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Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, Jyotiraditya Scindia, advised entrepreneurs to put execution before ideation, and strongly focus on the former for better success. 

Addressing entrepreneurs during YourStory’s flagship event TechSparks 2023 in Delhi, Scindia reminisced growing up watching his father Madhavrao Scindia, former railways minister, draw inspiration from global ideas and execute the same back home across systems, including the Shatabdi Express service, computerisation of ticketing platform, food services, and more. 

“My father is my idol. A lot of what I learnt is what I saw in him, including honesty of purpose, relationships, commitment to a cause, different way of doing things,” the Minister told a packed audience at TechSparks Delhi. 

In a candid chat with YourStory’s Founder Shradha Sharma, he recalled his travel as a 16-year-old to Japan with his father, where they learnt about super fast passenger trains connecting cities, and adopted similar technology back home for launching the Shatabdi Express trains.

“He paid for my tickets and took me along,” said the Minister. “I was too young to understand that it was for exposure.” 

The Minister pointed out that the trip inspired many changes back home. “My father said we have to create a similar high-speed rail in India, which will go from point to point with minimal stops. And Shatabdi is still serving in India.”

He shared a similar story behind serving casserole in the Indian Railways, the inspiration of which was drawn during their visit to Paris. “My father came back, spoke with IIT, and brainstormed on creating a trolley, which can move in limited space in a train, and that’s how we have the casserole meal in Shatabdi today,” he said. 

The Minister reiterated his advice to startup founders to hold a strong focus on execution for better success, along with innovation and commitment.

“2% is ideation and 98% is execution. If you are able to execute, you will be able to turn idea into a reality,” he said.