Opinion
Birla: One Crore Rupees Is Not Enough To Start Any Business Today
“So one crore is just, it's just not enough to start any business in today's context. I'd rather just keep it in the bank.”
Insight
Birla: Building or Running a Business Is the Most Creative Pursuit
“I think I'm essentially a creative person. And for me, the most creative thing you can do is build or run a business. I think there's so much of creativity that goes into that.”
Opinion
Birla: Younger Generations Face Much Less Conformity Pressure Than Past Generations
“The pressure to perform or conform on your generation is much less than it was on us, which I think is, you know, huge.”
Opinion
Birla: Fear quashes personality and has no positive role today
“Fear is something that can really, ah, you know, quash you as a personality. Why would you It's also a very different context, right? I'm talking about, ah, I was 22, so that's about 35 years ago. Parenting was a very different thing then, clearly. In today's …”
Insight
Birla: Scaling Companies Demands Greater Creativity Because Easy Wins Are Exhausted
“I think as a business grows larger and scales up, you know, you need to be more and more creative because all the sort of low hanging fruit are done with. And you've got to keep creating value. So I think you actually need to be, that's when management turns f…”
Insight
Birla: The businesses you run shape you as a person
“And I think, you know, the businesses that you run also shape you as a person. It's not just the other way around.”
Insight
Birla: Deep Emotional Availability Must Be Restricted To Avoid Personal Damage
“Emotional availability, I think has to be restricted to just a very few people. It can damage you otherwise.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Birla: Corporations Will Soon Rival Governments And Religion As Global Stakeholders
“You know, as we, as I look ahead globally, I think maybe after the church in some parts of the world or the government, of course everywhere in the world corporates are going to be one of the most important stakeholders globally in every, every part of the wor…”
Insight
Birla: Societal impact is an inherent business duty, not philanthropy
“Because you're just giving back to society from which the business, forget about the individual part of it, that of course also, but when you're getting so much, ah, for business to play a role in impacting society positively is just part of a charter of busin…”
Insight
Birla: Trusteeship views private business as collective prosperity, not raw capitalism
“There is this socioeconomic concept of trusteeship, which my great grandfather, having spent so much of time with him and being a close associate came to embrace, which is that, you know, private companies in the private sector, so to speak more it's more abou…”
Opinion
Birla: Philanthropists genuinely believe in their work despite any emotional reward
“If one has spent his or her life You know being philanthropic, chances are that they truly believe in that, which is why they lived a life that they chose to live. Even if there is some element of making you feel you know, like a high if you're supporting peop…”
Disclosure
Birla: His Father Barred Him From Family Business Without CA And MBA
“He just said to me that if you're not Going to be a CE MBA. You can't come and work in our office. There's no role that I can give to you.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Birla: Kumar Birla Has Lost His Temper Just 18 Times Since 1995
“I've lost it 18 times in 30, 29 years.”
Insight
Birla: Having tough conversations is fundamentally distinct from getting angry
“There are tough conversations that you need to have. And I've had several tough conversations on a one-to-one or with small teams. That's very different from getting angry. Getting angry in some way, let's say in a corporate context, it's also a little bit abo…”
Disclosure
Birla: Why Aditya Birla Group Passed On Buying An IPL Team
“I couldn't understand the model of the IPL for the longest. It's about capital allocation as well, right? I mean, when you have a lot of interesting opportunities before you, you've got to make choices. I'm not the sort of person, nor is my family or my son, t…”
Disclosure
Birla: Conglomerate Enters New Businesses Only To Reach Top Three Position
“Since one of the objectives that we have very clearly marked out for ourselves when we get into a new business is that we want to be in a leadership position, which means number one, number two, At first number three, the foreseeable future”
Disclosure
Birla: Lack of work-life balance has been an intentional choice
“I've never had, for example, a work-life balance, but that's been by choice for various reasons, right or wrong. It's not happening by default.”
Opinion
Birla: Schoolchildren's lives today are far more complex due to citywide information spread
“When I look at children of that age now, their lives are so much more complex, right? They know about every student in every school in Bombay and what happened. I mean, if something unusual out of the way was to happen, Let's say a kid was caught taking drugs.…”
Insight
Birla: Attachment to extended family provides a broader emotional base
“When you're attached to so many people in the family, it gives you a broader base, a broader emotional base.”
Disclosure
Birla: Consciously avoids media because role doesn't require constant public exposure
“You know, I have pretty much consciously stayed away from the media. I don't think that my job requires me to be in people's faces all the time. And personally, I'm a private person. I don't, I'm not very sort of keen on sharing things about my personal life o…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Birla: Received Job Offers While Auditing Companies Under First Name Only
“The last six months I got a job offer at every company that I went to for an audit. They just knew me as Kumar and you know that was reassuring.”
Insight
Birla: Diversified institutional investor pools force companies to be more accountable
“When you have a different investor pool investing in the company, then, you know, investor expectations start to change. You become more accountable. Investors become more vocal.”
Assertion Supported
Birla: Diamond values fell by roughly 20% in the past year
“The value of diamonds has gone, gone down by about 20% in the last one year.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Birla: About 4,000 employees have been with the group for 20+ years
“So I have about 4000 people who've been with me for 20 plus years.”
Kumar Mangalam Birla