Commending the winners of the Startup contest on ‘Climate change and entrepreneurship,’ K. Venugopal, Director, Kasturi & Sons Limited, the publishers of The Hindu, said passion was an important ingredient for successful entrepreneurship.
Speaking at Thiagarajar School of Management here on Friday, he said there was a need to create entrepreneurs as B-schools turned out MBAs, who could only manage businesses. What was required today was entrepreneurs.
To achieve this, the management students should set goals and move towards them with wholehearted passion.
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While some of the presentations made by student teams were good, they required a little more thinking, Mr. Venugopal said.
Spelling out the objectives of the Startup contest and the theme, Sundaram Climate Institute founder Mridula Ramesh said the climate had changed.
The rainfall pattern had changed. Many cities around the globe, which were dry, were getting drier. In such a scenario, there was an urgent need for correction in the environment.
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“Each one of us had to contribute, which alone would save Mother Earth,” she stressed.
The Lok Capital Managing Partner Venkatesh Natarajan, who was one of the judges, highlighted the importance of cash flow and capital availability as the key issues required for good entrepreneurship.
“When you think of building a business, the cash flow was as essential as men and material,” he told the students.
The winners, Raja Vignesh, Bharath Kannan, Gautam T.A and Vignesh S., were presented with cash award and certificates. The winning team’s ‘business plan’ was to produce eco-friendly cement.
Wishing them good luck, TSM Chairman Manikam Ramaswami assured assistance to the students in obtaining patent for the venture.
The runner-up’s business plan was to replace plastic water bottles with clay containers. The team comprised Ramya Jenefer Grace, Jaya Vignesh, Sri Hariprasath, Nivethitha P and Santhanam.