Infosys cofounder Narayana Murthy says VCs responsible for the culture of growth in startups today
Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy attributed the "growth-at-any-cost" mentality of many firms to venture capitalists (VCs) and investors rather than the founders, claiming that it had turned into a "Ponzi scheme" where the risk was continually shifted to the next round of investors.
On the fringes of the Nasscom Technology and Leadership Forum, Murthy noted that OpenAI's ChatGPT, a generative AI tool, was competent but not sufficient to take over human roles, particularly in coding. "I hold the older folks - the VCs responsible for this," Murthy stated in reference to the topline-driven growth at various firms, which frequently came at the expense of other essential criteria.
"The VCs who advanced the view that the topline, rather than the bottom line, is what matters, I think that is utterly incorrect. This frequently turned into a Ponzi scheme. Due to my Series B status, I go on to Series C, sell my shares for a profit, and exit the market. The tin box is left in my hands when I enter Series Z, the former Infosys CEO lamented.
"I am not at all critical of young people; rather, I am critical of the elderly. As a result, the board of directors, advisors, and experienced VCs must be transparent and speak things as they are, he continued. The veteran of the software sector claimed that ChatGPT was brought to him by his son, Rohan Murty.
“In 1977-78, there was a thing called program generators. Everybody said the youngsters will lose all the jobs, it didn't happen. You know why? Because of a very important reason. Human mind is the most flexible instrument, and it can adapt very well,” Murthy said. “And all that happened was people started solving bigger and bigger problems, which these program generators could not handle.”
The world has been captivated by Chat GPT since it was introduced by Open AI in November 2022 because of its real-time reactions and deep reasoning capabilities. While ChatGPT should be embraced, according to Murthy, it should only serve as a starting point for more innovative solutions to challenges. According to Murthy, who is an expert in Indian Technology, multinational corporations are more likely to hunt for value in an uncertain global macroeconomic situation.
The majority of Indian businesses, especially those in the software industry, are actually expanding fairly well. My own surmise is that when there is a downturn in the developed world, the prospects for Indian software companies will be better because the focus is on better value for money,” Murthy said. “And indeed, software companies do provide good value for money.”
