Geeks Talk was an event organised by IOSD Manipal, featuring Sandeep Jain, Founder and CEO of GeeksForGeeks, held on 8th November ’22, in the Library Auditorium. GeeksForGeeks is an online computer science portal that has helped many students get placed and crack their dream job interviews.

The speaker, Sandeep Jain [Credits: Nikita Ranjan]

During the talk, Mr Sandeep gave insights into his personal life and talked about important lessons he learnt along the way. Having chosen engineering out of peer pressure, he attended a college that wasn’t particularly prestigious and didn’t offer placements. Yet his continued efforts and hard work helped him discover his inner passion for teaching, and helped him get a master’s degree at IIT Roorkee. He further commented on his unconventional path towards starting a company, calling himself an ‘accidental entrepreneur’. His struggles with convincing his family of his ideas and finding a stable income source were some things that many could relate to.

Coming from a non-business background, he also highlighted many of the struggles he faced while starting a company like GeeksForGeeks from scratch. He acknowledged the importance of contribution from his community, saying that they helped him strive harder while trying to keep the platform afloat. The talk proved helpful for people interested in coding and starting a business; there was a lot to learn from his life story. His insights into placement preparation were also very well received. Additionally, he commented on how the job interview process was moving away from the college placement model to a better and fairer online competition model.

Attendees participating in the interactive session. [Credits: Arihant Jain]

After his talk, the floor was opened for questions. This was followed by a series of thoughtful, often heartfelt questions from the audience, ranging from doubts about programming strategy to further insights into his business strategy. He stressed on the fact that as young people, our most essential resource is time, and putting that time to good use always leads to a fulfilled life in the future.

The event ended with a vote of thanks. They highlighted the efforts of the IOSD team members: Aayush, Aarush, Avika, Abhinav, Piyush Modi, Piyush Mishra, and Saksham. The event took months of preparation and hard work to be successfully organised ultimately. Their efforts were clearly recognised as the event turned out to be a great start to TechTatva 2022.

Featured Image credits: MTTN

Shark Dank | Vismay Kumra

As the most popular event Consulere offered, Shark Dank gave budding entrepreneurs an opportunity to mix their wits and business skills. Teams were provided memes and images using which they had to create a product and pitch it, Shark Tank-esque. They were given three minutes to brainstorm their best idea, followed by another three minutes for their pitch.

One of the products pitched was “Buff Glasses”. The group had received an image of a platypus, sunglasses and the “distracted boyfriend” meme. The group’s hilarious pitch was that if the customer would stare at other people in the presence of their significant other while wearing the glasses, they would get caught. The entire event had the audience guffawing at the absurd and random pitches.

Applauding the organisers for their effort, a participant named Aryan remarked, “They managed to make a formal event into a very inclusive and informal event where everyone was having a great time. Even though I didn’t win, the fun I had here was a win in itself.” Shark Dank was a laughter-filled event and one that every attendee will surely remember for a long time.

Bidding Wars | Vismay Kumra

In a bid to create what could have been a worthwhile event, the opening show of Consulere was anything but. Bidding Wars was held in a gameshow format where the participants were given a script of an investment journey and an initial corpus. They could use it to bid on companies, stocks and mystery lots. Teams were to be eliminated every few rounds using filters such as minimum purchases, maximum amount spent, and purchases from specific categories.

However, owing to miscommunication between the organisers and participants, the rules of progressing to the next round remained vague. Many teams spent nearly the entire amount allotted in the starting bids itself. Desperate to keep the game going, the organisers were forced to provide an additional 10 crores to every team.

The rest of the event felt like the recreation of a stock market crash. It was a comedy of errors from the get-go. Spectators left frequently, as the lack of effective management muddled what could have been a stupendous event. One can only hope it will be managed better the next time around.

Image credits: Photography and Videography, Revels’22

Featured Image credits: Social Media and Graphics, Revels’22

E-Cell aims to inculcate an entrepreneurial mindset among students and plans to establish a robust start-up ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs on the campus. In a span of a few months, it has supported over ten student start-ups and provided internships to over fifty students at the institute despite the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cell has also organised an ideation competition with a prize pool of 1.5 lakhs. Through “Sambhav”—National Level Awareness Program, the Cell holds regular webinars with notable Entrepreneurs such as Ritesh Shergill and Abhinav Arora. The MIT Post had the opportunity to converse with the organisation’s co-founders, Dhwanit Shah, Armaan Charania, and Ankit Jajoo.

What was the motivation behind founding E-Cell?

Ankit: The construction of the E-Cell has been long overdue. With the help of our faculty advisor, Dr Sriram KV, we established an organisation under the official MIT body. Our alumni have been successful in research, scientific projects, and placements but have faltered in start-ups and entrepreneurial aspects. We wanted to start an organisation that would push and promote students to develop their ideas and revolutionise entrepreneurship and start-ups in MIT.

Dhwanit: For example, in my first year, I had an idea, but I lacked the resources to move to the next steps. I was aware of multiple individuals that had taken up responsibilities in different aspects of the entrepreneurship world. However, there was no organisation with the ultimate handbook and rules, helping with all elements that a start-up or entrepreneur might need to be successful. E-Cell becomes that one-stop destination that students can approach, regardless of what step in their entrepreneurship journey they find themselves in. It is a single central organisation that provides advice, access to networking, and helps with expanding skillsets.

What does E-Cell offer students?

Armaan: The mission of E-Cell is to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship within the student community through greater awareness and act as a one-stop destination for all students looking to turn their ideas into viable startups. We want to help empower entrepreneurs by providing them with a vibrant start-up ecosystem and developing their ideas into successful ventures through dedicated mentorship and guidance.

Before E-Cell’s formation, no specific body focused on MIT students. Recent AICTE norms mandated the need to have a dedicated entrepreneurship cell in every technical college under the National Innovation Start-up Policy, and this brought about the idea of starting an E-Cell for MIT students. Our fundamental aim is to develop a vibrant start-up culture on campus focusing on innovation, problem-solving, self-employment, and the creation of valuable companies.

The E-Cell will act as a bridge between students with ideas and people with expertise in Manipal Institute of Technology. To further this motive, we plan on creating a network of experts who could mentor the budding students to develop their ideas,  providing the students access to the alumni network of MIT, referring students with mature ideas to MUTBI for pre-incubation and funding, increasing the ground outreach and awareness about various government policies for innovation and start-ups and conducting events and activities to promote entrepreneurship ecosystem on-campus: Mentorship meets, Workshops, E-summits, case study competitions, B-model competitions, etc.

What will these workshops and events be about?

Dhwanit: Many students who are aware that their idea could become something significant, often don’t know the next step in the process. These students require the essential skills to create a basic business model, conduct market research and build a team. The workshops that we will host will target empowering the students in gaining these skills. 

As everyone is affected by the current circumstances, many planned workshops and competitions were hindered in their offline conduct. They will happen in the future, at some point, although we look forward to conducting events like app connect, idea validation meetups, and more, shortly in an online atmosphere. 

What is the difference between MUTBI of MAHE and E-Cell MIT? Is there a direct liaison between the two?

Armaan: MUTBI is an incubator where a student can approach the team, and they will help the student get incubated, which means paperwork and other legal work. In return for the resources and services they provide, they will take a couple of shares of the organisation founded. There is no direct affiliation between MUTBI and E-Cell MIT. Instead, we coordinate with them when the need arises, but E-Cell MIT is an existing individual body of MIT—an extension of the MIT administrative body. 

Dhwanit: MUTBI is a professional body with professors, faculty and professionals—not any students. It also pertains to all of MAHE, and Student Entrepreneurship Cell (SEC) serves as the student face of the organisation. In comparison, E-Cell MIT works directly in alliance with the administration of MIT and is run by students, under the direct stewardship of the faculty. 

How does the process generally work in E-Cell? 

Dhwanit: We have created communities of expertise—accounting, finance, law, and so on. When a student approaches us with an idea, we plan to connect them to a relevant member from the expert team who will direct them professionally. We do not house experts within our organisation. Instead, we help students contact the appropriate people needed for them to gain insight into their endeavours. The list of experts and professionals is a continuously growing community. 

Armaan: These groups of experts include MIT and MAHE faculty, MIT and MAHE alumni, industry experts of various companies, and other founders who are willing to mentor students looking for guidance. We will pair them with the individual that we see fit and establish these relationships to be long term, where the mentor will help the student develop and mature their idea. 

Ankit: The process and cycle time of the entire mentorship process will cater to the individual student’s idea. It is going to be flexible and customisable, with no generalisation regarding time. 

What is currently in the works for E-Cell that students can be excited about?

Dhwanit: The organisation is currently working on a dedicated website and newsletter that will include all updates pertaining to entrepreneurship in MIT, and its students. The website will be unique in its creation. It will have a learning platform that will recommend videos, podcasts, books, and more that focus on providing idea generation and cultivation for students looking for them.

What is your goal?

Dhwanit: E-Cell is spearheading this drive towards entrepreneurship and job creation rather than job seeking. Our immediate aim is to create awareness about entrepreneurship, expose the lucrative options that entrepreneurship offers, and stir that new mindset. The long term goal is to help create real start-ups that can raise funding, employ people, and add value to the ecosystem. 

Established eleven months ago, E-Cell continues to strive towards empowering budding entrepreneurs to achieve unfathomable heights and is currently recruiting first-years to be part of their robust community.

Featured Image Credits: Sara Dharmik and Rishab Sanjay

The MIT Post was in conversation with Nikhil Kumar, a third-year MIT student who is the President of the Manipal Chapter of Enactus and Pratiksha Das, the Joint Secretary of Enactus.

Could you tell us a bit about your club?

Enactus is an international organisation and is present on almost every campus. It focuses mainly on social entrepreneurship, i.e., business ideas having a powerful social impact. I’ll make it simpler—let us take an example of a footwear company that uses renewable plastic to make soles of the said footwear, hence having a strong social impact. The success of this company will not be evaluated based on the number of products sold but on the amount of renewable plastic used to make the products.

How should one prepare to join Enactus?

To join Enactus, one needs to have an innovative mindset, a passion for entrepreneurship, and a will to make a social impact. Other than that, various innate skills like those concerning logical reasoning and analytical prowess are required; one just needs to build upon them. Rest can be acquired while being a part of this club itself.

How has your experience in the club been so far?

As Enactus has just opened one of its chapters in MIT, I do not have much to say about it. I will, instead, focus on my experience in social entrepreneurship in general. When I was in my second year of college, the second wave of covid took on the entire country by storm and lockdown was imposed. During that period, I was a part of a social initiative where I worked on supplying oxygen cylinders to the needy. I also started a social drive called Meally, which involved collecting a month’s ration and providing food to the daily wage labourers, who had lost their jobs owing to the pandemic. Having come from a defence background, I have always been taught to give back to society, and as we all know, engineers are creative individuals. Hence, it would be great to use our innovative mindset to do something for the people.

I know that going specifically into social entrepreneurship while in college will not stand good with many students because it does not result in instant gratification. However, it will actually prove to be beneficial in the long run as it helps improve entrepreneurship skills while creating a social impact, which will persist for a long time.

What is your position on the board?

I am working in the PR team while he, the other interviewee, is the co-founder and President of the club. We are still figuring out the different positions, but the divisions would mostly be like any other club.

What kind of events are you planning to organise?

As of now, the Enactus Global body is planning two international events. In India, these events will be handled by the Enactus India body. Last year, the event was called “Race for the Oceans”, wherein one had to present an idea to solve the problems of aquatic life depletion, ocean pollution, or any other similar concepts. We are still waiting for the topic of this year. Usually, Enactus follows the 17 SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals, so depending on that, we will formulate our business model and present it in the international championship that happens every year.

How is Enactus different from other clubs?

In Enactus, your work directly affects the people involved. I will give you an example: the Enactus SRCC body went in and around Delhi to identify the people who made copper utensils. Due to the pandemic, the businesses of these individuals had been drastically affected. Enactus helped them collaborate with and sell their utensils to ITCs, Taj and other premium hotels. Within a year, they got revenue of over twenty-two lakhs, which solely went to the local workers. Our sole mission is to help others, and we are looking for people with a similar mindset.

Even in Manipal, we have seen how all shops and the entire economy collapses as soon as students leave, due to a variety of reasons. We aim to have a sustainable business model running that would ensure that irrespective of whether there are students in Manipal or not, the businesses will continue functioning.

We are looking forward to getting to know people who actually want to make a difference and want to learn how entrepreneurship works. There is a lot of hype about entrepreneurship and how it works, but people do not really understand how to go about it. We are looking to recruit people who believe in building something and like working in a team. The change that we are going to make will really make an impact.

Are you looking for any prior experience in the new applicants?

A lot of it is about how people talk during the interview, just like any other club recruitment that happens in Manipal. We have a slight addition to our recruitment process, where we look at what is going on in the back of people’s minds when we have the recruitment interview, apart from an individual written round.

Featured Image Credits: Enactus

On 5th August 2019, Dhiraj Rajaram, the charismatic founder-CEO of Mu Sigma, visited MIT and interacted with an enthralled audience at the MV Seminar Hall. In attendance, were multiple esteemed guests and faculty including Ananth Vaidyanathan, Global Head of Operations, MuSigma and Dr Srikanth Rao, The Director of MIT.

Starting with an introduction to Mu Sigma and its various consequential operations, such as reducing the turn-around time for flights, the talk moved on to Dhiraj’s personal experiences and the story behind his journey. Dhiraj stressed on the importance of the ‘why’ over the ‘what’ when it comes to choosing entrepreneurship as a way of life. Speaking about coding as a necessary tool in current times, he offered the analogy of how knowing how to type has evolved from a profession into a bare minimum skill for employment.

After the conclusion of the talk itself, Dhiraj was gracious with his time and hosted a one-on-one conversation of sorts with a few students and professors. He provided a detailed insight into the life of an entrepreneur and also, counselled the out-going students as per his experiences. He talked about his years as a software engineer, a job which he admittedly wasn’t good at, and explained how he gained a deeper understanding of the work that went into writing code which, in turn, helped him better manage the same professionals later on in life. Thus, employing oneself to gain the required skills and experience even though the work might not be satisfying, is something which one must push through to become successful.

A few of the questions he was asked were how one would know that the time is right to venture out on their own, and what they should do if someone had already begun working on the same idea that they had thought of. In candour, Dhiraj replied, “It’s not about you; it’s about the product. If someone else is doing it, then you should be happy that at least someone is solving that problem.” He reiterated that before one decides to become an entrepreneur, they should ask themselves “why?” at least seven times, for that is how long it takes for one to discover their real aspirations.

After an hour of insights and counsel, Dhiraj had to bid adieu to the audience, but not before he hinted at an exciting future for the institute and Mu Sigma in tandem. What a tie-up would entail could not be revealed, but the prospect of it is definitely promising for the students of MIT.

Featured image source: www.mu-sigma.com

Aayushi Agarwal | Staff Writer

The corporate world is a brutal place where only the toughest get to be at the very top. This bitter truth rang through the Library Auditorium on 27^th October, when several esteemed entrepreneurs gave productive insights on how the world of business operates. The Manipal Entrepreneurship Summit was an event organized by MUTBI—the Student Entrepreneurship Cell and Alumni Relations wing of Manipal University. Sixteen entrepreneurs from different fields, including Manipal University alumni, were invited to share their start-up experiences.

The event began with Dr Shrihari Upadhyaya, the CEO of MUTBI, giving the opening remarks, followed by an address by Dr Narayan Sabhahit, the Registrar of Manipal University. After the host Mr T Chendil Kumar introduced the gathering to the concept of entrepreneurship, the first panel-discussion discussing ‘Start-Up Essentials’ commenced. The panellists highlighted the importance of understanding the market environment and stressed upon the importance of team-work, passion, and risk-taking in the long run. The panel discussion was concluded by the chief-guest, Mr Kedar Medhi, Director of the Philips Innovation Campus, Bangalore.

Image courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

The hosts were quick to address the real issue, as the second-panel discussion on ‘Funding’ began. The panellists encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to learn economic and financial concepts to comprehend the working of a business better. Mr Kumar summed up a few noteworthy points, such as maintaining a good alumni network, being perseverant and having a good prototype before you approach others for funding.

‘Marketing and Scalability’ was the next topic deliberated upon and the discussion was filled with anecdotes to get more customers. Most of the panellists spoke of an immense drive that kept them going even in the face of failure. They also reiterated the importance of knowing the product very well and having faith in it. While speaking about his own experiences, Mr. Gaurav Agarwal, the CEO and Director at Innvolution Imaging said, “Get better, before you get bigger.”

Image courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

The final panel discussion was an interactive session talking about ‘the dilemma of sell or retain’.  Mr Mohak Dhingra, a co-founder of Jobspire and an MIT alumnus, moderated this panel discussion. Having been through a successful acquisition recently, he said, “You must never be too emotional about your own ideas.” The panel discussions ended with an outpouring of college spirit as the alumni noted that MIT students stand out in conferences for their confidence. They also remarked on the diverse range of experiences that MIT provides, both in the engineering sphere and otherwise.

Dr. G.K. Prabhu, Pro Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University and the Director of MIT, concluded the Summit with an insightful speech. With a vision in mind, he spoke about the new changes in curriculum that shall be ushered in for the following years. Achievements of various student projects such as SolarMobil, Formula Manipal, and the Mars Rover were also highlighted in the speech. Moreover, he talked about the various incentives given to budding entrepreneurs at MIT, like the new Idea Café. The Entrepreneurship Summit was a step forward in this direction as potential entrepreneurs could learn from people who have gone through the same struggles that they now face.

Image courtesy: The Photography Club, Manipal

MUTBI’s Entrepreneurship Summit helped a lot of students clarify their queries regarding start-ups. The only downside was that the first two panel-discussions took up more than their allotted time, which left very little time for the remaining two. Despite the time constraint, it was also very inspiring to see that so many students from MIT plan to become job-creators. In the words of Dr G. K. Prabhu, “IITians may be bright, but MITians are smart!“

You’re a famous personality in the investment and the stock-market world now. How did you make the transition from studying engineering at MIT to money management?

There was no transition. Anybody who studies to be an engineer need not pursue hardcore engineering. Engineering gives you an analytical frame of mind where you’re encouraged to question things and your curiosity grows. When I went to the US, it was the right place for asset management and investment management. While I was there, I read a book called ‘One Up on Wall Street’ by Peter Lynch and realized I wanted to be an entrepreneur, and that something like this can be done back in India. I never wanted to stay in the US. When I came back, it was very difficult to even get an annual report from the ROC (Registrar of Companies) – there was no Internet. You had to pay a bribe to get an annual report. So, I focused on the technical aspects of the market which is looking at stock prices and chart prices. They say ‘fortune favors the brave’, our markets were transitioning at the time; they were becoming more and more sophisticated. We got ‘Futures and Options’ introduced in 2000. Since India was an emerging market, the general interest in speculative instruments was much greater. Technical analysis became a rage. Along with technical analysis, I have written a couple of books that are best sellers. We also run a SEBI registered firm – SEBI is the official regulator – which offers money management and trading advisory services. Whether you’re a ten-year investor or you’re a five-day trader, we help all kinds of people. Engineering gave me an analytical ability, business skills, and life skills.

MIT makes you mentally strong. It gives you a pan-India perspective and good people-reading ability. All of that is important too; it’s not just what you read in books. It has brought me a long way in terms of how I present my material. When it comes to appearing in media channels, having studied at MIT and interacting with people from all over India, I am able to add colour to my commentary. That widens the audience. Someone else might give you a dry type of commentary, but I have added my own style to it like Siddhu does in cricket.

The thing with investment is that India is moving towards financial savings, that is where most countries move. Earlier, people used to invest in real estate but now (with demonetization) you have to invest in stocks. In a way, I saw this coming fifteen years ago. A general interest in entrepreneurship and an interest in the investment-world made me construct this sort of a business.

People, sometimes, find the stock market to be risky and highly unpredictable. As someone who has worked as a portfolio manager, how would you convince a client of your ideas?

In the consulting world – it could be law, chartered accountancy or medicine – if I come to you and merely tell you that I’m a good doctor, you will not seek my consultation. The correct way of doing it is to build a profile. I appear on television, I have written bestselling books, and my comments appear in newspapers so I’m already soft-selling it to the audience.

People watch me on television for five or six months before they decide to approach me. To become an expert, you have to be present on all kinds of media. You can’t simply cold-call to obtain clients. Once you’re established as an expert, people are willing to pay you you’re quote. No business can be run by putting out advertisements. Advertisements can build a brand. It can’t get you you’re business. That’s the whole idea of consultation. People are not buying what you sell, they’re buying what you stand for. I stand for financial freedom and to live my life on my own terms.

Following up on that, while there may be some clients or viewers who benefit from your investment advice, there may be others who lose out and consequentially blame it all on you. How do you handle such instances?

I have delegated the task of listening to angry customers. I have three people in my office whose only job is to pick up the phone and when a customer is angry, hear them out as well as understand that the customer is abusing me – not them. I keep negative feedback away because I understand that trading or investment is like a sport. You will have good times and bad times. There’s one person who gives constructive feedback, there’s another person who just wants to abuse so I keep the abusive one at a distance. I also believe that if people are abusing me, then I’m doing something right.

Mr. Ashwani Gujral addressing students of MIT on ‘How Brand MIT Grooms Entrepreneurs’. Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal

What is your philosophy when it comes to investment in the stock market, if you were to tell it to a layman?

Anybody who understands business can invest in the stock market. I have three broad philosophies: I want the company to have common people as customers like a consumer business. It could be an electric fan company or a company that sells soap. The customer shouldn’t be the government because that is where the problem lies. One should have strong balance sheet. I like a company which has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.5, not more than that. Why? Because even if the company is not profitable today but it has a strong balance sheet, it will not go down. When times improve, you know that things will pick up. The third philosophy is that I would buy bad sentiment. When demonetization occurred, the market fell by ten percent and that is the time you dive in. You never buy good sentiment because good sentiment is high price. Most engineers want to join L&T. I don’t want to invest in L&T because of heavy capex. Your project can get delayed. What’s the point? I’d much rather invest in Domino’s Pizza. All the construction companies, they don’t do well. Companies like GVK and GMR build huge airports but their stock is at seven rupees or ten rupees.

That’s the whole idea of consultation. People are not buying what you sell, they’re buying what you stand for. I stand for financial freedom and to live my life on my own terms.

You’ve been a panelist at CNBC TV-18 for quite some time now. What role do you see the media portraying when it comes to informing the public about economic affairs? Keeping in mind the 2008 economic crisis, one of the primary causes was that people were not able to understand what they were signing up for. How could the media have helped here? 

Media has a limited role in this regard. The bigger role is of the regulator. What happened in 2008 was that in the US investment banks or housing companies, they started giving loans to homeless people. People who didn’t have any income, who couldn’t make any down payments. What happened? They assumed that they will be able to flip that home at a ten to twenty percent higher price and then make some money to return the loan. Here, I don’t think there can be such a situation because our banks do their due diligence. Here, people like you and me are not defaulting. Who’s defaulting? Adani, Ambani, and all the big names are defaulting. Here, housing finance is the safest asset because we pay our EMIs.

The problem arises when the regulator is not strong and things go out of hand.  What will happen is, when a bank starts giving out more loans they will have more profit today, but five years from now when the loans don’t come back they’ll get into trouble. RBI is very strong regulator. The banking or financial crisis over here is unlikely but it rarely happens because of stupidity or inadequate research. People get into timber-farm type businesses or they’ll get into some sort of ‘chitfund’. If the product is not regulated by a regulator then you are signing up for something that is not authorized. If you buy a ticket in the black market or do unauthorized things yourself, how can you blame the regulator or the media? The media didn’t ask you to invest in that company.

The media can inform and the media does inform but, finally, the decision maker is not the media. Sahara collected five hundred and thousand rupee bills from poor people telling them that they’ll be buying real estate. Did anybody check their papers? If I come to take money from you, will you not ask me if I’m regulated? Do you have any authorization to take it? It has to be an agreement based system. If one says that they are uneducated or know nothing, then please don’t invest.

The students and faculty of MIT in attendance. Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal

You will be addressing students on ‘How Brand MIT grooms Entrepreneurs’. While there has been a surge of startups especially in cities like Bangalore, a lot of sources say that the startup bubble in India is bound to burst. Do you agree?

You’re talking of only one type of startup which is e-commerce. There are other types of startups as well. E-commerce has no business model. The business model they have is purchasing something for one-hundred rupees and selling it for fifty rupees. And they seem to think that as long as they  have many people buying, somehow they will become profitable by the end of the year. That model is crashing. What I am talking about is, you acquire any kind of skill like technical analysis and build a business around it. You can get a skill in dry cleaning and have chain of dry cleaning stores. Just learn any skill. It can be engineering or non-engineering, and create a business around it. My whole point is that MIT – because of its ecosystem – prepares you very well for business. Mostly because you can see so much business happening around you.

Can you tell our readers what’s looking good this week in the stock market?

For that, you’ll have to watch my show (laughs). Although, I can give you an insight. This is a capital-starved country and capital is very expensive. Companies that are lending and are lending to common people like us should be your focus. Companies like Capital First, in housing finance you have LIC Housing, Edelweiss etc. Anybody who’s giving out capital to common folks is making money. Anybody who is taking capital (the capital guzzler) like the highway-maker or the flyover-maker is down. So, the lenders of capital is what you should be looking at.

One of the many reasons Academic Block-4 is known as the Innovation Center is because of the budding start-ups in residence. The Innovation Center has served as a Business Incubator for many start-ups. The founders of three of such start-ups spoke to us at length about their journey and future prospects.

Platform Petal

Platform Petal’s unique name is derived from the idea of flowers blossoming on burgeoning branches on the first day of spring, after a particularly harsh, biting winter. It aims to provide a multi layered platform for start-ups in their initial stages. This ensures a higher success rate, which allows the project to reach its maximum potential.

Bhaskar Singh, the founder of Platform Petal, faced several problems since the inception and conceptualisation phase of the project. Two months into the venture, the unprecedented dispersal of the co-founder and half the team – which could have been a fatal blow – failed to deter his ambition and instead strengthened his resolve. The rebuilding process was rather arduous and daunting. Nevertheless, Platform Petal managed to stand up on its feet and start afresh. The primary aim of Platform Petal is to provide help with anything ranging from marketing to web development. They plan to achieve this by connecting people who specialize in those fields with innovators that have bright ideas but not as many resources. Once the collaboration has been accomplished, a virtual workstation is provided to display all the work details related to the new venture-designs, documents, meetings, and even reminders; everything is documented on one consolidated screen.

Picture credits: Platform Petal

Platform Petal shall be recruiting in the departments of Content Writing, Finance and Marketing, Data Security, Data Analysis, HR, and Design. There are no official working hours at Platform Petal – the recruits work until the day’s goals have been met. Such is their workload that the administration has given the members an extended entry time into the hostels at night. “From our experience, we know that ideas are quick to fall apart once there’s a lack of resources and people. We don’t want that to happen to anyone else who feels passionately about innovating and creating. So we’ve created a start-up for other start-ups, of sorts. It’s like a beacon of light after winter, hence the name.” remarked Divyanshu Singh, co-founder of the venture.

If Platform Petal fails to make a mark at MUTBI’s Provenance, Bhaskar and Divyanshu hope to pitch their idea to several investors in different cities of the country – quite a few of whom have already invited Platform Petal to discuss their idea. The idea is unique and with the right mix of hard work and resources, Platform Petal promises to bloom in the near future.

Strange Matter

Strange Matter, under the alias Team Modulus, was the winner of MUTBI’s (Manipal University Technology Business Incubator) annual event called  Provenance in 2015. They are also quarter finalists of the Texas Instruments India Innovation Challenge 2016, a competition that is still ongoing. Prior to this, the founding members of the start-up, Ayushman Choudhuri, Arjun Manoj Menon, and Siddharth Sahay were all part of MIT’s student project, RoboManipal.

Strange Matter aims at building a desktop CNC (Computer Numeric Control) machine which is cost-effective, economical, and efficient at the same time. While most high-end desktop CNC’s can cost anywhere between twenty to thirty lakh rupees, the team has currently priced their module at approximately two lakh rupees. “We are trying to tailor the product to meet the needs of several low-end manufacturing hubs, so that they can enhance their capabilities at the added advantage of bearing cheaper costs”, said Ayushman, Team Head for Strange Matter. When asked about the prospects offered by their project to the students of MIT, Ayushman said, “This is unlike the usual business-to-consumer relationship that most start-ups offer, but students will definitely be able gain a higher understanding of CNC milling”. Apart from the hardware aspect of their module, they also intend to implement algorithms which shall reduce the learning curve and increase comprehensibility of the program code.

A prototype of Strange Matter’s Desktop CNC

Strange Matter came into existence with three students at the helm, and over the year, they have recruited five additional members into their team. They have been working on their product called Modulus since last year. It is still in the prototyping stage, and the team has carried out three prototype iterations. Although desktop CNC’s have been around for a considerable amount of time, their prospects of entry into the Indian market have been bleak. For this reason, the team wishes to launch their product in the year 2018. Each member devotes as many working hours he or she can. The determination, focus, and passion for their company as well as the work they do is bound to take them to great heights.

Salahcar

True to the Hindi translation of its name, Salahcar advises car users on the servicing requirements of their cars in a cost-effective manner. It pulls data from the computers that are pre-installed in a car and constantly updates the user on when the car needs to be sent to the shop.

The necessity of a product like Salahcar had been brewing for a while in the market, with car companies recommending unnecessarily expensive repairs to the car. This happens because car users generally have little to no knowledge about the technical intricacies of their automobile, and this compels the customer to make uninformed decisions. So, if the air filter of a car is found to be faulty, Salahcar would let you know about the hindrance immediately. Another notable feature that Salahcar has introduced is to get the insurance premium reduced. They plan to do this by giving insurance companies a list of plausible proofs that a client can look after and be responsible for his or her car. Catering to the Indian demographic, the device would also track fuel economy because mileage is often a key factor that car owners pay attention to.

The prototype of Salahcar’s model

Salahcar focuses on constantly improving their product to make it stand out from their competition. Seemingly, Provenance ’16 was a metamorphic event in their growth. ‘We spent days thinking about what could garner attention for Salahcar, and make our device stand out from the rest’, says Shayoni Sengupta, the Head of Marketing and Management. The team at Salahcar regards efficient sales and marketing as one of their most prominent hurdles. The device is a necessity, but average car owners might not view it as one. Instead, they might opt to go to trusted service centres. This is where Salahcar’s selling factor comes in- it provides the user this information for free. All the information is compiled into a database that is freely accessible to all its clients.

Despite the hurdles and challenges they are bound to face in the future, Team Salahcar believes they can pull through. The dedicated and skilled group of eight people work day and night to bring their idea to life; they invest as much of their free time into the company as possible. “We are confident that this idea is worth pursuing”, the founder, Shreyansh Chordia, remarked. With a determined team and a refreshingly new idea in their arsenal, Salahcar is strapped in for a riveting ride.

Mr. Sanjay Vijaykumar, during the seminar

“People don’t truly know their full potential, until an outer, neutral party gives them the support and resources to realize the same.” – Mr. Sanjay Vijaykumar, the founder of Startup Village.

On the 8th of August, a seminar was conducted by Startup Village which revolved around the theme of providing encouragement to all the students who wanted to come up with start- ups of their own, in the form of scholarships and a platform to kick-start their dreams. He went on to explain how Startup Village was  the right place for student teams to present their ideas, get them reviewed by experts and get the necessary skill set for the execution of the same. Through innovative examples, he explained producer-consumer relationship to the audience. Like how Starbucks, a internationally reputed coffeehouse chain, while a success in a big city like Mumbai, would never be able to profit in a small town like Mangalore because of the vast difference in the consumer mindset in the two places. Mr. Vijaykumar further explained the importance of selecting the right teammates through yet another allegory- just as a ship cannot be maneuvered to the correct destination safely without the right Captain, mast-man, navigator, and the rest of the crew with specific tasks, similarly, a tech team aiming at launching a successful start-up or a specific product required a strong, compatible team of designers, developers, operations and sales managers, and marketing strategists.

Photo credits- Sarthak Dubey

Mr. Vijay told us how his online service, Startup Village provided the ever-active minds of engineering students a platform to present ideas, or even better, pick up well-researched ideas from their website and develop a product based on those ideas. This process comprised of an application submission, followed by a coding test and then an interview of the complete team. Based on this, the best teams are selected for a six month long online course that would further help in achieving the required skill set for the start-up after which, they receive a certificate in Entrepreneurship (minor). Furthermore, the team that performs best in this course gets an opportunity to present their idea in Silicon Valley. With this idea in mind, Startup Village has had a reach of almost fifty colleges, including the IITs, some of the NITs and of course, Manipal Institute of Technology.

Photo credits- Sarthak Dubey

Overall, despite the sparse audience present for the seminar, it was very beneficial for the students who attended, especially due to the interactive question-answer session that was held after the talk. A well-organised event from start to finish, it could have garnered a higher footfall with better publicity. Nonetheless, it was an eye-opening seminar which provided the students with a once in a lifetime opportunity  to connect with the superstars of the world of start-ups!

One of Manipal’s latest start-ups, Rentified began a little over a month ago, on the 18^th of March, 2016. Since its inception, this online ‘peer to peer’ rental marketplace has grown, and now caters to over three hundred users. The central idea of the founders was to allow users to earn money by providing them with a platform to rent their goods out to other users, “Share karo, earn karo” being the corporation’s tagline.

Rentified essentially allows users to rent out the items available on the website and also allows them to put up their own belongings to be leased. The basic idea here, as conceived by the founders of Rentified in October, 2015, was to create a platform where students could not merely earn money but also save money by not having to buy everything that they need. “We want to promote access based consumerism” explains Krsna Agrawal, one of the founders. Rentified currently has an approximate of a hundred and fifty items available for rent. The website classifies all items into user-friendly categories such as Books and Stationery, Fashion, Real estate, and Services, to name a few. “We want to be a one stop shop for renting” explains Sahil Jain, one of the founders. The founders of Rentified are of the opinion that the global economy might be moving towards becoming more sharing oriented, favouring the aspect of leasing objects as opposed to their sale. “The world is moving towards a sharing economy and we want to be the first ones to enable that”, explains Shivangi Gambhir, a co-founder. Rentified organised its flagship online event, Rentathon, between the 20th and the 24th of April, where the website offered discounts and deals on the products available. The most active users were rewarded with exclusive deals on their leases.

Renitifed was also one of the start-ups that was featured at the Manipal Entrepreneurship Summit held on the 16^th of March. “We hope to become the Walmart of rentals” expresses Saswat Prusty, summarizing the vision that the founders have for Rentified.