EABS Pune Hosts The First Indian Edition Of The Prestigious Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum
Being an entrepreneur is not just about starting a business; it is about having the right attitude and the drive to succeed in business. All successful Entrepreneurs have a similar way of thinking and possess several key personal qualities that make them so different.
Tweet-- Being an entrepreneur is not just about starting a business; it is about having the right attitude and the drive to succeed in business. All successful Entrepreneurs have a similar way of thinking and possess several key personal qualities that make them so different. Success means to achieve an inner drive to accomplish something and grow their trade rather than having a Harvard Business degree or technical knowledge in a particular field.
Europe Asia Business School (EABS) played host to the Junior World Entrepreneurship Forum in Pune this week. This forum has been founded by KPMG and EMLYON Business School (France) and receives the high patronage of Mr Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France. The forum is a platform for budding young entrepreneurs to listen to, interact and benefit from the experiences of successful entrepreneurs from across various industry & societal strata. The Pune edition of the forum witnessed more than 25 successful entrepreneurs from diverse industries, nationalities and social strata sharing their success stories and advice. The occasion marked the first time that this event has been organized in India.
The forum started with powerful opening addresses by Sanjay Jha, Founder CricketNext.com & Dr Ganesh Natarajan, CEO Zensar Technologies. Over two days, 4 striking themes of Entrepreneurship were explored - 'Entrepreneurship at the Bottom of the Pyramid', 'Entrepreneurial cities of India', 'Avant Gardener - The changing face of Entrepreneurship in India' and 'Madayanti - Versatile Women Entrepreneurs'.
Sanjay Jha goaded every member in the audience to acknowledge self confidence as the most important attribute in entrepreneurship. He told them that "the man you see in the mirror is the biggest differentiator in life". Dr Ganesh Natarajan went on to describe the key attributes of a CEO as "'C'lairvoyant, 'E'vangelist & 'O'ratory."
The Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP) discussion was scintillating in the way it opened the eyes of the audience to the opportunities available in that societal strata and the attitude required to succeed there. Sanjeev Rao, an INSEAD alumnus & Founder of G2I Ventures quipped "let us not try and teach the poor, let's learn what they want". Giving a new perspective on the issue of disparity of incomes in India, Bhaskar Babu, CEO Sarvoday Microfinance, quoted to much applause "I do not want to get richer by making Mukesh Ambani poorer. I want to lift the bottom without pulling down the top!". Xavier Bertrand, CEO of Chanel India & Trustee Planet Finance, opined "the aspiration of youth has the power to transform the world".
The Avant Gardener panel discussion aimed to explore the change in the Indian Entrepreneurship scenario. The panel chairperson Pradeep Tagare, Director Intel Capital India, provided examples of small companies utilizing the internet to operate breakthrough businesses from remote locations. Listening to him was an opportunity for the audience to get fantastic insights into the mind of a seasoned Venture Capitalist. Atul Goel, MD Goel Ganga Group gave insightful nuggets about entrepreneurship in the space of urban development and the growing appetite of governments to fund societal change agents. Shashank Paranjpe, MD Paranjpe Schemes discussed how superior infrastructure provides the core foundation for creating an entrepreneurship-friendly ecosystem. Amit Grover, an IIT-IIM alumnus, who runs an entrepreneur training academy provided invaluable tips for budding entrepreneurs. He persuaded them to "not keep their ideas close to their heart. Instead, constantly validate them with friends and experts."
The last forum of the 2 day event brought together an eclectic mix of young as well as seasoned women entrepreneurs. The enthralling session turned out to be an eye opener to the largely male audience - as nuggets of insight flew fast from all the women on the panel. Dr Uma Ganesh, CEO Global Talent Track and a first generation entrepreneur opened the discussion by talking about the changing perspectives and prejudices in society about women entrepreneurs. Gunjan Aggarwal, an ex-investment banker turned entrepreneur spoke about how "entrepreneurs are job creators while the rest are job seekers". She persuaded the audience to have passion & loyalty towards their idea but to be open to the fact that "what one starts with is not necessarily where they end up". Harini Calamur, Producer of the award winning movie Jhing Chik Jhing, voiced a powerful idea about how "women are able to bring whole new approaches to business management as historically they have rarely been at the helm of things and therefore don't carry set thought patterns about 'how things must be done to succeed'". Also present in the panel was the awe-inspiring Kruti Jain, Director Kumar Builders, who inspired confidence in the women in the audience by talking about her entrepreneurial endeavours at an incredibly young age.
Dr. Nikhil Agarwal, Director EABS and an alumnus of Cambridge University, officially closed the event with the comments "JWEF is a great start as it gives the budding entrepreneurs a chance to interact with likeminded people and thought leaders from across 50 countries. We can leverage this opportunity and maybe take it further by formulating a consulting firm powered by EABS students to aid micro entrepreneurs take their business to a newer level."
Notes to Editor
About EABS
Europe Asia Business School (EABS) is a premier business school setup by alums of Harvard & Cambridge Universities. The school is funded by Intel Capital & Helion Ventures and promoted by top industry executives like Dr. Ganesh Natarajan (former Nasscom Chair) and Mr. Sanjiv Agarwal (founder IBM Daksh). EABS offers a) 1 year Full-time PGPM program and b) 2 year weekend Executive MBA program at Pune & Gurgaon campuses. Website: www.eabs.ac.in
World Entrepreneurship Forum
World Entrepreneurship Forum (WEF) is founded by Emloyn Business School, France; Babson College, USA and KPMG Worldwide under the high-patronage of Mr. Nicolas Sarkozy President of France. WEF is the worldwide think tank devoted to the ENTREPRENEUR, creator of wealth and social justice. The World Entrepreneurship Forum arose from the discussions held between a few international decision-makers concerned by the state of our world. WEF is now a platform for millions of entrepreneurs world-wide to share their views and activities. Website: http://www.world-entrepreneurship-forum.com/