Startup Saturday Kochi for the month of February had great speakers who shared their personal entrepreneurial experience to the new class of aspiring entrepreneurs. Our Entrepreneur of the Month, Mr. Shameer Thaha, who was very generous to come down from Thiruvananthapuram to give his speech to a bunch of budding entrepreneurs’ right here in Kochi was our first speaker. He started “DecideQuick.com” in 2011, six years after his graduation which included a three year stint at Infosys. DecideQuick compares two items (e.g.: Maruti Alto Vs Tata Nano) that you may want to purchase.
A typical score can be as below and you may also find a strong reasoning at the site behind the comparison.
|
MARUTI ALTO |
VS |
TATA NANO |
|
5/10 |
7.57/10 |
Shameer has a lot of good advice for new entrepreneurs. Nevertheless, it was the well crafted “DecideQuick.com” that captivated much of the attention. So please do go online and try “DecideQuick.com” when you are making a buying decision next time.
Next up was our Main Speaker of the day and Managing Director of Kostal India, Mr. Suresh Bhaskaran. His speech was very inspiring for all the entrepreneurs present when he unleashed stories from his many years national and international leadership experience. Suresh is an adept not only in leading the Auto Manufacturing Giant Kostal in India at Vellore, Tamil Nadu, but also in the sound and solid theories of macroeconomics.
Being an excellent communicator, Suresh’s speech was very down to earth and convincing when he detailed the causes of recession. Thus the audience comprising mostly of the new entrepreneurs were very much convinced on the need to add their story in the new growth story of India vis-a-vis just wondering about the phenomenon of recession.
Second part of Suresh’s speech was to inspire the audience to make the ethical choices to make the growth story sound and sustainable. Suresh, thankfully, shared many of his personal experiences too to drive point home on the need for ethical business practices.
Our third speaker, Mr. Akram Feroze, virtually stole the thunder of the event. We know that it was around two thousand five hundred years ago that Lord Buddha had set out his historic journey from the pleasures of his palace. About 500 days ago, Akram Feroze had set out on a bicycle trip through the hearts of Indian villages. The comparison might be mind-boggling until you personally see and hear Akram.
Having traveled through many of the Indian villages plus having experimented with hitch-hiking trips to reach his talk stages all across India, the wisdom that has become part and parcel of this inspiring young man is nothing but amazing and inspiring. Probably it all started when Akram joined the 400 want-to-be entrepreneurs in the now famous Jagriti Yatra a few years back. Probably even before that, this young man had set his eyes on travelling all across India to know firsthand the lives in our villages.
Akram Feroze, 23, has been waiting for his Lakshadweep travel pass in Kochi when the unique opportunity to listen to him came for Startup Saturday Kochi. What started as a two year journey to discover India now looks destined to be a much longer one now that he has covered only Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Kerala, some in whole but most in parts. Akram is set to visit all districts of our huge motherland in the months and years to come. Akram Feroze can be followed at http://www.facebook.com/TheCycleNatak
While Startup Saturdays organized by Headstart Network all across India are nothing but journeys to discover and open up entrepreneurship potential in India’s young and not-so-young minds and the hearts, here is man who is on a lone journey on a bicycle to discover the true hearts and minds of rural India and its trials and tribulations. And there is a lot that every Indian entrepreneur can learn from this young boy of 23.
Short video of the event can be viewed at http://startupsaturdaykochi.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/startup-saturday-kochi-on-february-9-2013/
Startup Saturday Kochi can be followed at http://www.facebook.com/StartupSaturdayKochi and http://startupsaturdaykochi.wordpress.com