AAKASH 10.0 - Raipur Entrepreneurs' Meet

The 10^th edition of Aakash Entrepreneurs Meet was organized by IIM Raipur on 16^th September 2017. The event was organized with the purpose of bringing together the entrepreneurs and students to network, exchange ideas, discuss problems and deliberate on pertinent issues related to entrepreneurship.

Aakash 10.0 saw the presence of five successful entrepreneurs from Chhattisgarh. The dignitaries included Mr. Rajeev Roy – CEO 36 Inc. which is the first business Incubator cum Accelerator supported by Government of Chhattisgarh., Mr. Vikram Aditya – Founder of Mediklik, Mr. Manish Raj Singhania – Founder of Ralas Mahindra Dealers who is also the president of Raipur Automobile Leaders Association, Mr. Gaurav Agarwal – Owner of GM TMT and Director at Real Ispat and Power Ltd. and Mr. Kappil Jaswani – Founder of NextIdeas and Co-founder of SteelMint Group. The speakers discussed several tangents of the common theme - "Myths and Realities" associated with being an entrepreneur.

The event kicked-off with the address from Mr. Rajeev Roy who shared from his experiences the growing technological advancements across the world and the need for us to be at par with those changes. He also expressed his concern about the limited number of quality ideas emerging from Indian startups in an ecosystem with abundant angel investors .This was followed by the address from Mr. Manish Singhania who talked about the changing business landscape in Raipur and further opportunities opening up in a rising service sector in the state of Chhattisgarh. The discussion was further taken forward by Mr. Vikram Aditya who talked about the need of being persistent and committed to one’s idea and having a firm belief in the change you want to bring about .He substantiated this with his own personal experiences and his self-belief that helped him move forward with his ideas. He also emphasized on the significance of the timing of one’s idea and how that can make a huge difference in the long run.

Mr. Gaurav Agarwal then took the proceedings forward by using an analogy, comparing good business opportunities with buses that are always running by thus emphasizing the need of identifying good business opportunities in a rapidly changing environment. Mr. Kappil Jaswani concluded the discussion and talked about the importance of having dedicated people working towards a goal than the goal itself. He also talked about the need of taking risks and embracing the outcomes while still working towards the vision.

The panel discussions were followed by a networking session where the entrepreneurs interacted with each other and conducted a Question and Answer session with the students. The attendees asked several questions regarding the nuances of entrepreneurship and businesses in general. A major take away from the discussion was the need to embrace the change which is the only way to move ahead in a fast moving business world.