About Startup Dialogue 2018Startup Dialogue is one of the prestigious
conference in India which intends to
create an exciting platform for all the
stakeholders like - enablers, social & for
profit startups, VCs/investors, startup
enthusiasts, leaders of the Indian startup
ecosystem to come together and
celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship.
It is organized every year by Sandbox
Startups, one of the initiatives of
Deshpande Foundation.
The Startup Dialogue comes with a series
of exciting panels lined up to
comprehensively enable the ecosystem,
networking sessions for all the stakeholders
along with Startup Challenge: B-Plan
competition, Speed Dating with VCs,
Startup Expo and Developthon.
Startup Dialogue 2018
High
light
s STARTUPS200+
PRODUCT STARTUP EXPO30
VCs / ANGEL INVESTORS20
CSR HEADS5
PRODUCT STARTUP EXPO200+
TECH GEEKS250+
Vision for the startup ecosystem in India
N U T S H E L L
The panel covered various topics centered around building a startup ecosystem that entrepreneurs can take advantage of. The people, the government, and the larger well-established companies, all play a role in the same. Looking back at the growth of the IT sector through the years, they envisioned the setup, growth, and challenges of the new age incubator network, which led them to highlight the importance of collaboration, partnership and thinking of technology as an enabler. They encouraged youngsters to focus on solving much larger problems that persist in society.
Overall, the advice given to startups was - think different, try small but interesting things, fail fast to learn fast, and most importantly have the big picture in mind.
P A N E L
Dr. Gururaj ‘Desh’ Deshpande Founder, Deshpande Foundation
Jaishree DeshpandeCo-founder, Deshpande Foundation
Ravi NarayanGlobal Director Microsoft
Rajendran DandapaniDirector of Engineering, ZOHO
Gaurav GuptaPrincipal Secretary, GoK
MODERATOR
Dr. Aravind ChinchureSandbox Startups
GAURAV GUPTAIT & BT Government of Karnataka
There is a need to focus on addressing the challenges and problems of the next billion people in the world and the new entrepreneurs should focus on addressing those issues.
RAJENDRAN DANDAPANIZoho
With the advent of technology, geography has become history. With high speed Internet available everywhere, one need not go to Silicon Valley or Bengaluru to venture into the field of entrepreneurship. One needs to experiment and fail fast or early to become a successful entrepreneur.
DR. ARAVIND CHINCHUREDr. Aravind Chinchure, Chair Prof. of Innovation, Symbiosis University
We need to create 200 million jobs in India in next 30 years which means 10 million jobs in a year. Startups will play an important role in providing these job opportunities.
RAVI NARAYANMicrosoft
We should be proud that India had been ranked third in the world for having largest startup base. Budding entrepreneurs should understand that along with success there would be failures and one should take them as learning experiences.
DR. GURURAJ ‘DESH’ DESHPANDEDeshpande Foundation
An aspiring entrepreneur should take small steps but he or she should have a bigger vision to succeed.
Entrepreneurial Journey & Successful Exits
N U T S H E L L
This was an insightful discussion, where the founders of RedBus and TaxiForSure shared their entrepreneurial journey and successful exits. They enlightened the audience with the story of how the idea for their business originated. This included the initial challenges they faced during executing and implementing the business and how it would have been different if they had the entrepreneurial ecosystem available at that time. Reminiscing the time when they had to build their business when the term ‘startup’ was mostly unknown, Phanindra Sama brought to light how the TiE chapter in Bangalore helped and guided him in their path. Unaware of the impact that their innovation would have, they advised budding entrepreneurs the importance to think big and to be authentic.
They also threw some light on the challenges faced while expanding their business to multiple cities and how they tackled them. The session ended with both of them advising budding entrepreneurs on a list of dos and don’ts, the importance of authenticity, having a Plan B and dealing with investors and VCs.
P A N E L
Phanindra Sama Co-founder, redBus.in and Chief Innovation Officer, Govt. of Telangana
Raghunandan GFounder, Taxi For Sure
MODERATOR
Manish AnandCEO, Utilis Capital
PHANINDRA SAMAredBus.in & GoT
Anecdotes of raising the first check from investors happens from your own strategy - 1. Micro or Macro finance 2. Important to project yourself - Be you!
RAGHUNANDAN GTaxi For Sure
The things that we don’t do is a part of leadership as a company. The true feedback of a startup lies in the minute simplicity and ground work.
Biggies! Support to Startups
N U T S H E L L
A panel where the startups gained insight into how they can benefit from collaborating with corporates. With corporates wanting to collaborate and not compete, the main requirement from startups is to be agile and unique in the solution that they provide. Apart from corporates, it is also important for startups to learn how to collaborate with the ecosystem, i.e., the other startups. As long as the product is customer centric rather than technology led.
Encouraging startups to adopt a global concept and customise it for the local market, they encouraged startups to take a leap of faith and experiment with interesting solutions fast. In respect to funding, they were made aware of the fact that money is easy to get but credibilities, hard to receive, hence not to chase just funding initially. Find a mutually beneficial area where the solution that you provide is adjacent to what the corporate does, so that it complements rather than making the situation complex. Most importantly, they were advised to focus on reaching out to a corporate in the same vertical and find a balance between scaling up and sustaining. The panel wrapped up the session by answering questions from the audience.
P A N E L
Rajendran DandapaniEngineering Director, Zoho
Sandeep AgarwalSenior Vice President CoE and IOT, Happiest Minds
Naveen AsraniDirector-Startups, Microsoft
Rama KSenior Director, Ola
MODERATOR
C.M. PatilCEO, Sandbox Startups of Deshpande Foundation
NAVEEN ASRANIMicrosoft
The Corporate needs you as much as you need the corporate. When it comes to startups - Small is the New Big.
SANDEEP AGARWALHappiest Minds
The entrepreneurs should have a clear idea about what to do and what not to do. And always have a Plan-B, in case we fail in Plan-A, keeping substitute ready will go a long way in overcoming failures and walking towards the path of success.
RAJENDRAN DANDAPANIZOHO
We can become successful entrepreneurs only if we have leadership quality, marketing knowledge and vision.
Secret to Succeed in Our Ecosystem
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A panel discussion about the secrets to succeed in the ecosystem from the ones who’ve ‘Been There, Done That’. The panelists shared tips and tricks they learned with the help of ecosystem for doing business in second tier cities. Acknowledging the challenges that they faced, they threw light on the biggest turning point of their journey.
They also shared the experience of how much institutes likes Deshpande Foundation have helped them to be successful. Contrasting life in Bangalore and life in Hubballi, they shared the positives and the negatives and how to use the ecosystem to overcome the negatives. The importance of the ecosystem and association with relevant institutes was a major highlight that was mentioned by all the panelists. The discussion ended with a Q&A session with the audience.
P A N E L
Sunil NalavadiCFO, VRL
Vivek PawarChairman, Sankalp
Semiconductor
Jayant HumbarwadiMD, Ashok Iron Works
Sasisekar KrishCTO, NanoPix
MODERATOR
Raj BelgaumkarChairman, KLS IMER
SUNIL NALAVADIVRL
One of the reasons why VRL is a top Logistic brand is the non involvement of family members in the daily affairs of the company. Apart from various technical, operational and marketing fields, which are the key elements, VRL is always on the lookout for experts and not the involvement of family members.
JAYANT HUMBARWADIAshok Iron Works
The skills have to undergo change for sure now. The expectations of customers and market are different in today’s world. The types of products available in the market now as compared to some twenty years back showcases a huge gulf and all this is because of the technology. The challenges are manifold, hence the capability of people and technology setup requires changes.
VIVEK PAWARSankalp Semiconductor
Hubballi too has an excellent quality of education and an amazing ecosystem where you could find great talents. Hubballi is more heavenly than any metro cities, where you get good amount of time to think on professional and personal front.
SASISEKAR KRISHNanopix
Because of Deshpande Foundation we got a huge reach which we didn’t even get in Bengaluru. The Foundation is a great support system for us. The delegates who participate in Development Dialogue visit us and enquire about our products and services and because of Deshpande Foundation we have explored various other platforms of business and services. North Karnataka is a source of medicine for the success.
Presentations by the Legends
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Startup Dialogue was full of entrepreneurial inputs, networking opportunities and examples from real-life experience. Another attraction of this conference was the presentations by the legends like - RamG Vallath, Ex-COO Airtel & Motivational Speaker on ‘Power of Resilience’; Venkatesh P, Advisor to Health and Glow/Foodworld on ‘How to Build Scalable and Sustainable Ventures’, Niket Karajagi, CEO, Atyaasaa Consulting Pvt. Ltd. and Certified Marshall Goldsmith Coach on ‘Hiring the Right Way!!! & Getting Behind the Perfect Business Pitch for Investors’ and Shesh Rao Paplikar, CEO, BHIVE Workspace on ‘ The Great Indian Jugadu Founder’.
RAMG VALLATHMotivational Speaker
Resilience is the ability to bounce back quickly from a very difficult situation. Individual leader should have resilience and perseverance to make an organization succeed.
NIKET KARAJAGIAtyaasaa Consulting Pvt. Ltd
If you are achieving your ideal self in life you are an entrepreneur and first lesson of entrepreneurship is make your product or service idea so simple that people are just able to understand it in the first go.
VENKATESH PHealth and Glow
The success of Health & Glow is a result of focus on customer benefit and disciplined execution. And we did let go when we did not know enough or felt it was out of our control.
SHESH RAO PAPLIKARBHIVE Workspace
An entrepreneur should see opportunity in every problem, opportunity to solve the problem with a sustainable idea. I felt there is an infrastructure problem in my country and came up with co-working space concept through BHIVE.
Investment Fundas for Startups
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Peer venture capitalists engaged in an insightful discussion on the investment scenario in India as in 2018. The common thread that connected them was the opinion they shared on capital availability for startups. “There is investment”, they said, and what is required for the startups to rise to the next level to be worthy of it.
Gone is the euphoria surrounding venture capitalism and now startups need to focus more on solving persisting challenges rather than focusing on profit. They need to be aware of the market requirements, and be innovative with their solutions.
P A N E L
Manish AnandCEO, Utilis Capital
Sunil JainMD, Sprout Ventures
Rema SubramanianCo-founder, Ankur Capital
Thirukumaran NagarajanCEO, Ninja Cart
MODERATORChiranth Patil
MANISH ANANDUtilis Capital
Capital availability is on the rise. To attract investors, startups must have a clear idea on how to scale, how to grow, and how to manage their operations and sales.
REMA SUBRAMANIANAnkur Capital
The idea of an effective revenue model is not always to have a product cost cheap but the quality, and people would opt it even if it were set at a certain price.
SUNIL JAINSprout Ventures
Startups must envision ahead. Investors are more intelligent now and they will want to know where the road is leading. Startups might burn but it must lead to a scenario where they’ll earn.
THIRUKUMARAN NAGARAJANNinja Cart
Startups have to move their focus away from making money and start to focus on existing pain points. Once a startup evolves into a value creation company, the tables will turn and the investors will be chasing them.
Startups! Then, Now and in Future!
N U T S H E L L
An interactive session with a couple of big names in the industry, who started small and made it big. Audience had their questions answered on some of the burning questions about startups. How do you start? How do you graduate? And how do you grow from there? Do you really need professionals to run your company? Can someone else sell your product better than yourself?
The answers contained the principles and guidelines on not just running a business but on believing in yourself to be able to do it.
P A N E L
Kishore BiyaniChairman & CEO, Future Group
Amit ChandraMD, Bain Capital
MODERATOR
Dr. Gururaj ‘Desh’ DeshpandeFounder, Deshpande Foundation
KISHORE BIYANIFuture Group
We founded the company with our own values, values of positivity, introspection, Indianness and we are very ethical whoever we deal with. If you look at the culture and origin of India, every truth is subjective and contextual here. We follow the spirit of the law.
AMIT CHANDRABain Capital
I chose fields like banking, private equity where I did not have to compromise my ethical values. At the same time I do agree, unfortunately manufacturing is a field where entrepreneurs may have to compromise. Because there is a reality of working in that market place which makes life really difficult for folks.
It took a bit for me to cope up with emerging digital world and technology. I understood how technology is helping in reducing space, time and increasing social interaction. Once you understand what technology does it becomes easier to deal with it. This is definitely helped to adopt new things and grow more.
Organizing CommitteeDD Chair
C.M.PatilChief Executive
Amrut PatilManager
Meghana MoreyIncubation-Lead
Siddu POperations-Lead
RajuSocial medial-Lead
SharanuIT- Lead
NikhilAccounts-Lead
Manjunath GStartup Evangelist
Naveen JhaDeshpande Foundation
Media Coverage
Startups: Government’s role is catalytic, says Gupta
Hubbali celebrates the spirit of entrepreneurship
Startups number: India is at 3rd position
Don’t loose hope, be strong to start again
Big problems can be solved with believe
Money doesn’t confined success
FEEDBACK FROM PARTICIPANTS
RamG VallathMotivational Speaker
This is one of the best events I have gone to and there is so much of energy around the place. It is commendable that Hubballi is hosting such a huge event. It proves the future of India is not just the metros. Every development has to come from tier 2 and tier 3 cities and Hubballi is definitely one of the examples.
Naveen AsraniMicrosoft
First of all congratulations to Deshpande Foundation and Sandbox team for organizing such a fantastic conference. This conference is scaling year by year and I really like the diversity of thinkers, speakers and doers coming here. This is one of the few conferences where you see the ideas meet execution. I take back so much of learnings from this conference every year.
Raj BelgaumkarKLS IMER
I am very happy that this conference has been held. It is a wonderful platform to network, more importantly to share ideas and to learn from real life experience and success stories of the legendary entrepreneurs. The startup ecosystem Deshpande Foundation has set here allows the entrepreneurs to taste and nurture their ideas.
Shesh Rao PaplikarBHIVE Workspace
I was not familiar with what is happening in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. But I am positively surprised by what I experience today in this conference. I feel so glad to know about the kinds of companies exist here and the kinds of work have been done here in Hubballi.
Jain ThumbawadiAshoka & Group
Startup Dialogue is an inspiring conference for entrepreneurs. There are lot of new ideas, experience stories, advice for entrepreneurs by the entrepreneurs. I feel very positive about the ecosystem is getting build here.
STARTUP DIALOGUE 2018
Sandbox StartupsAkshay Plaza, Shirur Park Road, Phase 4, Akshay Colony, Hubballi, Karnataka 580021
http://www.startupdialogue.org
https://www.facebook.com/deshpandefoundation
https://www.facebook.com/Thesandboxincubator/
https://twitter.com/DFstartups
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