ThinkLstartup - IIT Madras Incubation Cell

E V E n t S - 2016 Highlights

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Flagship events

Think Like a Startup series #ThinkStartup

Feb 2016: Launched at IITM - SEASON I Nov 2016: Re-vamped - SEASON II

Objective & Audience: An interactive session hosted by IITMIC and RTBI mainly for the students of IIT Madras (with limited external participation) who are interested in the startup ecosystem and for those who are ready to leap into the world of startups. TLAS has taken a new shape and form. The intent is to encourage start-ups to pitch their ideas and get feedback from serial entrepreneurs, industry experts and mentors to take the idea forward.

Join us if you are looking to: Ignite the entrepreneurial spirit in you | Discover the excitement of having your own venture | Learn how to ride the bumpy road to success,

Through this series we hope to foster fresh, innovative thinking and nurture/strengthen the entrepreneurial culture at IITM. The series, through different interactive formats, will showcaseboth IITM incubated & other innovative startups in the country – the entrepreneurs driving these startups are big thinkers, fuelled by passion & an unbound zeal to create, innovate & experiment.

Come engage with them, learn about their journeys & start your own!

6^th Ed. of TLAS - 9^th Nov 2016  @ #IITMadras
Topic: Startup Idea Evaluation: exploring EduTech
Panel: Vaidya Nathan (founder CEO, Classle Knowledge Pvt Ltd.) & Srividya Raman (Director, Tvameva Business Solutions Pvt Ltd)

The sector explored was #EduTech. Featuring aspiring entrepreneurs who believe they have the next million-dollar idea in the EduTech field. Sometimes, just engaging with the right people at the right time and asking the right questions will help a long way in one’s startup journey.
Wonderful path breaking #ideas were presented by 6 shortlisted teams: Vaayusastra, RevoluCian Art for Education, Involve , Rapid Research Centre, ESchool

See Facebook post for photographs from the event (4200 views)

5^th Edition of TLAS - 28^th Sept 2016, @ IITM campus
Topic:  Start-up Sector Saga: ANALYTICS

Panel:
Prakash Gurumoorthy  (LinkedIn) - Partner & MD (Asia), BORN Group. Formerly held senior positions in Cognizant Technology Solutions
Kalyan Vaidyanathan - An IITM alum, Kalyan (LinkedIn) is the cofounder CEO of IITM incubated Nadhi Information Technologies Private Limited (developing analytics & decision support solutions for construction supply chains)
Priyesh IITM Student and founder of FadStreet, a venture-in-making, pre-incubated at Nirmaan, E-cell/CFI. Fabstreet is developing a wardrobe manager/ recommendation engine using machine learning

A discussion forum with an established entrepreneur, an IITM start-up and a Nirmaan(CFI) start-up. After a brief overview of the data analytics field, Q&A covered possible gaps, entrepreneurial opportunities and the best approaches.
"Data analysis is taking the data and curating and organizing in ways that’s relevant to you and help you make decisions" said Mr. Prakash Gurumoorthy Partner & MD (Asia), BORN Group at the 2nd session of Think Like a Startup #thinkstartup on Analytics. Other speakers in the panel were Kalyan (IITM alum) is the cofounder CEO of IITM incubated Nadhi Information Technologies Private Limited (developing analytics & decision support solutions for construction supply chains) and Priyesh, IITM Student and founder of FadStreet, a venture-in-making, pre-incubated at Nirmaan, E-cell/CFI. Fabstreet is developing a wardrobe manager/ recommendation engine using machine learning.   Facebook Post (470 views)

4^th Edition of TLAS - 24^th Aug 2016, 1630 @ #IITMadras campus

Topic: Startup, Differently

Speaker: Mr Rohit Nallapeta (Founder CEO, AdNuance.com, San Francisco, USA - with AdNuance, he is reimagining the way content is delivered to all digital platforms)

We had a full-house at the 1st session of Think Like A Start-up - 2nd Season.

Rohit (Roy) provided a realistic and practical approach of starting -up using validation idea and techniques to aspiring entrepreneurs. Roy addressed ways to start up differently and more practically. The outcome was to provide a practical approach to entrepreneurs and hobby projects and turn them into real companies with validation techniques and ideas.

Facebook Post (650 views)

3^rd Edition of TLAS - 10^th March 2016, 1630 @MRC, IITM campus

Topic: ''How do you find the right Mentor?"

Panel:

Varun Sridharan CEO of Greenvironment Innovation & Marketing India

P. Senthil Nathan, Core Alumni Mentor at IITM Entrepreneurship Forum, Co-founder, Benchmark and Relagant

Ankit Poddar, Founder and CEO of Swadha Energies (IITM incubated company)

Thirupathy Srinivasan, Founder - Ariv Technologies and Mentor- Swadha Energies.

2^nd Edition of TLAS - 3^rd March 2016, 1630 @MRC, IITM campus

Topic: ''Startup Asks: Have you found your Co-Founder?"

Second session in the "Think Like a Startup" where the IITM start-ups at shared the good and not -so-good experience in finding the right co-founder and sustaining it.

Panel: PiBeam Labs, GUVI and Vital Bioscientific Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Key takeaway:

A common passion, ability to resolve conflicts by putting the vision of the start-ups ahead of personal goals, complementing each others skill sets and working towards common goals are the key to a healthy and balanced relationship among the co-founders. And of course, it's fun to have a co-founder to share the bumpy start-up journey.

Inaugural session of the "Think Like a Startup" series, Edition 1: Startup NOW or LATER - 25^th Feb 2016 at MRC, IITM campus

Our kick-off session was a grand success with a great show by IITM students & Incubatees.

The session was launched by Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala (faculty-in-charge, Incubation at IIT Madras), followed by an overview of the Startup/Incubation ecosystem at IITM Research Park by Dr Tamaswati, CEO, IITM Incubation Cell.

Our panelists for the evening were Founders of Airwood, Fib-Sol Life Technologies and Uniphore. 1hr fireside chat with our incubatees was moderated by Ms Suma Prashant, Director, IITM's RTBI. The session was attended by over 70 students (BTech, Masters & PhD).

A great evening, with insights into what, how & when should students think about starting a Venture. Short stint in Industry post graduation certainly adds to the experience & wisdom of young entrepreneurs: need to understand the potential/target market and finding the right 'idea-market' fit, raising enough risk capital from 3Fs (friends, family & fools) to test your idea (proof of concept) are essential. However, a supportive ecosystem as in IIT-Madras has allowed many students to embark on the entrepreneurial journey, while or immediately after graduation due to exposure to innovation hubs such as Cfi, Iitm, Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Madras, joint technology development (or/& mentorship) with Faculty members, interaction with our Alumni body (serial entrepreneurs & Industry heads), IITM Incubators and existing IITM incubated companies.

Look forward to seeing you all at upcoming sessions (details to follow soon) - "hear it from IITM incubated companies"

Good article to read up: http://yourstory.com/2015/10/starting-up-after-college