SEO: PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi on entrepreneurship

Third most powerful woman

Maryland students learn from CEO
PepsiCos CEO, Indra Nooyi, cheers Go Terps! as she challenges the students
of the University of Maryland to harness their entrepreneurial spirit and truly embody a
fearless Terp. Indra defined the pillars of entrepreneurship and explains how the need for
innovative Umd students is greater than ever, as the problems today are bigger than ever.
The third most powerful woman in the world, Indra Nooyi, delivered an
interactive speech about the three characteristics of entrepreneurship at the Smith
Business School, known for its innovative and fearless ideas. She had the whole
auditorium in the Smith School of Business laughing as shared her invaluable wisdom as
this months featured CEO @ Smith.
Indra defined entrepreneurship as a mindset to keep ahead of the competition and
drive to solve societies problems by creating something out of nothing.
We need UMd students to change the world Indra said, and people will fight
you every step of the way, but if you dont do it no one will, she further
explained.
She told the students to follow in the path of Kevin Plank and
perform with purpose, which is the PepsiCo initiative that Indra
put into place.

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Indra Nooyi rocks pink

showing she is proud to
be a woman in a male
dominated industry.
Photo credit
rhsmith.umd.edu

Entrepreneurship is in the eyes of the beholder

In Indras definition of entrepreneurship, the first characteristic is vision. She tells
how it is essential to have a vision for the future, how to change it, and what it could be.
When she became the chairman and CEO of PepsiCo she created a courageous new
vision for how the company should operate.
Whats good for society is good for business, Indra said as the explained her
vision for the world and PepsiCo. Many people on twitter quoted that statement in their
tweets during the speech, as it is more relevant than ever with the recent environmental
sustainability trend.
Absence of fear
Indras second characteristic is courageous leadership, which goes hand in hand
with Marylands fearless motto. She exemplifies courage as she faced much criticism for
her change in initiative, but she saw a trend in the world and knew it was going to lead to
change.
She compared this to UMds transition to the Big 10, as she said, the road is
painful, and you have to be willing to be bold. She couldnt stress enough how
important courage is if you want to make an impact.
Diversity of ideas
Indra explained to the audience that society will go through many changes, but the
one thing that will never change is the need for new ideas. She explains that diversity
doesnt only mean in ethnicity, but in backgrounds, ideas and points of views.

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Embrace diverse opinions an experiences, Indra

Greatness is
not an
urged, as greatness is not an individual pursuit.
individual
pursuit. Indra
Indra Nooyi concluded her speech by targeting the students in the audience and
asking them to embody the entrepreneurial spirit that she described.
What will you do? What program will you build? What company will you start?
What company will you reestablish? she said. She not only challenged the audience, but
inspired them.

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