Top honchos share success tips

HYDERABAD: Highly-successful entrepreneurs Anand Mahindra, Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao and Ronnie Screwvala on Saturday shared their respective ‘success mantras’ with the outgoing batch of students at the second convocation ceremony of the Mahindra University.

Anand Mahindra, billionaire business conglomerate, chairman of Mahindra Group and chancellor of Mahindra University, drove home the point of the world going the hybrid way and the importance of reinventing oneself to stay relevant.

Drawing a parallel to having an innovative algorithm from mythology, where Lord Vishnu ends the tyranny of Hiranyakashyap, Mahindra stressed the need for lateral and alternative thinking to solve a real-life problem. “Technology is needed and the focus should be on using it to improve the living standards of humanity. Technology is to augment humanity and not to replace it,” said Mahindra.

Mallikarjuna Rao, chairman of the GMR Group, who was the chief guest for the convocation ceremony, said: “A spate of revolutions are happening and several disruptions are bound to happen. Self-belief, value system, curiosity and humility are the main factors that aid in the success of an idea or an enterprise,” he said.

Recalling his days as a budding entrepreneur, he said he started with a jute mill first and then started as many as 28 businesses during the licence raj. He exited many of them but said that the jute mill is continuing. He detailed how he built a $10-billion empire that includes the Delhi and Hyderabad airports, with an initial investment of Rs 3 lakh.

He relocated to Bengaluru and then to Delhi for his business. “One should have no emotional attachment to assets. Spirituality, yoga and having a positive and right attitude are needed. There is a high correlation between success and physical and mental health,” said Rao.

Ronnie Screwvala, chairman of Upgrad, who was the guest of honour for the event, said there is a convergence taking place across segments, which is opening up several new opportunities.

Specifying clarity, connections, curiosity, change and choice as the key pillars of his success, he said: “Reflect how the other half lives. Success should be self-defined and not by others.”

Meanwhile, three Ph. D candidates, 22 M Tech and 262 B Tech students graduated this year, during which the university inaugurated a Life Sciences Lab and Mahindra e-Hub.

The university management said that their strength of 4,000 will reach 10,000 in a few years, citing plans to create a centre of excellence for electric vehicles and introduce new courses in VLSI and MBA, among others.

Vineet Nayyar, C.P. Gurnani, Mohit Joshi and Dr Yajulu Medury were among the other dignitaries in attendance.