Article written by Economic Times on awards presented to Mr. Islam

WASHINGTON: Three Indian-American entrepreneurs have been felicitated by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) with its annual legend awards in recognition of their risk-taking, mentoring of young entrepreneurs, philanthropy and years of dedication to the local community.

The awards were presented to Ken Bajaj, Frank Islam and Sharad Tak last night at the annual gala of TiE DC attended by top Indian-American entrepreneurs from Maryland, Virgina and Washington DC.

Bajaj founded AppNet, a Web design and e-commerce integration firm, which grew to be the fourth largest interactive media services company in the US.

AppNet was sold to Commerce One in 2000 for USD 2 billion.

Islam founded IT company, the QSS Group in 1994, and built it to 2,000 employees before selling it to Perot Systems in 2007. He is known for his philanthropist activities.

Tak is an entrepreneur in the fields of computer systems, telecommunications, broadcasting, and power plant development.

In his remarks, Islam urged young entrepreneurs not to waste time in trying to emulate someone else’s business.

“Don’t be a ‘me too business’. Don’t be a clone. Find your inner entrepreneur. Create a mission, vision and set of values that are unique to your enterprise. Be the best you can be. Make it your journey. Stay true to you,” Islam said.

Addressing young Indian-Americans, Tak told them that entrepreneurship is in their genes.

TiE is a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, established to foster entrepreneurship and nurture entrepreneurs.