Naveen Jain

"Success doesn't necessarily come from breakthrough innovation but from flawless execution. A great strategy alone won't win a game or a battle; the win comes from basic blocking and tackling."

This week's quote is by a renowned business executive, entrepreneur, and the founder of many prominent business ventures - Mr. Naveen Jain

Naveen Jain was born in poverty in New Delhi, India. His father worked in a government job but due to never accepting bribes, his boss used to transfer him to a new place every few months. The lack of proper house and education did not stop Naveen from achieving his dreams. He studied in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and was hired by Burroughs (now known as Unisys) in New Jersey as part of a business-exchange program in 1983. There was no looking back after that.

He moved to Silicon Valley, worked for a few startups until finally working for Microsoft. He was awarded three patents related to Windows 95 and became best known for his work as a program manager. Working there for 8 years, he said he didn't feel there was even a single person that could make a difference at a large company like Microsoft. Not feeling fulfilled, he quit his job and started InfoSpace in 1995. After that, he co-founded a data mining giant Intelius, which he left after it was acquired in 2015. 

Since then, he has founded many other companies like TalentWise, Bluedot and Moon Express, which is one of his most prominent companies. Moon Express, is a space-travel startup that has raised $45 million in its effort to become the first private company to land a spacecraft on the moon—a feat Jain plans to attempt in 2017 as part of an effort to win the $20 million Google Lunar XPrize. His future plans include setting technology to mine the moon's natural resources to probably colonise moon and other worlds. Naveen says his ultimate goal is to make it possible for humanity to find a new home in case the Earth becomes absolutely inhabitable, so that human beings can still survive, even if it's somewhere else. “To build a sustainable business you have to both do well and do good,” he says. “And there’s nothing better than saving humanity from potential extinction.” 

His life story is very inspirational and clearly depicts his intentions by the quote he said. You have to keep working towards your goal with a clear execution of all activities leading to that particular goal. What good would a strategy do, if you are not following through with basic blocking and tackling technique?

At DDSN we resonate with Naveen's quote as we work everyday towards our goal of helping customers achieve digital excellence and innovation through our technology. We execute this goal into action everyday by developing our technology a little better, everyday. We develop, we learn, we fail, and we do better. There are so many times during our execution that we feel our work is not up to the mark, but our continuous efforts to grow and strive for excellence helps us achieve our targets. Our real win comes from our customers, who tell us everyday how our digital platforms are making their business operations so much more efficient and effective. 

 Today's Quote

Who is Mr. Naveen Jain?

Naveen Jain is an entrepreneur and philanthropist who aims to solve the world's biggest challenges through innovation. He pushes big dreams into actions spurring massive technological change. His inspires thousands of people to push through their dreams and make them a reality. 

He has founded companies that make a true impact like the Moon Express, World Innovation Institute, iNome, TalentWise, Intelius, and Infospace. He has repeatedly been honoured with many laurels like Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year, Silicon India's "Most Admired Serial Entrepreneur," and the "Albert Einstein Technology Medal" for his pioneers in technology. Red Herring also recognized him as one of the "Top 20 Serial Entrepreneurs" and with the "Lifetime Achievement Award."