The creators of Hotmail, FoodKing, Bharat Forge, MapmyIndia, Onida, TheFind, VarshaJal and the Buddh International Circuit, to name a few, were all driven by passion–the passion to realise their dreams. They all built successful teams and created enduring brands. Further, the founders of the companies all had one more thing in common—they graduated from BITS Pilani. These BITS alumni and many more have been successful entrepreneurs and trailblazers in varied fields. How did they do it? Did they score a bullseye the first time? If not, did they experience frustration–like many of us? How did they balance their work and personal lives? Did they have a success mantra?

The book provides answers to the above questions by taking the reader through the journeys of fifty individuals who realised their dreams through perseverance and determination, be it as entrepreneurs, technologists, scientists, teachers or artists. What is noteworthy is that all of them unanimously attribute their success to the exposure they received in BITS Pilani, highlighting the importance of educational institutes in shaping students'' lives.

This book is an initiative of BITS Alumni Association, Hyderabad, to commemorate the golden jubilee of BITS Pilani (1964–2014).

Harsh Bhargava is an alumnus of BITS Pilani, IIT Kanpur, Osmania University and Naval Postgraduate School, California. He is a former Commodore, Indian Navy, and Professor, IBS Hyderabad. His previous books include Virtual Leadership.

Kinnera Murthy is an alumnus of BITS Pilani, University of Pune and Osmania University. Former Dean of the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, she is a strategy consultant and serves on the board of several corporates and academic institutions. She also leads social initiatives.

Anu Khendry is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and State University of New York at Stony Brook. After having spent two decades in the IT industry, she now consults and trains in the subject areas of agile methodologies and project management.