Over 60 per cent of entrepreneurial ventures are based on ideas conceived in college, said Lakshmi Narayanan, Vice-Chairman of IT major Cognizant Technology Solutions.

Launching the Business Line On Campus edition, at M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women, Narayanan urged students to latch onto information available around them to develop innovative minds and build something for the future. Facebook and Twitter are good examples of innovations conceived by students which have become big hits, he said.

“The thrill of creating a company and providing a livelihood to people is unmatched,” said Narayanan.

Narayanan urged the “millennial” minds to dig deep into any area of interest and develop expertise in it, through observation and reading. At the same time, he said, challenge the status quo. Analyse and ask questions, he said, so that “you develop your own point of view.”

This is what companies look for when hiring in campuses, said Narayanan. Organisations have learnt that investing in ideas and people bring in “disproportionate” results, as opposed to investing in land and building which bring in linear growth mostly.

Arvind Swami, CEO and Managing Director of Talent Maximus, a staffing and payroll processing company, said in today’s era of information overdose, youngsters must seek an explanation to understand and learn from what they read.

“This is what converts information into knowledge,” said Swami, an actor who shot to fame as the star in the 1992 hit, Roja .

Swami, who is making a comeback into films after 12 years with Mani Ratnam’s Kadal , encouraged students to define their future with “integrity” and “social awareness”.

Earlier, introducing Business Line’s On Campus edition, Arun Anant, CEO, Kasturi and Sons, which publishes The Hindu and Business Line newspapers, said the special edition targeted at college students will contain shorter stories on business developments, career-related content and articles focused on ethical practices in business.

D. Sampathkumar, Editor, Business Line , said this newspaper was in the business of illuminating minds, and was not just a publication, recalling what a top executive of Rolex told a journalist once – that he was in the business of luxury and not that of watches. He also encouraged students to contribute their ideas and opinions to the campus edition.

> swetha.kannan@thehindu.co.in

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