My blog on Nenonline

My blog has been made the made the "featured blog" on nenline. It is also listed in 'What's hot this week' on the NEN website

I must thank my juniors, Shruti and Hirachana for helping me with the write-up for the blog.

LOCK, STOCK AND TRADE 2008

Lock, Stock and Trade 2008 was a success. My e-cell team has done a great job in putting up this event in less than a month. This included the week we spent in selecting the junior team. I have blogged about the event on the NEN website. Please read it on nenonline for details. I am also posting the same here.

'Awe-spiring', is how one of the students described the Lock, Stock & Trade, 'I thoroughly enjoyed myself and also learnt a lot today', says Dhanshree Wankhede, a first year MBA student at Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune. Lock, Stock and Trade 2008 was organised by Entrepreneurship Cell (e-cell), SCMHRD in association with National Entrepreneurship Network (NEN) on 26^th July 2008. Main sponsors of the event were Pringoo.com.

The stage was set for lots of energy, vibrancy and enthusiasm. The theme of LST is based on the lines of a mock IPO (in primary market), where real-life entrepreneurs, teamed up with students, present and pitch their businesses to the Jury and audience. The audience assess, bid and invest to create their personal portfolios. In the end, the team which gets the highest market share wins the game. Also, the investor who assimilates the most profitable portfolio is awarded.

The event started off with an inspiring speech by Mr. K. S. Subramanian, Director, SCMHRD. He emphasized on the need for entrepreneurial opportunities to be tapped by young India. Ms. Sunita Singh, Director, NEN Consulting, also said in her address, "It's difficult to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship in anyone, the drive has to come from within". She discussed the various initiatives of NEN to make entrepreneurship and its knowledge more accessible.

Mr. Rahul Patwardhan, VC & MD, IndiaCo Ventures

Mr. Rahul Patwardhan, Vice Chairman & Managing Director, India Co. Ventures Ltd., was the keynote speaker of the event. His mantra for the youth of today was 'find the purpose, the means will follow' He stressed that an entrepreneur does not need money to start a venture but needs enthusiasm, a good idea and a strong team to be successful. Members of the jury were Mr. Harish Kamat, AVP - Investment group, IndiaCo Ventures Ltd., and Shrinath Navghane, Director and CEO, SDN financial group.

The first trading session saw enthusiastic teams of Agricultural Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), For-She Travels and Logistics Pvt. Ltd. and Oval Impex Pvt. Ltd., pitching for their respective businesses. The presentations received enthusiastic response and speculations were gallore about the most profitable business. In the second trading session, Pratham Technologies, QuickSolv Solutions and Symphony Technologies presented their businesses. Each team gave the other a run for their money. Tension was mounting amid investors, calculating and consulting each other to make the most profitable portfolio as the bidding came to an end.

Team - Pratham Technologies

In the panel discussion, the two jury members had an intense discussion with the audience about the performance and presentations of all teams. The jury award for the best team went to Pratham Technologies Pvt. Ltd., represented by Mr Datta Deshpande, Chairman and Executive Director, Pratham Technologies, and Vibhor Mundhada. The winning points were their concise presentation and the appropriate risk-benefit analysis of the business.

But the winning team for the day, by market capitalization, was Symphony Technologies led by Mr. Ravi Khare and students, Roshan Rebello and Bikash Dash. The jury applauded the team's energy and their in-depth analysis of the business. "A fantastic event! All these years we had been only looking inwards but this event gave us an opportunity to look outwards. LST gave me an opportunity to learn a lot more about how an IPO works", said Ravi Khare, Director and CEO, Symphony Technologies.

The winning teams, apart from taking away a cash prize of Rs 3,000, will now proceed to represent SCMHRD at the national finals of Lock, Stock & Trade on 9^th August 08 at SPJMIR, Mumbai. The event proved to be enriching and fulfilling for both students and faculty alike.

In his final address Mr Harish Kamat also said, "One of the most pleasant and enjoyable Saturdays I have had. I had a great time interacting with the students and entrepreneurs alike"

For all the photographs of the event, please visit the e-cell web album below

Lock Stock & Trade 2008

Time for Interviews

Last week was a time for e-cell junior team selection and it was both fun as well as a tiring exercise.

It all started with a presentation to the juniors about the entrepreneurship cell. All the cells which are a part of the council went together. We were the last ones to present amongst them and as we were taking queries, suddenly, a girl fainted :D.

We decided to hold a 3 stage process. But before that the students had to sign up for different cells and clearly state their preferences. e-cell was in for a pleasant a surprise when we found that we were the second highest with 75 sign ups beating the placements team. Doesn't this say something about this batch.

Stage 1 was a questionnaire which had to be filled. My team spent its Sunday night, evaluating the questionnaire as we came up with a shortlist. Then we decided to divide the prospects into groups of 5 and see how well they work together as a team. A lot of planning had to go into both these stages and so we thought the hardest part was over as the next stage was interviews....
But sadly (as I later realised) I was mistaken....

Once, we announced shortlist, the ordeal started. The next two nights (Mon and Tues) I had spent awake and was awarded the pleasure of the sun rise after a long long time....On Tuesday, we started with the interviews in the evening. We had a lot of fun taking people's cases, unsettling them....I'm sure they had a easier time getting into SCMHRD rather than into one of the many committees (this stands true for all the cells). But, I got a chance to meet many different people, knew some of my juniors a lot better, etc. I was also amazed at some of the plans.

The last interview got over at 4 am and we especially enjoyed this one as the prospect was completely zonked and I am sure left without any hope of getting selected. But then the actually ordeal started. The next 3 hours we spent on coming down to the final list from 11 and that also unanimously. Not did anyone of us ever imagined that this would be easy. When I look back I'm amazed at the issues we discussed before we came up with the final seven.

But then, I guess it was worth the effort. I have got a great junior team, which has been appreciated by the diro as well.

Now Certified by Mumbai Locals...

Today was an eventful day... After avoiding it was all these years during my visits to Mumbai, I finally took the Mumbai Local in the "Morning Rush Hour". This weekend, I had stayed over at my grandparents place even on a Sunday Night, which generally I had avoided during my internship since I wanted to avoid the morning rush back to Churchgate where I am staying. But then yesterday was the finals of the DLF Indian Premier League, hence I decided that since I am not going to watch the match live in the stadium, then might as well enjoy it in the comforts of the house.

So, my certification exam started at about 8:45 am today at Goregaon Station (my granny stays at Malad). First, there was a mile long line at the ticket counter. It took me about 15 minutes just to buy the damn ticket. (my coupons were over and I didn't buy a new booklet this being my last week in Mumbai). Then I found my way though the sea of people entering and leaving the station to the platform. By the way I forgot to tell you the most important thing - I was carrying two bags (a bagpack for my Laptop and a duffel bag with my clothes).

The Fast train to Churchgate on the fast platform was after 15 mins so I decided to go to the slow platform and take the semi-fast train. I tried locate for the place where the luggage compartment (This ones has bigger doors) comes as I let two slow trains pass. Finally, tired of searching and letting trains pass I decided to hop on to the next train if I still couldn't locate the luggage compartment. Hence, I got on to the next train which was unfortunately for me a slow one. I just managed to get on and was standing near the door with a few other more experienced commuters standing at the door as my support.

As few stations went by I finally found my way inside the compartment. Once inside, I was able to get the bags off my back and on to the racks, though it was impossible to find a place to sit. Most of the people there seemed to know each other being regulars. Hardly anyone amongst those who were sitting got off along the way and I got a place to sit only at Lower Parel. but not before I was wet with all the sweat.

As last few stations went by, the local finally started to clear and when I reached my destination, Churchgate, which was the last station enroute, the local seemed to hold as many people as it has been designed for. Probably, it had carried atleast twice/thrice the number of people.

Hence, wet and battered I stepped out into the huge crowd of office-goers. I headed to my hostel which is a 2-min walk from the station, dumped my bags there and headed back towards Churchgate station to catch a bus to Nariman Point.

Hence, know I can claim myself to be "Certified" by Mumbai's Lifeline...its locals. Its simply amazing how many people these trains carry everyday.

Poor Travel Agents!!

I found this amusing, hence posting it here...

A woman called and said, "I need to fly to Pepsi-cola on one of those computer planes."
When asked if she meant to fly to Pensacola on a commuter plane. She said, "Yeah, whatever."

A woman called to make reservations, "I want to go from Chicago to Hippopotamus, New York" The agent was at a loss for words.
Finally, the agent: "Are you sure that's the name of the town?"
"Yes, what flights do you have?" replied the customer.
After some searching, the agent came back with, "I'm sorry, ma'am, I've looked up every airport code in the country and can't find a Hippopotamus anywhere."
The customer retorted, "Oh don't be silly. Everyone knows where it is. Check your map!"
The agent scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, "You don't mean Buffalo, do you?"
"That's it! I knew it was a big animal!"


They had me cracking up !!

Day Zero...SCMHRD placements

7th Jan 2008...wat a day...Phew!!!

It was day zero of senior placements and the day couldn't have been more maddening. I was the floor manager and had to be on my feet from 7 am to 12 a night....It was a day mixed with happiness (for seniors) and pain (ahhh my legs) for the juniors....The day was characterised by constants paging on the walkie talkie and it was fun....It was a mad rush arranging candidates to be interviewed as most of them used to be busy in other processes.

But the day went on well....the end result was great...seniors were happy with their respective placements...fire fighting was an art mastered by all of us...The focus now shifts to a year from now...when we would have our placements in 2009...

Finalists at Stompernet@ NEEV '07

I am back after a rather long sabbatical :-).

SCMHRD organized its annual management fest NEEV '07 last weeked from 15th to 17th of December 2007.. It was a great event, a mix a some management gyaan along with Rock and Indipop and ofcourse loads and loads of FUN!!!

Aditya, Ajay and I, The Team "TripleA", had participated in Stompernet, the IT Marketing Game organised at NEEV. We also managed to make it to the finals of the event (thanks to the gyan on Google search logic given by Ajay to the organizers :-) ). The work required for the 1st stage was absolutely zilch as compared to the task they gave us for the finals. They wanted us (we were the consultants) to come up with three business plans (Yeah you read right ...Three), two of them had to be developed on two ideas given by organizers to us, while the third one had be a something from us. We were then supposed to suggest which idea out of the three should the company pursue. During NEEV, we had to present theB-Plans to the panel of judges, who were industry experts. Though we did not end up as winners, I would say we did a decent job considering the time we had.

Anyways, apart from participating in events, I was a part of the organising team of "Tantra - The Classic B-Plan Contest", organised by the e-cell. The major work for this was the printing and coding of the B-plans we got. We had a distinguished panel of judges for the event and they made sure that the finalists had a hard time.

NEEV also had a performance by "Euphoria", a Battle of college Bands and a DJ Night as a part of the informal events going on.

NEEV turned out to be 3 days of fun and a good break for the academic rigour.