“Well begun is half done”, professes Aristotle.

“Do startup, but do it right”, announces Startup Saturday Ahmedabad, in association with GBG Ahmedabad on an electrifying Saturday in CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad on April 11, 2015. All ears and eyes were an assembly of budding entrepreneurs and young professionals who had a dream that needed guidance and mentorship to be realised. Great minds work in unison, don’t they? So, the time was ripe to witness the union of those who were humble enough to share their experiences in the business world and the ones who were readying to launch themselves in the limitless sky of opportunities. These would be pros might have the ideas, the clues, and the energy to create something new, saleable and appealing, but glaring into their eyes were the questions, “How to startup?”, “How to grow?”, and “How to raise funds?”.

 

What it incorporated?
This vibrant session organised to address such nuances of stratups began with the registrations and the introductions of participants, CIIE, Headstart Network and GBG Ahmedabad. The occasion was graced by three outstanding speakers Mr Samir Patel, Mr Yash Sah, and Mr Devendra Khuman who have successfully established themselves in the world of entrepreneurship.

What we need?
Mr Samir Patel, the co-founder of Maprosys and Interact CRM, pondered upon almost all the points from exploring relevant ideas to executing it and more.

Thanking the audience for their presence – he indicated how despite being hard-working, Indians, at times, cut a sorry figure because of lack of task ownership and skill sets. The following, in his view, are the things that, if worked upon, make a startup succeed:

• vision
• speed
• determination
• adaptability to change, and
• social and fundraising skills.

On the other hand,

• lack of capital
• expecting results earlier than right time
• poor strategic management, and
• deficiency in the business plan

are the factors which may stage a fiasco as far as a startup is concerned. As he thinks, process, ethics, and a defined work model ensure that the battle is not lost the half way. 

It should fail if it is meant to fail

Mr Yash Shah, the cofounder of Gridle and the second speaker – with two of his colleagues – detailed on his experiences regarding ‘booting up’ and the challenges lying in the ways and how to overcome them.

While sharing his story, he emphasised on doing whatever we are indulged in with exceptional quality and produce something which is unique and sought after. We should not be afraid of failures and if the startup is meant to fail, it should fail fast so that we can initiate a new beginning with fresh ideas.

Build a brand, and the rest will follow

The third speaker, Mr Devendra Khuman, who has co-founded Chai Wai shared with the audience his journey that marked in success starting a non-technology business.

Focussing on an interesting aspect of entrepreneurship, he said that there should be flexibility in our ideas and our approach to adopt them. It should be very clear to us whether we want to become a CEO or an entrepreneur. And if the answer is the latter one, it means being one’s own boss which demands being aware of the challenges lying in the way.

In his opinion, building a brand is the thing that we should lay stress on and the rest would follow; people themselves will come with investment proposals. But while setting up one’s own business, one must be careful about the way one uses one’s money.
Post the talk by the three speakers, the participants engaged in formal and informal questions & answers as well as discussions. The session was scheduled for just two hours but it went on for almost 4.5 hours and the only reason was the enthusiasm oozed by the participants.

Compiled by:

Maulik Masrani

SEO Team Lead at Brainvire Infotech & leads our Startup Saturday event and our social media marketing efforts for Headstart Ahmedabad.