These are a collection of details about R. Subramanian, taken from the bestseller Stay Hungry Stay Foolish by Rashmi Bansal.
Subramanian always had a keeda—an itch—for doing something of his own. He calls this drive the secret behind Subhiksha, the retail chain he founded. Just 15 days after graduating from IIM Ahmedabad, he left his job at Citi Corp., driven by the desire to chart his own path.
I first learned about Subhiksha through Rashmi Bansal’s book, where R. Subramanian is featured in Chapter 6. What amazes me about him is that, despite having no background in finance, he started a financial services company.
He had the trust of Mr. S. Viswanathan, the Chairman and owner of Enfield, who invested about ₹2.5 crores to help Subramanian turn his vision into reality. Viswanathan had been his employer, and it was Subramanian’s work at Enfield—where he played a key role in the company’s turnaround—that earned him this immense trust. So much so, Viswanathan lent him the money without even a written agreement.
Subramanian used that money to launch Viswapriya Financial Services and Securities Ltd. After early success, however, he found the routine increasingly monotonous. Looking for a new challenge, he ventured into yet another domain he knew little about—retail.
With Subhiksha, he set out to prove that an Indian model of retailing could thrive. Starting in Chennai, it took him a while to reach 50 stores. But then, in a sudden burst of growth, Subhiksha expanded to 1,000 stores by 2007 and reached around 1,600 stores by 2008.
His business philosophy was to go with the flow rather than aim for massive scale from the start. He admits that if he had initially planned to open 1,600 stores, the idea might have seemed too daunting to attempt. To some, that might sound like a lack of vision—but starting small and growing organically worked for him.
His story, along with those of other IIM Ahmedabad alumni turned entrepreneurs, makes Stay Hungry Stay Foolish a compelling read and a rich documentation of entrepreneurial journeys up to 2007.
However, that was the story before things began to unravel. In 2008, Subramanian made a critical misstep. According to a Business Today article by N. Madhavan, published on June 28, 2009 and titled “Pushing the Accelerator Instead of Brakes”, many commentators believe his comeback in retail is unlikely.
Subhiksha had boomed during a time when few competitors existed. But when big players like Reliance and the Birla Group entered the market, the competition intensified. Saddled with debt and internal chaos, Subhiksha struggled to survive.
Reports suggest that even those who once supported Subhiksha—like Azim Premji (founder of Wipro) and ICICI—later turned against the company, publicly criticizing it after investing in its shares.
Eventually, in 2009, Subhiksha shut down due to financial problems. It later merged with a Chennai-based company called Blue Green Constructions—a move that Azim Premji and ICICI reportedly opposed, according to Wikipedia.
There are numerous stories about Subhiksha’s rapid rise and sudden fall. Each offers valuable lessons. Despite the failure, that keeda—that restless drive—in R. Subramanian still seems very much alive. And as we know, experience only makes that inner fire stronger and wiser. It wouldn’t be surprising if he returns with something even more remarkable.
Thank you for reading!
Note: Contributions to improve this article are welcome.
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