This incredible open letter gives insight into Azim Premji's business philosophy

In tribute to Azim Premji's completion of 50 years at the helm of Wipro, his former colleague Premchand Kurup wrote a note on LinkedIN, on August 19, that gives us insight into the business tycoon's core principles.

Kurup, co-founder and CEO of Paramount Computer Systems, recounts a particular incident from his time at the company, working for Premji as a young man in 1987. 

Premchand Kurup

In 1987, I accompanied Premji on a call to Bhasker Shah the Managing Director of Dynamic Marketing Enterprises (DME) - A Wipro Reseller. I was at that time heading Channel Sales in South India and was all of 27 years. Premji had a penchant for walking fast and was way ahead of me (although he was 15 years my senior) when we reached Shah's office. He shook hands with Mr Shah (then 53 years old) and asked - " How are you doing Mr. Shah? Happy? Making Money?" I was astonished at the warmth Premji instantly generated and the emotional connect he had with Mr. Shah. The questions were genuine, reflected empathy, was straight from the heart and was eloquent testimony to Premji's belief that every Reseller must profit from his relationship with Wipro. I have been in the IT Industry for over 28 years since then, primarily in the Gulf, and have represented over 50 top-notch American Vendors and met innumerable Reseller Managers. Not once has anyone asked me if my company was making money out of the relationship with them.

A year later, Kurup took the decision to terminate the company's relationship with DME. 

Kurup writes,

With a single stroke, I had killed 20% of my business ;  3% of my Regional Manager's business , 1.5% of Wipro's business & approximately 0.5% of Premji's business."

When called out for his action by Premji, Kurup said the tycoon listened to his reasons for taking the drastic step and then told him of his disagreement.

But Kurup goes on to add,

The hallmark of Premji's style was that you could disagree with him privately or in the open; every Wipro Executive had the freedom to execute in his own way , innovate & above all make mistakes. Often costly mistakes like mine. Wipro was willing to pay the price for that learning."

Kurup later went on to have a great professional relationship with DME's Bhaskar Shah and talks about the slow realisation of his mistake.

Kurup says,

I realized how right Premji was. He had both customer insight and market foresight, while I had none at that time. Yet he allowed me to go forward with a wrong decision."

He goes on to talk about Premji's business philosophy and how it's seen generation of 50 companies , $1.5 billion of venture capital and $ 4.5 billion of market capital.

Kurup explains,

Integrity of character was the cornerstone of Premji's operating philosophy. He used to always tell us that everything in life can be negotiated except Integrity.

You can read his full note here.

Azim Premji was named by Forbes as one of the only two billionaires from India on 2016's "List of the world's 100 richest people in technology". Premji ranked 13th on the list with a net worth of $16 billion (nearly Rs 1.06 lakh crore).

Earlier this year, Premji topped Hurun India Philanthropy List as the most generous Indian, for the third year in a row, after he donated Rs 27,514 crore for education.