Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

High-Performance Entrepreneur

Rate this book
Difficult though setting up a business is, becoming a high-performance entrepreneur is harder still. And yet of the many thousands who try, there are those who go on to become successful, some even graduate to setting up companies that hold their own against the toughest competition, becoming icons of achievement. In "The High-Performance Entrepreneur", Subroto Bagchi, co-founder and chief operating officer of MindTree Consulting, draws upon his own highly successful experience to offer guidance from the idea stage to the IPO level. This includes how to decide when one is ready to launch an enterprise, selecting a team, defining the values and objectives of the company and writing the business plan to choosing the right investors, managing adversity and building the brand. Additionally, in an especially illuminating chapter, Bagchi recounts the systems and values which have made Indian IT companies on a par with the best in the world. More than just a guide, this is a book that will tap the entrepreneurial energy within you.

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2006

127 people are currently reading
1409 people want to read

About the author

Subroto Bagchi

20 books100 followers
Subroto Bagchi is best known for co-founding MindTree in 1999 where he started as the Chief Operating Officer. MindTree is among India’s most admired companies across industries. In 2008, Bagchi took on the role of Gardener at MindTree.

In this new role, Bagchi spends one-on-one time with the Top-100 leaders at MindTree on their ‘personal-professional’ issues to expand leadership capacity and build readiness for taking MindTree into the billion-dollar league. In addition, Bagchi works at the grassroots by making himself available to its 45 Communities of Practice that foster organizational learning, innovation and volunteerism within the organization.

Bagchi has written extensively in leading newspapers and magazines, and spoken at industry platforms and educational institutions the world over. His Businessworld column - Arbor Mentis - and Times of India column - Times of Mind - were widely read and discussed. Many of these are archived at www.mindtree.com/subrotobagchi.

His first book, The High Performance Entrepreneur was released in 2006 as a Penguin Portfolio publication to great critical acclaim. His second book, Go Kiss the World was released in 2008 as a Penguin Portfolio. Mark Tully hailed it as “a remarkable story of courage, integrity and enterprise”.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
219 (30%)
4 stars
262 (37%)
3 stars
179 (25%)
2 stars
38 (5%)
1 star
9 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
Profile Image for Vijay S Paul.
5 reviews8 followers
September 10, 2016
For a book that is supposed to add value, I was much irritated by the constant mention of Mindtree every ten words. Appreciate the fact that he has shared his experiences as the founder, but the constant mention of "Mindtree this, Mindtree that" was a bit too much for the nerves. Could have been better modelled as "Zero to One", which though showcases Peter Theil's learnings, doesn't sound at all "pushy".
Profile Image for S.Ach.
686 reviews208 followers
March 10, 2023
Subroto Bagchi's "The High Performance Entrepreneur" should be mandatory read for every wannabe tech-entrepreneur in India. In this book, Bagchi outlines the steps, best practices, dos and don'ts from idea to IPO for a tech start-up. Since, the book was published 17 years ago, the examples could be dated, but the advice still relevant.
In the closing lines, Bagchi writes that it is not necessary to read romantic novels to fall in love, but it helps. In similar lines, he expects his book to provide the guiding inspiration to new age entrepreneurs, who want to quit their jobs to start a venture of their own. You bet, it does.
Many reviewers have written how they got annoyed by repeated use of MindTree instances to provide ammunitions to author's points. On the contrary I found that as a big positive. I would rather listen to one person's own trials and tribulations in the journey to success, than borrowed examples from internet.
Bagchi and team started their venture few years before the catastrophic tech down-turn of early 2000s, withered the storm and marched ahead to become one of the successful tech companies of India. Treat this book as learning from their experiences.
Profile Image for Kandhasamy Muthu.
13 reviews2 followers
May 30, 2014
Somewhere in the middle of this 200 and odd pages book shines the thought: " While there is no denying the fact that starting something new is a creative act and requires a very generative, nurturing mindset, there is a general misconception that the essence of the start-up process is devoid of process-oriented thinking and action."

Subroto Bagchi, the author, brilliantly weaves his idea of an almost perfect entrepreneur in a scientific manner. And to think that one can derive science out of the art of entrepreneurship is an exciting thought. The book makes the reader ask more questions than seek comfort in answers. Though the author makes no bones to hide the fact that the book is written primarily for the IT start ups, one can most certainly use it is a blue print to ask the right questions for any ambitious ventures. Mr Bagchi's analytical mind comes to the fore when one looks at the sequencing of chapters: Starts with the chapter: When do I know if I am ready? and ends with: Reasons start ups fail? and in between those two questions he details the various aspects of running a start up.

Below are some of the thoughts of the author found in this useful piece of work:

"It is strange but true- while conviction in a given vision is critical for the entrepreneur, quite often, it is the same conviction that comes in the way of embracing change."

"The top team has finite energy and must focus and deliver on what it knows best before straying into unrelated areas."

"You may have choice you do not know because you have closed your mind by getting boxed into a certain way of thinking."

"In today's hyper-competitive world, the war for talent precedes the war for market share."

Would it make any difference if I reveal the fact that Mr Bagchi isn't a scholar writing on Entrepreneurship but the founding member/ Chairman of MindTree Corporation, India's leading Software services company?
Profile Image for Divya.
34 reviews
October 28, 2011
Few years before, I read this book. It still holds the top rack of my bookshelf@home. I found it very inspiring for the new upcoming professionals or people seeking entrepreneurship. It gave the insight of a startup life. and it explains about the concepts of branding, DNA,Mission, Business Plan , Choosing the right team..etc. Overall this book is good for the new comers to feel the atmosphere of the startups.
14 reviews16 followers
October 31, 2013
This book might be good for those who are unaware of startup world. But, I felt i have read all these on some blogs. Because why startups fail,when to do startup, IPO,etc,. information regarding anything can be found online. And also i found it a bit boring.
Profile Image for Poorna Tej.
3 reviews1 follower
April 11, 2013
A broad and general good read for starters who r making it to the world of entrepreneurship. Illustrated with good examples that are relevant for the subcontinent.
Profile Image for Prajwal H.N.
33 reviews3 followers
March 8, 2022
It gives you the basic idea and groundwork of what it means to be an entrepreneur and what it takes to build a company from the ground up. Sense of motivation to keep going and strive for greatness.

Entrepreneurship can be deeply rewarding simply as a journey itself. Things keep unfolding along the way. You figure things out as long as your consistently doing and going in the right direction.

The richness of experience and sheer confidence you get from setting up your own shop. It is a creative process and when done successfully, it can give you the highest sense of accomplishment possible.

Idea that solves the problems of a lot of ordinary people, in a simple way. Such ideas evolve naturally into high performance entrepreneurship.

High-performance entrepreneurship are invariably two things - a great idea that leads to a family of ideas, and solid implementation.

Pretend you are very big. Being big is not about size, it is about mindset.
Profile Image for Karandeep.
244 reviews18 followers
May 13, 2019
This book is not a 'How to' but more of a 'How I did it'.
The book takes you through how Mindtree began and the learnings of the founder. It's basically an interview with a CEO over a cup of coffee where he narrates how things function in his company and what he thinks people should also be implementing.

The book shines in parts and has a lot of important things a new entrepreneur should/could learn but also has points that I disagreed with.

You can skip pages and still not miss much.
Profile Image for Piyush Rawat.
16 reviews3 followers
August 12, 2012
Very demonstratively written, the book is one of the better guides out there - that'd help one understand, & create your own blueprint of enterprise formation.
A relevant read for any Indian IT startup aspirant.
Profile Image for Roshan.
134 reviews
June 13, 2018
The High Performance Entrepreneur is indeed a book with golden rules for establishing an organization or a start-up. The author of the book Subroto Bagchi shares his experience as an entrepreneur with a shrewd analysis on skills to be acquired to make the start, while concisely prescribing several business essentials needed to make a lasting impact in the world of business and information technology. The book briefly resuscitates in the minds of the readers, the conventional approach of developing a strong mission and vision for business in addition to defining the values that the new organization will abide by. The content presented herein feels like a start-up guide for several aspiring entrepreneurs, who're itching to make their mark in the business world. The first prerequisite to step into the shoe of an entrepreneur is focusing energy on self analysis. Firstly, asking ourselves, if we are ready to tackle the very many practical challenges that are inevitably bound to cross swords with us on the way during the entire course of our venture.

Are we financially sound or well equipped to take risks?

If yes, to what extent are we willing to stretch ourselves financially?

Are we well prepared for the best and the worse?

Can we sustain a marginal loss first up during our venture?

Are we vulnerable in adapting to the changing market and business needs?

Are we well versed with the use and application of sophisticated technology tools to let our business make a good initial impact?

How long are we willing to persist with our venture?,

and the most important question first and foremost,

Are we ready to make the first move?

If we see ourselves answering yes to the question and good enough to start out, the second prerequisite beckons us. It is advisable to conduct good research and reflect on the professional lives of various entrepreneurs and their business endeavors before commencing an entrepreneurial journey of our own. A well carried out research on entrepreneurial credentials, the credits that accompany the job, and the several responsible actions expected off an entrepreneur tends to help the start-up stand in good stead and gain right shape in future. It is recommended, preferably a market research on the business domain we are planning to start, its current market value and its associated trends & values be thoroughly studied before venturing into the business. A good knowledge of the pros and cons prior to investment helps prevent any form of illusion from setting in regarding the success of the business venture. The more practical a mindset, the more likely it is to prove beneficial for the start-up. The third prerequisite to start a corporate is to consider and explore the options available aplenty and wait for the right time to cash in on the right opportunity. Keeping a track of the latest upgrades and developments to have taken place more recently in the domain we're planning to invest and see ourselves grow can prove more than useful in the long run. The author doesn't hesitate to point out that the aforementioned prerequisite is indeed the most crucial and a potential deciding factor for success of the business establishment.

The fourth and the fifth prerequisites are closely related and can be considered as a singly knit well bound pair of requirements. Choosing the right team is as important an aspect as defining the DNA, mission, vision, and values of our start-up. It becomes absolutely essential to ensure that our team comprises of professionals who're willing to work hard, adapt to changes without too much of hindrance, flexible and broad minded in their problem solving capabilities, willing to be open minded to consider various available options before taking or making decisions, willing to commit to work full time and possess extraordinary levels of work ethics, communication skills (writing and speaking), persistence, and endurance. A good team is the one that boasts of good mutual understanding, mental co-operation, and coordination. Once the kind of team previously mentioned takes shape, the fifth prerequisite of defining the DNA, mission, vision, and values fall into place without too many hiccups. However, it is not advisable to completely ignore this requirement, for doing so could spell doomsday on the team's business prospects in the long run.

The next prerequisite makes it to the author's list for obvious reasons as is suggestive from his views on the same. The need to raise a question to ourselves -

How is our business idea or plan different compared to the rest who're already ahead of us and ruling the roost in the market?

In short, how effective will our strategy to combat stiff competition be? or how robust will our strategy be to withstand the test of times?

What are we planning to do differently to gain competitive and strategic advantage over our competitors?

What are the prospects that our strategy will yield desirable and fruitful results?

As always, this prerequisite always brings along additional baggage of ifs and buts with it.

The seventh prerequisite is penning down our business model and analyzing it for visible and hidden defects, advantages, and feasibility. A gleeful glance at the business plan time and again, before and after the completion of the draft does no harm as it may lead to identification of more glitches in the model. The next prerequisite requires the entrepreneur to be cautious while choosing the right investor. This is the most trickiest aspect associated with a venture such as a start-up. Even the sharpest of minds could fail us in our venture when the investment is not channelized efficiently in a structured and well planned manner. Another important aspect associated with business ventures is allocating and assigning the most suitable resources for carrying out and implementing vast number of business functionalities. Often, with the kind of recent trends observed, it is very challenging to engage the appropriate humanoids to perform certain highly prioritized critical tasks. Therefore, it is very important to retain good valuable resources and utilize their talent for obtaining high productivity and favorable business outcome. Come what may.

Apart from these fundamental prerequisites, the author has also dealt with the need to build process -focused organization which is euphoric about its emergence and willingness for change. The book also imparts ideas of managing our money and building our brand, which of course invariably form a part of the later stages of business establishment. Taking a leaf out of his entrepreneurial challenges and experiences as the co-founder of Mindtree Consulting, the author presents exemplified details on the modus operandi of his corporation and the crucial role played by other co-founders in managing adversity and transformation of the organization from its mere existence as an idea to a full fledged IPO. The concluding part of the book sees the author lending his views on reasons for failures of start-up and the lessons in entrepreneurship from the Indian IT industry. This compilation is no less a holy book for wannabe businessmen except that the glamour element is irrelevant.

To conclude, entrepreneurship is about self confidence, remaining flexible, goal oriented and opportunistic, a right blend of discipline with a sense of freedom, working hard, shedding egotist tendency, and loving money. Choosing the team involves consideration for complementary composition, proven competence, multitasking capability, shared vision, transparency, personal integrity and mutual trust, questioning ability and taking disagreement in stride, resilience, and sense of humor.

Overall, the book has a useful recipe on entrepreneurship. It has all the potential and the making of a bestseller. The High Performance Entrepreneur scores a boundary on a scale of 5 in my review. The last word is hold back or let go. A good read. Enjoy your date with the idea of entrepreneurship. Cheers.
Profile Image for Simran Saluja.
12 reviews
May 8, 2023
This is that kind of book, which once read, will surely rest on your book shelf for future read. To serve as a guide and a mentor. To help you think more deeply and clearly about ones own business.

It is indeed a very thoughtful and detailed book on entrepreneurship. However, I loved the way author ended the book, which says:

“You really do not need to read this book - for that matter any book - to start your own enterprise. And lest I forget, no amount of reading about romance is equal to the act of falling in love. The actual act is in the enactment.”
77 reviews4 followers
July 11, 2017
This book is a wonderful read for a budding entrepreneur. It will answer many questions in your mind, will caution you, and most importantly motivate you.

What is striking about the book is that it feels very humble, and genuine. By the time I finished the book, I had great respect for Mr. Bagchi.
Profile Image for Muin Rahman.
46 reviews
January 31, 2020
The writer Subroto is one of the founders of the Indian IT giant MindTree.
He tried to tell his experience in this book from starting a company to going to IPO. The unique part was of this book was it's in the Indian context, whereas other books are in the western context with different obstacles.
Therefore for all the entrepreneurs in Asia, it's an excellent read.
Profile Image for Prakhar Chandna.
10 reviews
January 14, 2018
This guide from the co-founder of MindTree talks about every aspect of the entrepreneurial journey from the business plan to IPO. I don't think it could have been expressed in a more succinct and simple manner.
6 reviews1 follower
May 1, 2019
A great book for anyone even remotely contemplating entrepreneurship.
It gives ditailed process, questions about why and how to start or not to stay businesses.
2nd delves into growing and building the business.
17 reviews
November 24, 2024
It's the BEST book, I never read any books that this open about the entrepreneurship. Author Subroto depicted most of his and his fellow colleagues experiences and challenges they encountered. The best part is, his advice and notes to next generations.

Thank you Subroto Bagchi
Profile Image for Urvish Patoliya.
15 reviews
July 24, 2018
Good book for those who want to venture into business. It talks about planning to execution as well as fundraising and listing.
1 review2 followers
August 12, 2018
The author keeps on quoting his own venture, MindTree. Other than that, it is an interesting book to read.
12 reviews
June 1, 2021
Extraordinary. Every chapter has it's own value to present. Bagchi sir is an wonderful entrepreneur. An must read for every entrepreneur.
28 reviews
July 15, 2021
A reference to have if you are an entrepreneur. It cant make you one but a handy guide to know what goes into building an organisation.
Profile Image for Silvio.
21 reviews
October 4, 2021
Essential Books to Read before You start to burn bridges behind you.
Number_06/20
6 reviews
October 26, 2022
Must read.
Teaches you many things
Goes over many topics which will help every man in the line of business someday.
Profile Image for Ajit Bohra.
11 reviews
Read
April 10, 2023
Good read! recommended for budding entrepreneurs. The book walks through the journey of MindTree (now acquired by Larsen & Toubro). Learnings and anecdotes shared by subroto bagchi.
Profile Image for Arunayan Sharma.
Author 3 books32 followers
December 29, 2020
Useful and beneficial for new entrepreneurs. The author has written from his own experiences.
Profile Image for RSR  Murthy.
51 reviews1 follower
January 12, 2023
The book is a must read for all aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone interested in understanding entrepreneurship. It is almost like the story of how Mindtree was built into a highly respected organization ( high performance enterprise) , interspersed with valuable lessons on entrepreneurship. The concluding chapter on the Indian IT industry, the jewel in the crown of India, is so true and touching
Profile Image for Vikram Iyer.
7 reviews5 followers
March 9, 2017
THis book demonstrated the journey undertaken by the author, from 0 to building MindTree :)
I suggest reading this book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.