CHENNAI: Myth of the Entrepreneur: A search for true value is an intimate exploration of Ravi Kailas’s journey to understand what constitutes true value and how each one of us can interrogate this concept of value to lead more intimate, connected, and liberated lives. For today’s young executives, this book will be an indispensable guide as they search for meaning and satisfaction in an ambitious world. Triggered off by a heart attack at 38, he takes us through the story set against the backdrop of inspirations that are deep and varied.
Ravi is a serial entrepreneur who has built and scaled ventures spanning telecom software, financial options, infrastructure and more. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of Mytrah Group, which tackles next-generation opportunities like renewable energy, electric vehicles and deep technology start-ups in India.
He has co-authored the book with Cathy Guo, who graduated from Columbia University with a bachelors degree in Economics and Philosophy. As a writer, she has published poetry and literature theory. She currently lives in Bengaluru. This is her first book.
“The idea was to keep the book theoretical. It took me two months to convince Ravi to share his personal story to bring out a personal touch. It revolves around contradiction from inside and questioning on theories of inequality, different systems, the role of government, market in the distribution of wealth, and more. He has penned them down keeping in mind his culture while growing up in India,” said Guo.
The book took two years to complete. There are 12 chapters. The first few stages involved research, interacting with different communities and people. The second part was an amalgamation of obtained knowledge interspersed with personal views. “The primary take-away from the book is to pause, reflect and interrogate our surrounding value system. From an entrepreneurial perspective, I felt that a large amount of wealth, ownership and control of the property is getting concentrated. Everybody needs to play an active role,” said Ravi.
Every success story probably has a mindful technique behind and here it was Vipassana meditation. “The activity is helpful not only for business aspect but also daily life. It helps in cultivating mindfulness, experiencing sensation in body and mind and provides a broader framework of looking at the world with clarity,” said Cathy.
A self-confessed introvert, bringing out a book, sharing thoughts in the public domain and interacting with people was overwhelming for Ravi. “The book brought a binary change to me. People who read the books realised why I was functioning a certain way, the unconventional choices I made and my idea towards life. The response has been good. People will be inspired to question more and be better social beings. I like how the book has ended with a humble note of solutions and opinions to certain problems,” he said.
Cathy’s favourite part was writing the chapter on The art of tangential solutions.
“Thinking of solutions that other people haven’t thought of was interesting and challenging. Let entrepreneurship become a way of life and not something to be done in isolation. This is not a self-help book. But with so many books coming up in that genre, it’s obvious that people are seeking help and open to suggestions from these books,” she said. The book as a result helped Ravi to redefine the relationship between the entrepreneur and society.
The book is available on Amazon for `419