Prof. Venugopal earned his M.A. in economics, B.Ed. and L.L.M. from University of Mysore and holds an M.A. in English from I.C.C., Mysore.

Through his session, Prof. Venugopal sought to help the Fellows better understand themselves and to encourage them to define themselves as individuals and as social entrepreneurs.  He started the morning by asking the fellows to decode themselves from past experiences and learned concepts. Prof. Venugopal stressed that a fresh vision of self is vital, and that Fellows should strive to be their own person, as living to be someone else hinders creativity and thus slows progress.

A socially-minded perspective of entrepreneurship is particularly important.  With social entrepreneurship, the focus is on building strength, capabilities and independency rather than dependency and in creating civil society rather than mere society.  The idea of social entrepreneurship is to utilize one’s abilities for the sake of society, to build the capacity of others and to bring pleasure to other people; the notion behind social entrepreneurship is to bridge the gap, not create one.  Social entrepreneurs want to empower people by fostering growth of skills, rather than thriving off others’ needs and wants.

To be a social entrepreneur, Prof. Venugopal stressed the need to immerse oneself in the lives of others.  Until those desiring to help interact with the people they seek to serve, they cannot truly understand how to help. Life in an ivory tower is not fruitful to society. 
Ultimately, Prof. Venugopal encouraged Fellows to define themselves as individuals, to think boldly and creatively, to get their hands dirty and to fully dedicate themselves to the cause about which they are most passionate.