Back in 1988, HARISH MEHTA of Onward Technologies joined forces with a small group of other visionaries to start an organisation that would affect not just IT policies in India but the very perception of India itself.
When they set out with the aim of advocating for the Indian software services industry, Harish and his small army of mavericks had their work cut out for them. Here, in India, their first big challenge was to educate bureaucrats about what software is - overseas, the group faced an even bigger challenge: it was up to NASSCOM to build Brand India, to reverse the negative perceptions that had taken root over decades. It wasn't enough to just build the best product; they had to convince the world that India could offer the best quality, consistently and at competitive prices - and they had to pull this off within a conservative budget. How did they do it? By internalising and truly living by the 'One for all, and all for one' dictum -- plus, of course, with some nifty marketing.
Coopetition - the act of cooperation between competing companies - was at the heart of every move NASSCOM and its members made. Harish's new book, 'The Maverick Effect' offers a behind-the-scenes look at this unlikely partnership that changed India's fortunes.
On this episode of The Uppercase Podcast, listen to Harish talk about the vision that united India's tech gods and about why he feels it's time for other such associations to shake up the way we live and work.
Back in 1988, HARISH MEHTA of Onward Technologies joined forces with a small group of other visionaries to start an organisation that would affect not just IT policies in India but the very perception of India itself.
When they set out with the aim of advocating for the Indian software services industry, Harish and his small army of mavericks had their work cut out for them. Here, in India, their first big challenge was to educate bureaucrats about what software is - overseas, the group faced an even bigger challenge: it was up to NASSCOM to build Brand India, to reverse the negative perceptions that had taken root over decades. It wasn't enough to just build the best product; they had to convince the world that India could offer the best quality, consistently and at competitive prices - and they had to pull this off within a conservative budget. How did they do it? By internalising and truly living by the 'One for all, and all for one' dictum -- plus, of course, with some nifty marketing.
Coopetition - the act of cooperation between competing companies - was at the heart of every move NASSCOM and its members made. Harish's new book, 'The Maverick Effect' offers a behind-the-scenes look at this unlikely partnership that changed India's fortunes.
On this episode of The Uppercase Podcast, listen to Harish talk about the vision that united India's tech gods and about why he feels it's time for other such associations to shake up the way we live and work.