I’m not the kind of person who drops things midway (he completes what he commits to).
  • I lost my cool (got angry) 18 times in 29 years. It’s a black mark losing your cool especially at work. With time, I feel I have become much easier. Instead of losing my cool, the chances of walking away from a situation are much higher.
  • There really is no substitute for smart hard work.
  • It’s very important having friends where it’s a friendship that’s not seeking anything. It makes life that much richer.
  • Private equity/ venture capital is a very credible way of building assets/businesses.
  • When we decide to get into any business, we want to be in a leadership position (number one; number two).
  • Paints and jewelry are two new businesses the group has entered. I believe there is good opportunity in these areas.
  • Rs 1 crore is not enough to start any business in today’s context. Even Rs 10 crore is not enough; in India, scale is important, and this amount is insufficient.
  • Advice to young entrepreneurs – Do what you love doing. Keep the passion going. Get together a great team (most important). Be consistent. Be an agile learner (with so much change happening, it’s learning to keep learning).
  • You need to choose the right people and then trust them to grow your business. Get people with more experience than you. The only way to grow is to have energized teams.

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Disclaimer: The key points of the interview presented here are not a substitute to listening to the full interview. To get the interviewee’s holistic message requires listening to the entire interview.