“Entrepreneurship is not a part-time job, and it’s not even a full-time job. It’s a lifestyle.’’ – Carrie Layne.
With the same mindset, HULT Prize MAHE, with the support of the Innovation Centre MAHE, collaborated on the evening of 5th November 2022. They held an hour long seminar on “Atmanirbhar Bharat and how can students contribute to it: Provisions for a startup in India’’ at Idea Café, MARENA. The event had Mr. Dipan Sahu, Assistant Innovation Director MOE’s Innovation Cell, Govt. of India as the chief guest and speaker.
The event began with a brief introduction on HULT Prize MAHE and the speaker by the host. With this, Mr. Sahu began, speaking about the mindset required to build a company. He also detailed a multitude of opportunities available to all students that aspire to have their startups one day. Drawing from the culmination of his experiences, he talked about concepts such as the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART) method and the Design Thinking principle with examples and how feedback and failures are central to the story of a successful entrepreneur. He then explained how one can identify which ideas to pursue, which to discard, and what mentality one must follow through with. He concluded the first segment with the four qualities every aspiring entrepreneur should possess: self-motivation, inquisitiveness, information-seeking nature, and understanding of the locus of control.
Next, the speaker collaborated with Ms. Mahima, a graduate from MCODS Mangalore, who founded her startup during her university years in 2020. She narrated the story of her student-startup journey, with all the accomplishments and challenges, while Mr. Sahu used her story to expand and reinforce his earlier defined points. She talked about the MOE National Innovation Contest and the ample resources Manipal University has for student-startup support. They ended their talk with a brief Question-and-Answer segment. Upon being prompted, they identified scaling as the biggest reason for startup failure in India in recent years.
The event concluded with the presentation of a memento of appreciation to the chief guest and a Vote of Thanks by the President of HULT Prize MAHE to Mr. Dipan Sahu, the chief guest and speaker, Mr. Zuber, Teacher Co-Ordinator HULT Prize MAHE, all the event partners, the audience and the organising team.
Innovation has been the catalyst for the transformation and success of individuals, entrepreneurs, and even humanity as a whole. The seminar albeit short was a reminder and guiding light about the core concept and importance of innovation.
Written by Nishant Choudhary for MTTN
Edited by Ishita Sharma for MTTN
Images by Ria Gulati, Amogh and Sree Vanshika for MTTN
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