Financial year 2015 began with a lot of enthusiasm in the Indian economic circles and it was the same at the Startup Saturday session in Pune. The largest number of registrations this year reflected in the healthy turnout despite lot of other more illustrious events on the same day. The gathered audience were in for a treat as they were going to be addressed by couple of entrepreneurs who have made a mark in their respective field.

Anup Tapadiya (Founder – TouchMagix) looked a little embarrassed by the rock star introduction i gave for him but frankly he deserves it considering the reputation he has made for himself right since teenage. He took the stage and there after introduced his venture, its products and the growth which left the audience dazzled. His presentation continued with quotes, one-liners which have been formulated after all his experience in the so many years he had been an entrepreneur (first venture at 16). He display remarkable clarity about what he had in mind in the past, present & future. Also valuable were his insights about how an entrepreneur needs to go about setting up a venture, the challenges, carving out a path towards profitability etc. Audience did have many questions and he answered them with confidence of a tenured entrepreneur. The thunderous applause he got after his session was officially over reflected the great respect he had managed to earn from the audience.

Next was a session which is a hotly debated point nowadays #NetNeutrality . When i asked the audience many of them already had an idea about it but where looking for information and potential impact on their startups. Arti then showed some videos regarding the same and that initialized a discussion on the topic. Arti urged the audience to submit their response to TRAI after going through the blog on the HEADSTART site.

As we finished the discussion on this the audience was waiting with anticipation because its rare that you get to hear from a legend. I for one was short of words to introduce Sujata Khanna because she has been a pioneer in her field. Long before they were coaching classes especially regarding cracking entrance exams for MBA she had already set up one. She gave a glimpse of her journey from MBA attained sales professional to establishing her own training venture title CAREER FORUM. The various challenges she faced & learning’s she acquitted during her journey was valuable to the budding & tenured entrepreneurs who had gathered. They lapped up every word she said and these pearls of wisdom from a legend entrepreneur were certainly useful to all. Q & A was interestingly and had to be extended due to the enthusiasm of audience members to know more. Everybody was almost out of their seat to give a great round of applause after her session.

 Clearly April Saturday Session was indeed a memorable and we hope to maintain the momentum in the coming months.

Writeup by

Amit Rawat

Headstart PUNE Volunteer