In life, we come across several moments such as good, bad and ugly. Life is a series of choices and the little decisions that we make determine our destiny. There are many different ways to become rich. If you are born rich, then it is the easiest way to become rich.
If you marry a rich person, you would reap the benefits and become rich overnight. These cases don’t really impress or inspire anyone but the rags and riches stories do. By virtue of hard work, willpower, long-term vision, one can become rich.
Naveen K. Jain’s story is one that needs to be told to inspire the young entrepreneurs of India. He is today amongst the most successful Indian-born American entrepreneurs. He is the founder of World Innovation Institute, Intelius, InfoSpace, and Moon Express.
His father was usually an honest public servant who was transferred several times in his own country after he refused to take bribes. Naveen had gone through a lot of struggles, but he never gave up and accepted all challenges in a positive manner.
He somehow completed his engineering degree from IIT Roorkee followed by an M.B.A from XLRI School of Business and Human Resources. After graduation, he got a job in a Multinational company and went to the United States for year long training.
In 1996, Naveen Jain started InfoSpace to provide quick and immediate information on cellular phones as well as other mobile devices. After two years, in 1998, he made his idea public and within less than a year, the company was valued at $35 billion. However, his idea did not go well with many industry analysts, they even called him “Stupid”. But Naveen continued to work on his project without caring about what others thought of him. Eventually, he proved that his idea was worth multi-billion dollars.
Naveen’s key to success is self-trust, to which he gives utmost priority. He says, “if you have guts to trust your own instinct, it’s worth pursuing and your efforts will never go in vain.”
InfoSpace was his first successful venture which made him a billionaire. In 2002, he decided to quit his own company due to some irreconcilable differences with the board and the partners and founded another creative venture a U.S. based public record business Intelius in 2003.
Naveen Jain has been honored on many occasions for his leadership skills, entrepreneurial success and overall accomplishments. In 2011, he was awarded “Light of India Business Leadership Award” by The Times Group for his “visionary entrepreneurship” and received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Red Herring Global 2011 Conference.
Only a successful person knows how many obstacles lying in his way to success, he had to clear to accomplish his ultimate mission. Many would argue that success is an everlasting journey, however, every one of us would agree that turning the biggest dream into a reality is no less than success since it brings a smile on face and happiness in life.
Today, he has become a source of inspiration for many youths who dream to be a successful entrepreneur. He has achieved what others dream of. Many people read his inspirational story and get motivated. Let’s praise him for a tremendous achievement.
