Speakers included venture capitalist Mr Mahesh Murthy and ad-filmmaker Mr Prahlad Kakkar on July 21-22. The event also played host to the chairman of Globsyn group of companies Mr. Bikram Dasgupta; founder of Burrp.com Mr. Deap Ubhi; founder of ‘Ready to go?’ magazine Mr. Arjun Jindal; and founder of Intelsys group Mr. Saumen Chakraborty. IIM-C organized Ascent’07 in association with the National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) and TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs).
The 2-day program saw close to 200 participants -- which included students from different educational institutions across the country, working professionals, and faculty members from IIM-C and other B-schools.
On the occasion, Mr. Mahesh Murthy spoke on ‘Entrepreneurship, Business Plans and Funding’. He told budding entrepreneurs, “We are going to die and take nothing with us – it’s not how much we earn, but what we do with what we earn. Lead an interesting, enriching life – follow your heart’s diktat, not those of your peers, family or the market.” His informal and humour cut well with the audience as he talked about the trials and tribulations of an entrepreneur; motivation for the same; the option of secure jobs as against starting up.
How to arrange for venture capitalists to fund the venture apart from leveraging their networking, and the criticality of having a superior product/service offering were the salient points in Mr Murthy’s session.
Adding spark to the event was a talk by adman, restaurateur, cigar-maker Mr. Prahlad Kakkar who talked about the importance of following one’s innermost dreams and instinct with sincerity and dedication.
Day Two started off with a session on “Uncertain youth and the entrepreneurial mind” by Mr. Bikram Dasgupta, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur who joined HCL in its infancy and went on to start the Globsyn Group of Companies. The session began with Mr. Dasgupta presenting his book “Minds on Fire” to the Entrepreneurship Cell. He shared his experiences on how he became an entrepreneur, the major influences which shaped his thoughts, how he learnt from failures and how he learnt to be innovative. He reiterated that performance is the best form of security in today’s world. He gave his views on how young people can become entrepreneurs and realize their dreams.
Mr. Saumen Chakraborty, founder of Intelsys group, talked about how he saw his venture through the dotcom boom and bust, growth of outsourcing, e-governance/e-learning, the problems one faces -- both professionally and personally -- while making an entrepreneurial jump. The importance of a superior offering, a sound understanding of the market, the need for lean and calculated capital expenditure schedule, having realistic plans and most importantly getting the right human capital were the some of the key issues he highlighted in the discussion.
Marketing and creating brand awareness of one’s product or service is a key issue with most start-ups. Mr. Deap Ubhi of Burrp.com Mr. Saumen Chakraborty gave insights on creating the right marketing strategy in a session titled ‘Marketing for your Start-Up, how to create a Buzz about your Company’.
Commenting on the success of the program, Laura Parkin, Executive Director, NEN said, “NEN-IIMC Ascent’07 is a great example of how academia is equipping young people to make the most of opportunities today by bringing together experts and students. This event has become a networking platform. Connecting these young people is a critical step towards building a vibrant and supportive ecosystem for the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
