Aakash 9.0 || Raipur Entrepreneurs' Meet

Aakash 9.0, the 9^th entrepreneurs meet was organized on 15^th October 2016 by the Consulting and Entrepreneurship Club of IIM Raipur with an aim to project to the aspiring entrepreneurs of how an entrepreneur has to take a risk and second to enjoy the success, which would ultimately result in a spirit which serves as a wake-up call for many an ailing industry and economy.

Aakash was started by the Consulting and Entrepreneurship club, IIM Raipur in 2013 with the vision to help start-ups, entrepreneurs and budding entrepreneurs to address the challenges in start-up businesses such as funding, resource allocation, hiring and planning as well as exploring business opportunities and building an entrepreneurial Eco-system in Raipur. It brings entrepreneurs, aspiring entrepreneurs, students and experts under one roof to talk, debate, demo and learn.

The event saw participation from zealous entrepreneurs driven towards their start-up dreams. The keynote speaker for the event was Mr. Anshul Dave, Co-founder Oceans Bridge. Mr. Dave an angel investor himself having funded numerous startups and being on the advisory board of 6 startups with vast experience of mentoring more than 10,000 students gave a deep insight about startup culture in India and abroad. He also discussed about the Tax planning and structure’s importance from startup’s perspective, helping companies setup their organizations abroad. The major takeaways from his profound insights were the importance of setting up the right goals, IPR protection, building relations, PR skills and chasing the correct geography for operations. It was followed by sharing of experiences and insights from founders of various well- established startups. Mr. Malay Jain, founder of Encore Projects Pvt Ltd, an alumnus of IIM Raipur itself shared the prerequisites of being an entrepreneur. Mr. Jain having a land bank network of more than 5000 acres gave an insight about the Agro based business. The session also witnessed yet another personality -  Mr. Kaustubh Dharmadhikary who shared his unique experience about the hurdles faced by an entrepreneur. He said Entrepreneurship comes with a host of challenges. Rewarding challenges, but harsh challenges nonetheless. Experienced entrepreneurs have to deal with this no matter how long they’ve been in business -- trying to establish a brand, adjust to match or exceed the competition and keep your business profitable no matter how many years you’ve been in business.

The session further boosted up when students of IIM Raipur with various budding startups shared their ideas. D Santosh, a PGP 2^nd year student, presented his Business model, REVSMART - a technology start-up, building customized wearable for vehicles, to help college students, employees, and enthusiasts to connect to their vehicle and enhance their driving experience.

In all the meet saw a healthy discussion between the entrepreneurs and the students from the institute, and revolved around the four key challenges faced by a start-up – that of integrating, funding, answering the going concern and tackling attrition. The discussion ended on a high for both the students and the entrepreneurs with the students learning the inner mechanisms, hurdles and subsequently bottlenecks for start-up. Also it provided a platform where the speakers themselves gained newer perspectives from the other visiting entrepreneurs and students.

Lastly the meet ended with an informal yet fruitful interaction between the entrepreneurs and the students with the former sharing their unique business vision and their business models with the budding entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs were evangelists for their cause and were more than happy to share their hard-won lessons of success, failure, and everything in between. The underlying message: setting out on one's own requires more than courage – it requires a great idea, and lots of work was the take key take away from Aakash 9.0.